Prehistory on the Pecos:
Daily Bread/Healing Balm
April 8, 2006

On April 8, 2006, 25 participants, along with SHUMLA staff and volunteers gathered for a day of learning about local plants.

After opening comments, the day's activities began with an introductory lecture given by Dr. Phil Dering. This presentation provided an overview of local plant communities and included a discussion of how local plants provided many of the raw materials used by Native Americans for food, medicine, tools, clothing, paint, housing, dye, cordage, baskets, etc.

The participants were then divided into two groups and started different activities.  One group went on a plant walk, lead by Patty Leslie Pasztor.  She took the group around the SHUMLA campus area identifying specific plants and discussing their growing conditions and uses.  A display was laid out in the shade structure where she identified plants and discussed their various uses as dyes and/or medicinals, and the technologies required to use them for those purposes.

The other group, lead by Dr. Phil Dering, walked to the site of an earth oven that had been prepared a couple of days before the program. Part of the oven was opened, the baked lechuguilla was removed and taken to the pavilion for processing.  There the leaves were pounded, the edible portions were removed and formed into "agave cakes" which, when dried, provide an easily stored, easily carried, long-lived source of food. The remaining parts of the leaves were then prepared and the fibers contained in them were stripped out.  After this, everyone went through the process of turning the fibers into cordage.  It's more difficult than it looks! Next came a discussion of archeobotany by Dr. Dering including the opportunity to examine various plant parts, seeds, and other items using stereoscopes.

Both groups gathered at the pavilion for a demonstration by Dr. Carolyn Boyd.  She discussed the manufacture of paint using locally available materials and how the rock art produced with that paint was critical to the survival of the people who made it.  Participants then used that paint to create their own rock art.

After lunch the two groups reversed their schedules and participated in the opposite activities from the morning.

Having completed this schedule everyone grouped back at the pavilion for snacks and a break, followed by a demonstration of friction-fire starting by Nathan Martinez and Joshua Brown.  This was followed by a wrap-up lecture and a question-and-answer session.

Dinner came next, a feast of rabbit, quail, bison (meat)balls, vegetables and ice cream, prepared by the SHUMLA School staff and volunteers.

Everyone left, having had an exciting day of learning about the plants of the Lower Pecos at SHUMLA.

For information about the next Prehistory on the Pecos program, contact the program division at programs@shumla.org or call the SHUMLA office
(432-292-4848).