Native N American crops
Leo A. Martin (Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:49:57 PDT)
Alberto wrote
They travelled large distances to cacti populations and during several
days they ate as much as they could. Upon return home, the cacti were
sown by natural digestive methods.
It gets better. In her book Wendy Hodgson recounts a story from Spanish
friars about the Seri Indians and Stenocereus gummosus, a cactus with
fruit considered better than any other. In season they ate as many cactus
fruits as possible, and hours to days later all the people left their
waste in one spot on large rocks. The following year the cactus seeds were
easily collected from the rock where they had been left. The seeds were
ground to flour, cooked and eaten. The friars were told this after they
ate the delicacy.
Leo Martin
Phoenix Arizona USA