Title
Purple Sunflower
Subject
UMMAA cat #15415
Description
Scientific Name: Helianthus sp.
Hopi Name from 1935 field notes: Ta' qa qa: y
Source of Seeds: Old Hopi type, pure strain
Crop Management: Grown in sandy dunes. Down below. Planted in watermelon patches after the melons have come up. Planted in the later part of May to grow faster. Harvested at the same time as watermelons.
Harvesting and Storage: Harvested by cutting heads off and drying after being brought in. Shelled. Stored anywhere in the house. Keeps pretty well.
Properties and Use: Profitable crop. Used for Dye. Seeds boiled in water, the water is drained off for the dye, and the seeds are eaten. Everything dyed with it, Moccasins, leggings, knit leggings. Never as body paint. Eaten. "Allum" with it as a mordant on woolen materials.
Hopi Name from 1935 field notes: Ta' qa qa: y
Source of Seeds: Old Hopi type, pure strain
Crop Management: Grown in sandy dunes. Down below. Planted in watermelon patches after the melons have come up. Planted in the later part of May to grow faster. Harvested at the same time as watermelons.
Harvesting and Storage: Harvested by cutting heads off and drying after being brought in. Shelled. Stored anywhere in the house. Keeps pretty well.
Properties and Use: Profitable crop. Used for Dye. Seeds boiled in water, the water is drained off for the dye, and the seeds are eaten. Everything dyed with it, Moccasins, leggings, knit leggings. Never as body paint. Eaten. "Allum" with it as a mordant on woolen materials.
Source
Hotevlla
Navajo County, AZ
Navajo County, AZ
Date
October 14, 1935
Contributor
Alfred Whiting, Volney Jones, Edmund Nequatewa
Relation
Museum of Northern Arizona B.1793
2014 UM Museum Anthropology students' blog post discussing what they learned about this item from contemporary Hopi community members.
2014 UM Museum Anthropology students' blog post discussing what they learned about this item from contemporary Hopi community members.