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SOUTHWEST MUSEUM

LEAFLETS

Number 1? Third Edition 195 3

WORLD CROPS DERIVED FROM
THE INDIANS

By Edwin F. Walker

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Dent Corn Modeled ox a Prehistoric Aztec Vase.
(U. S. National Museum)

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WORLD CROPS DERIVED FROM
THE INDIANS

By Edwin F. Walker

T t is necessary to use the term "Indians" for ail the pre-Co-
lumbian natives of the Western Hemisphere because Colum-
bus permanently fastened that name on the American ab-
origines when he believed he had reached India. The generally
accepted theory is that the Indians are a brown (mongoloid)
people whose ancestors in many migrations over a period of
thousands of years came from different parts of Asia, crossing
at or near Bering Strait. These migrants reached the Amer-
ican continent apparently without bringing with them any
knowledge of agriculture — possibly because it was before the
time that agriculture was practiced anywhere. On this hemi-
sphere there were no wild growths similar to those which the
early farmers of the Old World ultimately developed into
food products that have played such an important part in the
history of mankind — rice, wheat, barley, rye, and oats.

The early Indians, the real discoverers of America, were
hunters, fishermen, root-diggers, and seed-gatherers. But on
this hemisphere, as occurred in other parts of the world, they
independently made the discovery that edible seeds and roots
could be planted and would reproduce more of the same kind.
When hunters made this discovery and planted a crop, it
followed that the crop must be watched until ready for the
harvest, and this necessitated a settled habitation for the dura-
tion. When agriculture finally was developed so extensively
as to meet the food quest, a permanent settlement was possible
and progress toward civilization could develop. Civilization
is difficult to define, but the ancient civilizations are usually
considered as determined by such features as agriculture, archi-
tecture, engineering, mathematics, astronomy, ceremonial re-
ligion, impressive temples, organized government, definite
laws, metal-working, arts, history, and an expressive language,
sometimes written. Such were the outstanding cultures of
the pre-Columbian Indians of Mexico, Central America, Ecua-
dor, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile, built on an agriculture that was
entirely native to this hemisphere, but which has since been
taken over by the world.

When the cultures of Mexico, Central America, and Peru
were discovered by the Spaniards, the invaders had a highly
developed mode of warfare superior to that of the Indians,
but the latter had developed an agriculture far above that of
any European country.

Southwest Museum Leaflets

During the 45 0 years that whites have been in the New
World, they have improved many agricultural products, but
they have not developed from its wild growth a single major
agricultural product, with the possible exception of guayule
(gwah-yoo'-lay) ; whereas the Indians developed more than
twenty important products; and in addition they cultivated
or utilized a great number of wild growths, — all of which
acquired by the world aggregate more than half of its present
agricultural wealth.

Crops that were acquired from the Indians fall into three
classes: first and most important were those the Indians devel-
oped from wild growths and skilfully cultivated, such as
corn; second, those that were taken over from the wilds with-
out changing their character, and were cultivated by the In-
dians in their gardens and orchards, such as the avocado; and,
third, the plants that in their wild state were utilized by the
Indians for leaves, bark, roots, fiber, seeds, or such gums as
rubber and copal.

Following are some important crops adopted from the In-
dians, arranged approximately in the order of their value as
products at the present time, with some current theories as
to their dim and distant past.

Potatoes — The word potato comes from the Taino Indian
word batata, which Columbus found in use in Haiti for what
now is usually called the sweet-potato.

The sweet-potato had been developed from wild root-tubers,
from an unknown source, but probably in Brazil, from a vine
of the morning-glory family; and its pre-Columbian distri-
bution was over much of South America and into North
America.

In 15 65 the sweet-potato was obtained on the northern
coast of South America by Sir John Hawkins, who probably
was the first to take it to England with its then current name
of potato, a name which persisted in England for many years.
This is what Shakespeare referred to when he had Falstaff say,
"Let the sky rain potatoes." And it was the sweet-potato that
Sir Walter Raleigh grew on his estates in Ireland under the
name of potato.

There are two principal classes of sweet-potatoes, known as
the dry-fleshed and the moist-fleshed. In some areas the moist-
fleshed carries the name of yam; and in the Southern States
all sweet-potatoes often are called yams. The word yam is
from Senegal in western Africa, where nyami means "to eat,"
and is there applied to various edible roots and tubers. It is

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thought that the word was brought to this country by negro
slaves and by them applied to American sweet-potatoes. In
the West Indies the word yam is also applied to plants having
large starchy roots.

