Keith Thomas wrote:

> It appears that the North American Indians dried the meat for their
> pemmican in the sun or over a fire. But as I read Stefansson quoting
> Peary, they combined this dried meat with fresh, un-rendered fat by
> pounding the two together - probably using something like a pestle
> and mortar. In the absence of a metal pot I guess that's what they'd
> have to do. However such a process does not enable the removal of
> moisture - which we do to inhibit bacteria-caused decay.
> 
> Any comments?
> 

It will go rancid, still it would be edible for a while, someone would 
have to experiment to see how long.

William