Name: Audrey Deputee

Tribal Affiliation: Crow

Interview No.: CR069AD062904 (Clone)

Topic: The Crow Woman, Drying Meat

Language: Crow

Time Code In: 14:43:53:00

Time Code Out: 14:47:32:20

Tape 1 of 1 - Clone

Q: Could you explain it real simple? If you want to speak in the Crow language, go ahead. Say, “This is what I do when they bring the meat, and so on.”

A: Yes. When they bring the meat, we dry it up outside and that’s when we can slice it in thin strips for drying. If you don’t do that [dry it], we can cut our hands because the meat would be soft. I wait until it dries up, and then I cut it down the middle and then it sort of rolls down [as it is being cut] and then I slice it until I finish to the end, slicing it in real thin strips, the whole thing is now sliced. Then I get a pole and put it up so I can hang the meat over it.

Q: Outside?

A: Yes, I put it outside. I put the meat over the pole and hang it up and I take a little bit of salt and use it [on the meat] so that nothing comes near it [such as flies]. But if the weather is bad outside, I hang the meat up inside. I don’t leave them out. But when it gets evening, I get my meat and bring it inside. As soon as the sun gets down, I’d take them down and put them in the house.

Q: What is the reason for that?

A: When it becomes night there are a lot of bugs that come out and I do not want them touching it [the meat]. That’s why I don’t leave my sliced meat [jerky] outside.

Q: So do you put the salt on the meat?

A: A little bit. Just kind of a little bit of salt on every one of them. That way, the bugs won’t get near the meat because of the salt. Not too much but just a little bit.”

Q: What kind of equipment do you need?

A: Just a sharp knife. A knife that is sharpest.

Q: If you don’t have a sharp knife, what do you do?

A: If your knife isn’t sharp, you can’t use it. We try [to cut], but we can cut ourselves that way. I keep them sharp, I sharpen them all the time.

Q: What do you use the dry meat for?

A: When it’s winter time and we don’t have any meat, I cook it. We might boil it, or we might put it in the oven, then we might barbeque it, it is good.

Q: Do you still do that?

A: Yes, everything. I like it over the fire.

Q: Over the fire like how do you. ..?

A: An open fire.

Q: Do you just throw it on the fire?

A: Yes, with a fork. You pierce the meat with a fork, if you have a grill you can put it on there. These grills are good [modern ones] but I haven’t used one of them yet. I use the actual fire, cook it over the fire, and it is very good when we brown it real good.”

Q: How long does that take?

A: Oh, just a few minutes.

Q: When it gets real brown then do you turn it over?

A: Yes, then you just get it out and then you just eat it.

Q: Do you sell it?

A: I did one time but it’s hard [to dry meat]. It’s hard to do so I don’t sell it anymore.

Q: So you keep it.

A: Yes. Because once in a while Junior brings the meat over here, not all the time, and I save it for myself – for my family.

Q: So you use it all winter long.

A: Yes. For about a few years, for about two years [the dry meat keeps].

Q: Are you teaching your own children how to dry meat?

A: Yes.

Q: How do you teach them?

A: Well the way they teach me, I’m teaching them how I was taught. I tell them, “This is how you do it,” and I do as I was taught. They stand beside me and watch me and they learned it right away.

Q: How many of your children know how?

A: All three of them – the girls.