When the Spaniards entered Peru they brought with them
the word batata for sweet-potato and applied it to the white
tubers which in that area had been developed into what are
now generally called potatoes, but which the Incas of Peru
called papas. Spanish ship captains who, while cruising about
western South America, had been feeding their crews with
these white potatoes, were probably the first to take to Europe
this strange food of the New World. This was soon after
the year 15 80. From Spain the cultivation of the potato pres-
ently spread to Italy, Belgium, and Austria; but strangely
the cultivation of the plant was almost exclusively for its
blossoms. It was nearly a century later that it attained a
reputation as a food staple.

It is not definitely known by whom or at what date white
potatoes were introduced into Ireland, though it positively
is known that they were under cultivation there as a field
crop before 1663. In time the Irish learned to relish them
exceedingly, and to subsist largely upon them. Emigrating
to New England in 1719, Irish colonists brought along with
them the potatoes which the Yankees called Irish potatoes.
Other colloquial names for them are "murphies" and "spuds,"
the latter being the name of the long narrow spades some-
times used in digging potatoes.

In 1744 Frederick the Great of Prussia compelled the
peasants to grow potatoes. At the time of the Seven Years'
War a Frenchman, Antoine Auguste Parmentier, while a pris-
oner in Germany was fed upon potatoes and learned to like
them; and on his return to his own country he induced Louis
XVI to popularize potatoes in France. This was accomplished
by growing the tubers in a large field, conspicuously guarded
by soldiers during the daytime only. At night, when the
guards were absent, the people stole the potatoes which they
would eat or would plant in their own gardens. And then
when the King and his Queen, Marie Antoinette, wore potato
blossoms on their elaborate costumes, the popularity of the
potato became firmly established.

Potatoes belong to the nightshade family and it is believed
that they were developed from tiny white tubers in Peru; but
as no wild potatoes are found there now, botanists generally

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state that they do not know from what plant the prehistoric
Indians succeeded in developing potatoes.

The distribution of potatoes probably did not extend beyond
western South America in pre-Columbian times; but in re-
cent centuries they have found their way around the globe,
being more generally used in Europe than in America. The
world's potato crop has assumed such importance that by now
it possibly is exceeded only by the rice crop.

Corx — Maize was the name in the language of the extinct
Taino Indians of Haiti for a great cereal, and it is still known
as maize in many parts of the world; but in the United States,
Canada, and Australia it is corn. It was so named by English
colonists who applied an old Anglo-Saxon word which had
several meanings.

Originally corn referred to a small hard grain, such as a
grain of sand, of salt, or of cereal, and is used thus in the
Bible passage "a corn of wheat," and in the expression "corned
beef," meaning beef cured with grains of salt in a brine. Later,
according to the use of the word in the "Corn Laws," corn
also meant all of the English cereals, which then were wheat,
barley, and oats. Einally corn was employed also to designate
the principal crop of a country — oats in Scotland, wheat in
England. It is this English use of corn for wheat which
appears in the King James version, "There is corn in Egypt,"
and "Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn."

English settlers in the American colonies, recognizing the
Indian grain as the principal crop, gave it the name "Indian
corn," or merely "corn," which is appropriate and prophetic,
because corn has become the principal crop of the United
States, exceeding in production and value all its other cereal
crops combined. Many Americans do not realize this fact
because most of the corn never leaves the farm where it is
grown.

The beginning of corn is lost in antiquity. Until recently
it was believed to have been developed in Middle America
from the seed of a wild grass known as teocentli. Now some
botanists adopt the theory that both teocentli and corn have
come from a common ancestor, long extinct; while some be-
lieve that corn was originally developed from an unknown
wild growth in the lowlands of South America. In any case
the development of corn by prehistoric Indians is the most
remarkable achievement in the history of agriculture. Of all
grains, corn is the most completely domesticated, being the
only one that cannot sow itself and take care of itself. It

Southwest ^1/useum Leaflets

must be husked, shelled, planted, cultivated, and hilled, usually
fertilized, sometimes irrigated, and finally harvested. Other
grains, oats for example, have closely related wild relatives
such as the two species of wild oats in California, which in ^
hundred years or so have spread through the length of the
state. They probably came in as packing in the ships in San
Francisco Bay, or in the fleece of Spanish sheep, or with the
seed of other grains.

Not only is corn the most highly developed of all the grains,
but because of that fact it is believed by some prominent
botanists to be the oldest of all grains; and if this be so,
there was a basis for civilization on this hemisphere earlier than
anywhere else.

The Indians developed a great many varieties of corn, which
fall into five principal classes — flint corn, dent corn, flour corn,
popcorn, and sweet corn.

Some varieties of corn require 180 days to mature, whereas
that developed by the most northerly Indian farmers could be
harvested in less than half that time. In some places the cul-
tivation of corn was very extensive, Columbus reporting corn-
fields 18 miles in length.

In prehistoric times the distribution of corn extended from
Patagonia to Canada. When Columbus, returning to Spain,
took some seed corn with him, he was extending the distribu-
tion of the crop that was to bring vastly more wealth to the
world than all the gold the Spaniards so ruthlessly stole.

