Paleo Foraging

Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.

Synonyms: = L. leucantha, L. vulgaris, Cucurbita lagenaria

Common names: Bottle gourd, dipper gourd, calabash

Dakota: wamnuha / wakmu (Gilmore 1977:64)

Lakota: wagmuha (Gilmore 1977:64)

Navajo: ‘atee’ – “someone’s horn” (Elmore 1944:79)

Ojibwe: jica’wîgan – “hollow like” (Smith 1932:400)

Omaha-Ponca: peḣe (Gilmore 1977:64)

Osage: ini-iže (Munson 1981:235)

Location in Texas: E TX; introduced.

Form: herb, vine; annual.

Notes: the species is probably native to Africa.

Food

Fruits – the gourds were eaten by the Ojibwe before the rind hardened and the fruits were young (Smith 1932:400).

Material

Fruits – the hollowed-out gourd filled with gravel, corn kernels, or Arisaema triphyllum seeds was the rattle instrument of the Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, Winnebago, Pawnee (Gilmore 1977:64), Navajo (Elmore 1944:79), Cahinnio, Quapaw (Foster 1998:254,276), Karankawa (Kress et al. 1931:41), Asinai (Hatcher 1927b:291, Hatcher 1927d:173), and Ojibwe (Smith 1932:400).

The gourds were made into cups, ladles, and dippers by the Navajo (Elmore 1944:79), Iroquois (Waugh 1916:68), Osage (Munson 1981:235), Hopi (Hough 1897:39), and Ojibwe (Smith 1932:400).

Bottle gourd remains were found in an archeological Caddo site (Fritz 1993:160).

Notes – cultivated by the Dakota, Omaha, Ponca, Winnebago, and Pawnee (Gilmore 1977:64).

Experimentation

The gourds make excellent water bottles, bowls, cups and other vessels. Once they’re dried, I cut them open and scrape them out. They hold water just like that, with no further preparation.

If I cut off the thin top and scrape it out with a long instrument, I can make a cork out of a corn cob for an excellent lightweight bottle, that only barely seeps through the corn cob cork when upside down.

I cut one in half for bowls or cups, depending on the size. I like to rub some flax oil inside and out to better preserve it. The tops can also be made into funnels.

Given that water-holding vessels are extremely important, but somewhat difficult to make (basketry vessels) or fragile (pottery vessels), bottle gourds could be considered indispensable by hunter-gatherers.

That’s likely the reason some tribes cultivated bottle gourd before any food plants.