Native American Foods
"There were many nations of Native Americans living on the land that European settlers occupied, and they were the object of much curiosity. Something is known of their foodways at the time the Europeans came to America because explorers, naturalists, and travelers often commented on the Indians, describing what they ate, how they dressed, how they sheltered themselves, and what they hunted or grew for food. Native American tribes across the country lived in different ways, but most grew corn, beans, and squashes, and hunted both large and small animals. They gathered wild fruits, nuts, seeds, roots, and plants. Obviously, the wild foods they used depended a great deal on where they lived. The developed grinding and pounding technology to make flour from grains, seeds, and nuts, and to extract oil. They had cooking containers that allowed them to heat foods in liquid, and they had methods of roasting and baking. They also had food preservation techniques and developed portable foods for traveling... Their primary grain, corn, was cooked and eaten 'green' (ripe but not dry)...Dry corn kernels were also parched, roasted until the kernel swelled slightly and dried...The Native Americans also grew beans, which, like corn, were used, both fresh and dried, or sometimes combined with corn and other ingredients in stews. Beans were also cooked, mashed, formed into cakes, and dried for later use. Indians grew pumpkins and squashes, ate them fresh, and dried them. Wild roots, berries, groundnuts (not to be confused with peanuts), pokeweed, persimmons, strawberries, wild legumes, and many other foods were included in the Native American diet...Although there are no accounts written by the Native Americans themselves of what they ate before the arrival of Europeans, a few descriptions of Indian dishes were recorded by travelers and newcomers, and they make it possible to visualize the Native American dishes through white men's eyes." Food in Colonial and Federal America, Sandra L. Oliver [Greenwood Press:Westport CT] 2005 (p. 128-129)