Nowadays, as a world crop, corn probably is exceeded only
by rice and potatoes, having surpassed wheat in volume, a
fitting climax to the achievement of the prehistoric Indian
agriculturists.

Cotton — Until Columbus came to America, most of the
people of the Old World did not have cotton, but dressed in
linen, wool, or leather. Before the Christian era, a cotton
with a very short staple was indeed known in India, Abyssinia,
and some other lands; but the present long-staple cotton of
Egypt, the Argentine, Brazil, Peru, Russia, the United States,
and other principal growing countries must be credited to the
Indians, who developed it from the small wild growths they
discovered, probably in Mexico and South America.

The importance of long staple (staple meaning the cotton
fiber) lies in the fact that the longer the staple the stronger
the fabric which is manufactured from it.

Present names for the most important varieties are "Upland"
for a medium long-staple cotton, and "Sea Island" for an ex-

Southwest iD/useum Leaflets

ceedingly long-staple cotton. Sea Island is named from the
islands off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina where for-
merly it was grown.

The commercial value of the world's crop of Indian long-
staple cotton reaches figures of incredible magnitude.

Tobacco — Tobacco is exclusively an Indian product; but
after Europeans discovered its use it was distributed so widely
throughout the world and adopted by so many peoples in dis-
tant lands that now it is difficult to picture it as having once
been confined to the Western Hemisphere.

The tobacco plant first was brought into Europe in 15 58
by Francisco Fernandez, a physician who had been sent by
Philip II of Spain to Mexico to investigate its agriculture. For
some years tobacco in Europe was regarded as a medicinal
plant only.

It was Sir Walter Raleigh who, in honor of the Virgin Queen,
gave the name Virginia to the region covered by the patent
Elizabeth granted him for colonization. The claim to Vir-
ginia then extended from Newfoundland to Florida and west-
ward to the Pacific. Although he never visited Virginia, Sir
Walter financed out of his private fortune the first two un-
successful attempts at settlement there, which were in what
is now North Carolina near Cape Hatteras. Sir Francis Drake
searched for the earlier Roanoke colony, where the discouraged
governor, Ralph Lane, and his settlers asked Sir Francis to take
them back to England, which he did. This was in 15 86 when,
so far as known, Ralph Lane was the first person to smoke
tobacco in Europe.

Ralph Lane had brought with him from Virginia a quantity
of Indian tobacco and tobacco pipes with which he supplied
his patron, Sir Walter Raleigh, and taught him to smoke. Sir
Walter being a gentleman of fashion, the Elizabethan courtiers
followed his lead, and soon the custom of smoking commenced
to spread.

Life went badly with Sir Walter Raleigh, however, and in
1618 he was beheaded. About the last thing he did before he
walked to the block was to smoke a pipe of tobacco.

The pipe-makers of London became an incorporated body
in 1619. Throughout the XVII century the custom of smok-
ing spread far and wide in spite of opposition by priests and
statesmen, severe laws, flogging, excommunication, and even
capital punishment.

Tobacco was introduced into France by a French consul
to Lisbon, Portugal, — Jean Nicot, from whose name is derived

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the term nicotine. Later, French aristocrats set the fashion
of taking snuff from exquisite snuffboxes. In time this fash-
ion was copied in England by the upper classes, among whom
snuff-taking largely supplanted smoking for many years. Mean-
while the habit of chewing tobacco grew rapidly, especially
among sailors and Americans.

The word tobacco is Indian, probably from the Taino word
tabaco, meaning the pipe in which it was smoked, though it
may mean tobacco leaves rolled for smoking.

There are many different species of tobacco, several of which
were grown by the Indians. Two species were evidently cul-
tivated by Indians in South America; and in pre-Columbian
times one or both of these had been distributed over most of
South America and as far north in North America as the cli-
mate permitted cultivation by Indian farmers, which was in
Canada. Both of these species are still grown, one much more
than the other, and in all the countries in the temperate and
tropic zones of the world.

Rubber — When early British golfers were playing with
a ball made of feathers packed into a leather cover, Indians
were playing a game with a ball made of rubber. For untold
centuries before the time of Columbus, Indians had known
and used rubber, and they were the only people anywhere of
which this can be said. Very elaborate stone ball-courts were
erected in Middle America to provide a suitable place for their
ball games, which were religious in character, and ball-courts
probably of similar significance were used as far north as
northern Arizona.

When the Spaniards first saw rubber balls, they were
amazed at the remarkable way they would bounce. Not only
balls, but many other articles, including waterproof bags and
the- original "gum boots," were manufactured from rubber
by the Indians, for they had mastered the required processes
just as they had devised ways for obtaining the sap and treat-
ing it.

