In a message dated 3/29/01 10:16:46 PM Pacific Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< Charles, do you think the seeds are better digested cooked than raw? i've
 often puzzled over this one. Also, do you use melon seeds, or is there any
 record of Indian peoples usaing melon seeds? {like watermelon or whatever
 else]. >>
 Andrew:

I've used melon seeds (or was it pumpkin seeds...?).  Anyway, they made a
green cake, which with a little salt was quite palatable, and people were
quite surprised by the pleasant taste. (People are amazingly consevative when
it comes to food. See Siobhan's post...!)

Native people would have used anything. They had over 600 different
foodstuffs here, so anything which could be ground up would have been used.
Melons were grown down on the Colorado river by the Yuma Indians. This is the
only agriculture that was practised in the entire state.

Better cooked - well, cooking is only heating. The natives parched seeds
("lightly roasted") on hot stones. You can eat them uncooked, and the natives
did. They did both. I think parching makes them split, so it's easier to
remove the husk.

Charles