Tâpi, Lepus arizonas. The small cottontail is fairly common in river bottoms and on the mesa throughout the Pima country. It is shot with arrows made with a straight point without stone or metal head. It is included in the list of victims that result from rabbit drives in which the hares, Lepus texianus and L. alleni, are the principal desiderata.
Tcirsâny, Ovis nelsoni. The mountain sheep has served as food when obtainable, though it has been many years since they have been abundant.[1]
Tcok tcof, Lepus texianus. There are two species of large hares along the Gila, where they are termed "jack rabbits" by the whites, very few of whom distinguish them apart. The Pimas, however, recognize the difference and call this species the dark or gray, and the other the white, tcof.
Tcuʼtcult, Gallus domesticus. During the late Spanish and the Mexican régime a small breed of fowl was introduced, probably by the Papagos, which in turn gave way to the large varieties brought by the Americans in the last half century. Hens' eggs are eaten either fried or boiled. One of the interpreters confided to Mrs Russell that she economized time and labor by boiling the eggs in the coffee.
Toʼa tcof, Lepus alleni. These are common and utilized for food to a considerable extent. There seems to be no preference for one species of hare over the others, but "none are so good as beef." The stomachs of this hare and of Lepus texianus are used in making cheese.
Vaʼowŏk, Procyon lotor. The raccoon is said to be used for food, though the writer did not see any of the animals or any of their skins during a stay of a year and a half in Arizona.
Vâ’prsa, Thomonys cervinus. Gopher hunts are occasionally arranged in a manner similar to those in which the hares are driven. The animals are poked out of their retreats with sticks and without preparation thrown upon the coals to roast.
- ↑ "Having traversed 4 leagues, we arrived at a town, Tusonimon, which is so named from a great heap of horns, from the wild or sylvan sheep, which appears like a hill, and from the numbers that there are of the animals, they make the common subsistence of the inhabitants." (Juan Matio Mange: Diary extract translated for Schoolcraft, III, 303.) This visit of Mange to the Pima towns was in November, 1697. The discovery of this statement by Mange and also a letter of inquiry from Mr Hodge directed the writer's attention to the significance attaching to the horns of the mountain sheep after he had returned from his sojourn among the Pimas. Inquiry was then made of a number of Pima correspondents and of Mr C.H. Cook, at Sacaton. The latter ascertained from Antonio Azul, the head chief, that the horns of the mountain sheep were never brought home by hunters, which does not agree with Mange's statement. Each man had a place set apart where he deposited them in order that they might exert no evil influence upon the winds or rains. At times the Papagos held rain ceremonies, during which the medicine-men deposited the tails of mountain sheep together with eagle feathers at springs. The same tribe at one time sacrificed some children in their efforts to increase the supply of water, but "Instead of bringing them water this dried up all the springs." A few mountaln sheep remain in the Superstition mountains and in the other high ranges near and on the reservation. When climbing the Sierra Estrella, in March, 1902, the writer saw a flock of five which did not manifest any such fear at the sight of man as do the mountain sheep of British Columbia and the more northern Rockies. Indeed, the Pima chief at the foot of the mountains explained the reason for their indifference very adequately when he declared the sheep were game fit only for the Papagos, who had no fields to look after.