Several kinds of rubber trees were utilized, principally in
Middle America and in the valley of the Amazon. Nowadays
most of the planting of rubber trees is in distant countries,
but it is well to remember that all of it is rubber of the
American Indians.

Long after the time of Columbus the name rubber was
applied by the English, who first used the product to rub out
pencil marks.

To people who ride on rubber and to all nations who wish

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to win wars, it would be difficult to exaggerate the im-
portance of rubber as a crop, as we learned during the re-
cent war.

Beaxs — Not all beans came from the Indians. The broad-
bean of Europe, Asia, and Africa is featured in the old
fable of Jack-the-Giant-Killer. This is the only bean that
the early Anglo-Saxons knew, and it is what the word bean
really means.

Soy beans came from China. The Persians and some of
the Orientals had small-seeded beans from time immemorial;
but most beans as they are known today in the Americas
and in many other parts of the world were developed by
prehistoric Indians.

Lima beans carry the name (mispronounced with a broad /)
of the city in Peru founded by Pizarro, from which they
were shipped. Frijoles (free-ho'-laze) still have the name for
the common Indian beans given them by the Spaniards. In
France, American Indian beans are grown extensively and
are called haricot (ar'-e-ko) from the Nahuatl (Nah'-wah-tl)
language, the tongue of the Aztecs, with whom the word is
ayecotli.

Kidney beans are a variety of field beans. The kind of
field bean known as "navy" has a seed coat which does not
absord moisture readily, hence its traditional use by ocean-
going ships before the days of canning. Pole, dwarf (usually
referred to as "bush"), wax, and string are types of garden
beans. All these carry modern names for the beans the early
Indians developed from the wild growths they discovered
probably in Middle America and South America.

The pre-Columbian distribution of beans covered most of
the tropic and temperate zone regions of North and South
America.

Squashes and Pumpkins — Squashes and pumpkins are
classified by botanists as belonging to the gourd family, of
which there are representatives in the Old World as well as
in the New World.

The English colonists, on seeing a yellow vegetable growing
in the cornfields of the Indian farmers, gave it the name
pumpkin, a word from the Greek pepon, meaning mellow,
ripe. However, the word squash is thoroughly Indian, being
an abbreviation of one of those long Massachusetts Indian
words, askut as quash, meaning "eaten while green".

American pumpkins and squash occasionally were referred

Southwest Museum Leaflets

to by European travelers as melons, and this gave rise to the
belief that melons were native to the Western Hemisphere,
which is incorrect.

There is much confusion as to which are pumpkins and
which are squash. Common names do not help much. The
so-called summer squash, such as crook-neck squash and
scallop squash, are pumpkins; and among the winter squashes
the mammoth Chile squash takes first prize at county fairs as
the biggest pumpkin. In England all large squashes are called
pumpkins. Vegetable marrow, so popular there, is a variety
of the American pumpkin.

American squash and pumpkins were developed probably
in Middle America and South America, and their prehistoric
distribution extended well over both western continents.

Tomatoes — Whether or not the tomato was poisonous was
a question that aroused controversy in times past; but nowa-
days the tomato is known to be wholesome, a great source of
vitamins, and a valuable addition to the modern table. The
United States leads all countries in appreciation of its merits.
The word is Indian, derived from the Nahuatl tomdtl. It is
believed that the plant was developed in South America; and
its pre-Columbian distribution was in South America and
Middle America. By the time Europeans arrived there were
several distinct species of tomato, and a great many varieties.
In the United States we ordinarily see only one of these species.

Chocolate — Hot chocolate was not known to the Aztecs.
They drank their's cold, but with a liberal addition of chile
pepper in it; and they called it chocoldtl. The Spaniards
improved it by the substitution of sugar for the fiery chile;
and the English, about the year 1700, gave it the finishing
touch by the addition of milk.

Chocolate comes from the seed of a tree. Both seed and
tree were called in the Nahuatl Indian language cacduatl
(kah-kah'-wah-tl). This was corrupted in Spanish to cacao
(kah-kah'-o) , which became its first scientific name and
was widely used until a peculiar corruption in English re-
sulted in the word cocoa, formerly pronounced ko-ko'-ah,
now ko'-ko. Following the general adoption of the word
cocoa, came the trade-name of cocoa-beans for the seeds,
cocoa-shells for the husks, cocoa-nibs for the roasted seeds,
cocoa-butter for the oil, and cocoa for powdered chocolate
(minus some of its oil), and also for the beverage made from
that powder.

10 Southwest jD/useum Leaflets

The trees have been extensively planted in other lands,
notably in West Afric.a, where the crop is much greater than
in the homeland, tropical America; but nowhere are the trees
more treasured than in Mexico, where the Aztecs used the
seeds as the basis of a complete monetary system.

While "a cup of chocolate" has held its unique place through
the centuries, the greatest increase in the use of the product
has been as food and a confection.

