1. EDWARD S. CURTIS. Gathering Wokas - Klamath, 1923. 5.5x7.4" image on 7x8.4" copper plate, framed in a black shadowbox frame. Plate date 1924. From Volume 13, Northern California and Southern Oregon, of The North American Indian. Engraved on plate recto: Gathering Wokas - Klamath / From Copyright Photograph 1923 by E.S. Curtis.

2. EDWARD S. CURTIS. Gathering Wokas - Klamath, 1923. 5.4x7.3" photogravure on 9.4x12.2" Japan Vellum paper, framed in a black shadowbox frame. Print date 1924. From Volume 13, Northern California and Southern Oregon, of The North American Indian. Printed on print recto: Gathering Wokas - Klamath / From Copyright Photograph 1923 by E.S. Curtis.

Curtis described the seeds of the water-lily, Nymphaea polysepala, as being harvested in the latter part of August and throughout September. The nearly ripe pods were plucked and deposited in the canoe, but the mature ones, having burst open, were too sticky to be plucked, and are scooped up in a tule ladle and placed in a basket. After the pods have fermented, the seeds are separated from the mass by stirring in water. They are then dried, parched, hulled, dried again, and stored in bags. Wokas was formerly a staple food, and is still much used as a luxury. In the Klamath marshes around Klamath Lake are thousands of acres of Wokas.

1. Copper Plate: Very Good. Minor scratches, tarnish, dents, abrasions, small dark spots, and ink residue throughout plate surface.
2. Photogravure: Excellent. Slight yellowing on edges.