Iroquois Uses of Maize and Other Food Plants is a reprint of the original study published in 1910 as Museum Bulletin 144, University of the State of New York. Arthur C Parker (1881-1955) was a noted Seneca archaeologist who wrote extensively on the Iroquois and held positions with the New York State Museum and later with the Rochester Museum of Science. In Iroquois Uses of Maize, Parker first outlines the origin of corn, then explores the historical references to corn cultivation among the Six Nations Iroquois. He acknowledges ceremonial customs in a brief section, and devotes a major portion of part one to a description of corn varieties, cultivation terminology, use of utensils, cooking and eating customs, recipes, and additional uses of the corn plant. In the second part of the book, Parker lists the types of beans, squash, vine foods, leaf and stalk foods, fruits, nuts, maple syrup, and foods obtained from roots. In all the lists, Parker includes the Seneca terms for the foods and utensils. Parker spent 10 years researching the material and interviewed Iroquois people in New York, Ontario, and Quebec communities. Included throughout the text are archival photographs and drawings, including four sketches by Jesse Cornplanter. The text includes an index and bibliography. Parker's text may not be as comprehensive as Waugh's Iroquois Foods, but it remains a classic of Iroquois literature written by a Seneca scholar. Anyone interested in Iroquois/Haudenosaunee culture, the culinary arts, and the history of Iroquois agriculture will find Iroquois Uses of Maize a valuable resource.