Peanuts — The peanut plant has a very odd way of matur-
ing its fruit; the flower stalk bends downward and plunges the
pods into the earth to ripen, which explains why often it is
called the groundnut.

Peanuts are famous at circus time, especially when used to
feed the animals; this is the reason why in England peanuts
are called "monkey nuts".

Another name is goobers, a term derived from the wide-
spread Bantu language of Africa, and brought to this hemi-
sphere by -negroes. The term is generally used for peanuts in
the Southern states. During the Civil War the name "goobers"
was given to conscripts of the wooded districts of North
Carolina and adjoining states. During the campaigns in Vir-
ginia and the Carolinas a great many soldiers first became
acquainted with the growing of peanuts, and when they "beat
their swords into plowshares", they extended the cultivation
of the crop into other states. Now the annual value of the
crop in the United States runs into millions of dollars.

Probably originally developed by the prehistoric Indians of
Brazil, the peanut is at present cultivated in all tropical and
sub-tropical countries of the world.

Strawberries — In Europe and Asia there were wild straw-
berries before the time of Columbus; but the present culti-
vated strawberries of America were originally developed from
the two varieties of the wild berries that are native to this
hemisphere, both of which were cultivated by the Indians.
These are the Chilean, which grows along the Pacific coast
of South and North America, and the Virginian, common
over the eastern and central parts of North America.

Probably it was not until the 17th century that the English
brought under cultivation the wild species of Europe, and
it was still later that, by introducing the American species,
they improved their own varieties of strawberries, which are
small and not very sweet.

Southwest Museum Leaflets 11

The name strawberry probably was given because the
runners of the plant somewhat resemble straws; though it is
possible, as popularly believed, that the name came from the
custom of strewing straw between the rows to keep the fruit
from the ground.

Pineapples — In his usually accurate Diary, John Evelyn
of London wrote: "9th August, 1661. I saw the famous
Queen Pine brought from Barbadoes and presented to his
Majesty [Charles II]; but the first that were ever seen in
England were those sent to Cromwell four years since." But
seven years later Evelyn made the entry: "19th August, 1668.
In the banqueting house . . . standing by his Majesty at
dinner there was that rare fruit called the King Pine, grow-
ing in Barbadoes and the West Indies, the first of them I had
ever seen. His Majesty, having cut it up, was pleased to give
me a piece off his own plate to taste of."

Pineapples being established by royal favor as a desirable
luxury, wealthy families ultimately grew them in England
in hothouses. But the growing of pineapples in Europe was
largely discontinued when their cultivation had reached ex-
tensive proportions in the Canary Islands and the Azores.

During this century pineapples have been grown so ex-
tensively in the Hawaiian Islands as to give the impression
that they are native there; however, all pineapples came from
tropical America.

The name pineapple was given because the fruit somewhat
resembles a pine-cone, the word apple being used in the old
English meaning of fruit.

Avocados — The Spanish word for advocate is abogado,
and as this sounds somewhat like the Aztec name ahuacatl
(ah'-wah-cah-tl) , some of the Spaniards used avocado as the
name for the pear-shape fruit. By an even more unfortunate
corruption the name is transformed into "alligator pear",
which botanists hope will be discontinued.

In its wild state the avocado tree was found in Mexico and
Central America, and in South America into Peru and Brazil.
It was transplanted by the Indians and cultivated in their
orchards. In recent centuries it has been introduced into
India, Mauritius, Reunion, and other tropical regions.

Jerusalem Artichokes — The Jerusalem artichoke did not
come from Jerusalem, but probably from Canada and the
upper Mississippi valley, where its tuberous roots provided an

12 Southwest Museum Leaflets

important food for the Indians, who planted it in their fields
and cultivated it.

The plant was early introduced into Europe, where it is
raised in considerable quantities. In places it is called sun-
flower-artichoke, as it is a species of sunflower. The Italian
word for sunflower is girasolc (jeer-ah-so -lay) , and by a
surprising corruption this is rendered Jerusalem.

Tapioca — A deadly poisonous plant is bitter manioc; but
back of its poison is great food value. How the Indians knew
this is still another of the unsolved achievements of the ab-
origines. They developed the technique of grating the large
roots and pressing out the poisonous juice, and producing
tapioca, cassava bread, and Brazilian arrowroot.

Manioc, or more accurately manihot, is the native name of
the plant in Brazil, where probably it was developed. There
are two maniocs, the bitter and the sweet. The latter is not
poisonous, but is not grown in the main area. Bitter cassava
is one of the names of the plant, cassava being the Spanish
form of the Taino (Tai'-no) Indian word cassaii. Tapioca
is a native Brazilian word meaning "juice removed". The
word arrowroot has an interesting history; originally it meant
a root used to absorb poison from a wound inflicted by a
poisoned arrow.

