Food Preparation

Although some greens, seeds and berries were eaten fresh, many of the gathered foodstuffs required preparation by pounding and grinding. Bedrock mortars, grinding sticks, pestles, and hand grinders were the essential appliances for food processing. Obsidian knives were used for cutting meat. From twined or coiled baskets to the stone tools used for mashing and pounding, the working tools of the Kawaiisu were all made by hand.

While some foods were eaten raw, others were boiled, parched with hot coals on a flat tray or roasted in a pit oven over hot ashes. Deer meat was made into jerky and used as a trade item. Some foods were dried and molded into cakes for storage.