Note 16 — RAW MATERIALS; COLLECTION, AND PREPARATION

Peritoma serrulatum (Pursh); synonyms: Cleome serrulata, and Cleome integrifolia; (Wooton and Standley, 1915, p. 290). Stevenson wrote: “It is said that among the Cochiti, Santa Clara, and some other pueblos a vegetable matter is employed to produce some of their decorative designs; this, however, I was unable to verify, though some of the Indians assured me of the fact, and furnished me a bunch of the plant, which Dr. Vasey, of the Agricultural Department, found to be Cleome integrifolia, a plant common throughout the Western Territories” (1883, p. 331). Again, “That of the decorated class is ornamented with the juice of Cleome integrifolia, which is fixed to the ware in the process of burning” (loc. cit., p. 430). Harrington writes: “This is a very important plant to the Tewa, inasmuch as black paint for pottery decoration is made from it. Large quantities of young plants are collected, usually in July. The plants are boiled well in water; the woody parts are then removed and the decoction is again allowed to boil until it becomes thick and attains a black color. This thick fluid is poured on a board to dry and soon becomes hardened. It may be kept in hard cakes for an indefinite period. When needed these are soaked in hot water until of the consistency needed for paint. Guaco is also used as a food. The hardened cakes are soaked in hot water, and then fried in grease. The finely ground plants are mixed with water and the liquid is drunk as a remedy for stomach disorders; or sometimes fresh plants wrapped in a cloth are applied to the abdomen” (1916, a, pp. 58, 59). (It should be noted that the accounts obtained by the writer from the informants of San Ildefonso do not agree in detail with the one given by Harrington.) Mrs. Stevenson wrote of Zuñi: “Water from boiled Cleome serrulata (Mexican name waco) is mixed with black pigment (a manganiferous clay containing organic matter) in decorating pottery” (1904, p. 375); and in more detail: “The entire plant, minus the root, is boiled for a considerable time, and the water in which it is cooked is allowed to evaporate. The firm paste secured from precipitation is used in conjunction with a black mineral paint for decorating pottery” (1915, p. 92).