Manioc has been transplanted into Africa and the Malay
archipelago, where it is a large and important crop. Its pre-
Columbian distribution was from the middle of South America
northward to Cuba and Central America.

Quinine — De Soto's death probably was due to malarial
fever, which some Indians would have known enough to cure
by using quinine. Quinine comes from a bark named cinchona,
after Countess Ana of Chinchon, wife of the Spanish viceroy
of Peru, whose life was saved in 163 8 by quinine obtained
from an Indian. The word quinine itself comes from a Spanish
corruption of the Indian term quinquina, in the Quechua
tongue, the language of the Incas.

The method of getting the cinchona bark was to cut down
the trees, which grew in the forests of Columbia, Ecuador,
Peru, and Bolivia. In 18 54 the Dutch government obtained
several hundred trees, which were planted in Java and have
resulted in almost a monopoly of quinine.

Maple Syrup — Not only in Vermont, but northward into
Canada, westward into Minnesota, southward into Florida,

Southwest sD/useum Leaflets 13

wherever there were sugar maples, there the Indians made
maple sugar.

In getting maple sap in the early spring and in making it
into sugar, the Indians devised the methods that are con-
tinued today, though when they boiled the sap they did it in
pottery kettles and even in wooden troughs and containers
made of bark into which they put hot stones. It is the
Indian we can thank for that delicious product, genuine
maple syrup.

This product was of great importance to the Indians in
getting a satisfactory diet; and so far as diet is concerned it
is probable that 500 years ago the American Indians had the
best balanced diet in the world.

Chicle — From humble beginnings, the chewing-gum in-
dustry has become big business, built on chicle (chee'-klay) .
This principal ingredient of "gum" is from a tree, also named
chicle, that yields one of the finest white resins in the world.
This is in Middle America, where, during the rainy season, the
Indians extract the resin by a process similar to that for ob-
taining rubber. The Indian name in the Nahuatl language
is chictli.

Incidentally, the wood of the tree is of remarkable value.
The Maya carved logs of it into beams for their vast temples,
where it has withstood the ravages of time for a thousand
years.

Vanilla — No wonder vanilla has a delightful flavor. It
is from an orchid, a fragrant climbing variety native to
tropical America, but now cultivated extensively in Java,
Tahiti, Mauritius, and other islands of the tropics. The word
vanilla is from Spanish vainilla, referring to the long slender
pod {vaina) containing the seeds.

The Indians originated the technique of obtaining vanilla
extract by picking the pods before they were ripe, drying
them, and then removing the crystals from outside the pods.

Tonka Beans — Bathing was a feature of Roman civil-
ization; but with the arrival of the Dark Ages the bathtub
practically disappeared from Europe for more than a thou-
sand years. Even as late as the time of Columbus the use of
soap was very limited, but perfumes were exceedingly popular.
Consequently, when Europeans learned that the Indians of
Guiana had discovered the exquisite fragrance of the tonka
beans, — the fragrance of "new-mown hay", — they took the

14 Southwest Museum Leaflets

beans to Europe to aid the perfumery business. The perfumers
used tonka beans as an ingredient in sachet powder and in
perfumers' bouquets. Nowadays tonka beans also are used
for flavoring smoking tobacco, perfuming snuff, and adulterat-
ing vanilla.

The name tonka probably is a corruption of Tongking, as
at one time the beans were used extensively in mixing with
tobacco grown in Tongking, French Indo-China.

The beans are derived from the majestic tonka tree, eighty
feet high, native of tropical America.

Cashew Nuts — A tropical American tree of the cashew
(ka-shoo') family has been so extensively naturalized in
Africa and Asia that many people mistakenly believe cashew
nuts had their origin in those continents.

The American Indian devised the method of treating the
nuts to counteract a highly corrosive poisonous juice. The
Indian's method was to roast the nuts in the shell, and this
treatment today is what makes cashew nuts so palatable and
wholesome.

Pepper — The era of Columbus was a time when there
were no ice-boxes; so pepper and other spices were needed
from India to disguise the condition of meat. That was why
Columbus planned a short-cut to India by the water route.
The Spaniards did not find black pepper; all of that comes
from southern Asia. But in America they did find red pepper,
which was even more potent, — so the long voyage was justified.

Thereafter pepper plants were grown extensively in the
Old World, resulting in the theory that red peppers were
native of Eurasia, even some botanists sharing in this mis-
understanding. But recently botanists have determined that
it is from plants developed in tropical America that the
world obtains all of its red pepper — Cayenne pepper (the
name of a seaport in French Guiana) , chile peppers (a Mexican
name), tabasco (name of a state in Mexico), pimiento (from
a Spanish word), and even Hungarian paprika.

