ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on the uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of Pinon. Pinon nuts are evident in the firepots of the Gatecliff Shelter, Nevada, carbon-dated at 6000 years. Nuts considered main article of subsistence by Indians of California, Nevada, and Utah, eaten raw or, more frequently, roasted. The pinon wood was used in Indian construction. The pitch was used as glue for waterproofing jugs, as a black dye for blankets, and to repair pottery. Navajo smeared pinon pitch on a corpse prior to burial. Pinon is reported to tolerate severe climatic conditions, including low relative humidity, very high evaporation, intense sunlight, low rainfall, hot summers, slope, weeds, and alkaline soil. Pinon is considered a staple food for some Indian groups, both for themselves and as an article for selling at markets, especially in New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico.
