oulders, was chosen. When the time came
for making the pemmican, two large fires were built of dry quaking aspen
wood, and these were allowed to burn down to red coals. The old women
brought the dried meat to these fires, and the sheets of meat were thrown
on the coals of one of them, allowed to heat through, turned to keep them
from burning, and then thrown on the flesh side of a dry hide, that lay on
the ground near by. After a time, the roasting of this dried meat caused a
smoke to rise from the fire in use, which gave the meat a bitter taste, if
cooked in it. They then turned to the other fire, and used that until the
first one had burned clear again. After enough of the roasted meat had been
thrown on the hide, it was flailed out with sticks, and being very brittle
was easily broken up, and made small. It was constantly stirred and pounded
until it was all fine. Meantime, the tallow of the buffalo had been melted
in a large kettle, and the pemmican bags prepared. These were made of
bull's hide, and were in two pieces, cut oblong, and with the corners
rounded off. Two such pieces sewed together made a bag which would hold one
hundred pounds. The pounded meat and tallow--the latter just beginning to
cool--were put in a trough made of bull's hide, a wooden spade being used
to stir the mixture. After it was thoroughly mixed, it was shovelled into
one of the sacks, held open, and rammed down and packed tight with a big
stick, every effort being made to expel all the air. When the bag was full
and packed as tight as possible, it was sewn up. It was then put on the
ground, and the women jumped on it to make it still more tight and
solid. It was then laid away in the sun to cool and dry. It usually took
the meat of two cows to make a bag of one hundred pounds; a very large bull
might make a sack of from eighty to one hundred pounds.

A much finer grade of pemmican was made from the choicest parts of the
buffalo with marrow fat. To this dried berries and pounded choke-cherries
were added, making a delicious food, which was extremely
nutritious. Pemmican was eaten either dry as it came from the sack, or
stewed with water.

In the spring, the people had great feasts of the eggs of ducks and other
water-fowl. A large quantity having been gathered, a hole was dug in the
ground, and a little water put in it. At short intervals above the water,
platforms of sticks were built, on which the eggs were laid. A smaller hole
was dug at