Cocaine — Probably centuries before people in the Old
World had any anesthetic whatsoever, Peruvian Indian sur-
geons were successfully performing difficult operations with
the aid of coca leaves, the source of cocaine.

The prehistoric distribution of cultivated coca plants was
in western South America and Panama in North America.
They were very extensively grown by the Incas in their

Southwest <=D/useum Leaflets

15

terraced gardens. Nowadays most cocaine comes from Java,
which has an extensive cultivation of the coca plant, whose
original habitat was Peru and Bolivia. The word coca is from
the Quechua Indian language of those countries.

Some of the crops of minor importance, either first culti-
vated or first utilized by the Indians, now grown in various
parts of the world are:

allspice

anil (indigo; one species

native to America)
arracacha
arrowroot
Barbadoes cherry
Brazil nut
butternut
cascara sagrada
chayote
cherimoya
chinkapin
copaiba

copal (certain varieties)
cranberries (only certain

varieties)
custard apple
fustic

gourds (certain varieties)
guava
guayule
henequen
hickory

ipecac

logwood

mamey apple

maypop (passion-flower

fruit)
oca

papaya

Paraguay tea (mate tea)
pawpaw
pecans

persimmon (one species)
Peruvian balsam
quinoa
sapote
sarsaparilla
sassafras
sisal hemp
sour-sop
star apple
stramonium
sweet-sop (sugar apple)
tolu
yam (one variety)

Here endeth the tale of the crops that the modern world
acquired from the ancient Indians.

INDEX TO PRODUCTS

Alligator pear, 11
Allspice, 15
Anil, 15
Arracacha, 15
Arrowroot, 15
Artichoke, Jerusalem,
Avocado, 2, 11
Barbadoes cherry, 15
Batata, 2, 3
Beans, 8
Brazil nut, 15
Butternut, 15
Cacao, 9

Cascara sagrada, 15
Cashew nuts, 14
Cassava, 12

Cayenne pepper, 14
Chayote, 15
Cherimoya, 15
Chewing gum, 13
Chicle, 13
11 Chile pepper, 14

Chinkapin, 15
Chocolate, 9
Cinchona, 12
Coca, 14, 15
Cocaine, 14
Cocoa, 9
Copaiba, 15
Copal, 2, 15
Corn, 4
Cotton, 5

16

Southwest jD/useum Leaflets

Cranberries, 15

Custard apple, 15

Frijoles, 8

Fustic, 15

Goober, 10

Gourd, 8, 15

Ground nut, 10

Guava, 15

Guayule, 2, 15

Haricot, 8

Henequen, 15

Hickory, 15

Indian corn, 4

Indigo, 15

Ipecac, 15

Irish potato, 3

Jerusalem artichoke, 11

Kidney bean, 8

Lima bean, 8

Logwood, 15

Maize, 4

Mamey apple, 15

Manihot, 12

Manioc. 12

Maple sugar, 12

Maple syrup, 12

Mate tea, 15

Maypop, 15

Monkey nuts, 10

Murphies, 3

Navy beans, 8

Nicotine, 7

Oca. 15

Papas. 3

Papaya. 15

Paprika, 14

Paraguay tea. 15

Passion-flower fruit, 15

Pawpaw, 15

Peanuts, 10
Pecans, 15
Pepper. 14
Perfume. 13
Persimmon, 15
Peruvian balsam, 15
Pimiento, 14
Pineapple, 11
Potato, 2
Pumpkin, 8
Quinine, 12
Quinoa, 15
Red pepper. 14
Rubber, 2, 7,
Sapote, 15
Sarsaparilla, 15
Sassafras, 15
Sisal hemp, 15
Sour-sop, 15
Spuds, 3
Squash, 8
Star apple, 15
Stramonium, 15
Strawberries, 10
Sugar apple, 15
Sweet potato, 2
Sweet-sop, 15
Tabaco, 7
Tabasco. 14
Tapioca. 12
Teocentli. 4
Tobacco, 6
Tolu, 15
Tomato. 9
Tonka beans, 13
Vanilla, 13
Vegetable marrow, 9
White potato, 2
Yam. 2, 3. 15

Price
(postpaid)

Navaho Weaving, Its Technic and History, by Charles
Avery Amsden. Second Edition, 1949. Published by the
University of New Mexico Press in cooperation with
Southwest Museum. 283 pp., 123 pi. (including 7 in
colors), 12 figs. -------- ----- - - 7.50

Prehistoric Southwesterners, from Basketmaker to Pue-
blo, by Charles Avery Amsden, with an Introduction by
Dr. A. V. Kidder. Elaborately illustrated. $3.50; cloth
binding, 75c extra. Special terms to Museum members.

Thirty-two Adobe Houses of Old California. Reproduc-
tions of watercolors by Eva Scott Fenyes, descriptive
text by Isabel Lopez de Pages. 80 pp., inch 32 pi., one
in colors. (The colored plate of the Guajome ranch-
house, with description, sold separately at 25c.) - - 2.50

How to Build a California Adobe, by M. R. Harrington.
Published by The Anderson-Ritchie Press with the co-
operation of Southwest Museum, 63 pp., 32 illus., cloth
bound ------ ----- - . _ - 2.50

Southwest Museum Handbook — An illustrated guide to
the Museum and its collections -------- 0.10

Casa de Adobe Handbook — An illustrated guide to this
replica of an early California ranch-house - - - - 0.15

THE MASTER KEY — A popular magazine devoted chiefly
to the work of the Southwest Museum in American ar-
cheology and ethnology. Volumes I to IV consist each
of eight monthly issues. Volume V and subsequent vol-
umes comprise six issues each, except Volume VI which
is complete in five numbers. Published bi-monthly. Vol-
umes I and II are out of print. The current (1953) vol-
ume is No. XXVII. Subscription rate, $1.50 a year; sin-
gle available numbers 0.25

(Free to members of the Museum.)

Publications of the Frederick Webb Hodge Anniversary Pub-
lication Fund — Administered by the Museum.

I. The History of Haivikuh, Neio Mexico, one of the
So-called Cities of Cibola, by F. W. Hodge. 1937.
• xviii, 155 pp., 26 pi., 2 maps, heavy paper cover - 3.00

II. Inca Treasure as Depicted by Spanish Historians,

by S. K. Lothrop. 1938. 75 pp., 5 pi., 13 fig. - - 2.00

III. Cultural Relations in the Plateau Region of North,
western America, by Verne F. Ray. 1939. 154 pp.,
30 maps. (Out of print)

IV. The Serinte, by Curt Nimuendaju, translated and
edited by Robert H. Lowie. 1942. xii, 106 pp., 3 pi.,

4 fig., map - - - - - --_-__. 1.75

V. Childhood and Youth in Jicarilla Apache Society,

by M. E. Opler. 1946. xii, 170 pp., 2 pi., 8 fig. 3.00

VI. Five Prehistoric Archeological Sites in Los Angeles
County, California, by E. F. Walker. 1951. 116 pp.,
50 pi., 20 fig. 3.50

LEAFLETS OF THE SOUTHWEST MUSEUM

1. Comhusk Bags of the Nez Perce Indians, by Anne

Wynian. (Out of print)

2. The Blackfoot Beaver Bundle, I, by Walter McClintock 10c

3. The Blackfoot Beaver Bundle, II, by Walter McClintock 10c

4. America's Earliest Man, by Charles Amsden - - . 15c

5. The Blackfoot Tipi, by Walter McClintock. (Out of print)
tj. Painted Tipis and Picture-writing of the Blackfoot

Indians, by Walter McClintock. (Out of print)

7. Dances of the Blackfoot Indians, by Walter McClin-

tock. (Out of print)

8. Blackfoot Warrior Societies, by Walter McClintock - 30c

9. Ancient Tribes of the Boulder Dam Country, by M. R.

Harrington. (Out of print)

10. Indians of Southern California, by Edwin F. Walker

(Third edition) -----___-___ 25c

11. The Ancient Basketmakers, by Charles Amsden.

(Superseded by Prehistoric Southwesterners)

12. California Indian Baby Cradles, by Bertha Parker Cody.

(Out of print)

13. List of Publications of the Southwest Museum - Free

14. Hopi Indians of Arizona, by Alexander MacGregor

Stephen. (Out of print)

15. Indians of the Plains, by M. R. Harrington. (Out of

print)

16. The Xavaho, by Frances E. Watkins. (Second edition) 30c

17. World Crops Derived from the Indians, by Edwin F.

Walker. (Third edition) -------- 25c

18. America's Indian Background, an Introduction to the

Subject of Indians in the United States Area, by
Edwin F. Walker. Accompanied with a map (21 by 28
inches) showing the distribution of the Indian tribes
of North America when they first came in contact
with white people, prepared by Dr. A. L. Kroeber of
the University of California. (Second edition). - 45c
(The map may be obtained separately for 25c)

19. Hopi Toys, by Frances E. Watkins - 20c

20. Mohave Tattooing and Face-painting, by Edith S. Taylor

and William J. Wallace ---------- 25c

21. Blackfoot Medicine-pipe Ceremony, by Walter Mc-

Clintock 25c

22. Mohave Etiquette, by George Devereux ----- 25c

23. Hupa Warfare, by William J. Wallace 25c

24. Bows and Arrows, by Clarence Ellsworth - - - - 25c

25. The Hopi Indians, by Ruth DeEtte Simpson - - - $1.00

A COMPLETE LIST OF THE MUSEUM PUBLICATIONS
WILL BE SENT ON REQUEST.

University of
Connecticut

Libraries

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