How Do Native Americans Eat What Did They Eat

The biggest change over time in our eating habits has been how involved we are with our food. In the 1700s colonists grew many of their own crops and hunted their own game. Most individual families also had a dairy cow in their backyard, especially in New England. This was a tradition that they brought back with them from England. They would use the milk for cooking steamed puddings, cheeses, and custards. It also provided colonial families with fresh milk in the morning. Preparing meat was very laborious and difficult in the 1700s. Colonists had to prepare a dead animal, not just parts of it. The cookbook we read in class walked us through how to dress a turtle and the entire process of preparing it used to take hours. This shows that food would not have been made every day. Colonists had to grow their fruits seasonally and did not have the opportunities to go out and purchase what they did not have.

While the Native Americans introduced the Europeans to many new foods, the Europeans also introduced the American Indians to foods they had never come across. Grains

Renata, I totally agree with you that the Native American diet is healthier than the African diet, and due to the variety of foods that they have, there will be more options for them to choose unlike the African diet. I do understand why you picked the Native American diet and I would choose as same as your choice, but don’t you think that nowadays our food became very similar. In other words, globalization made the same food available in different parts of the world. For example, if you visit downtown New Have you will see bunch of Chinese, Thai, Middle Eastern, Italian, and Brazilin restaurants. Most these cuisines will have the same taste as if you eating the Sushi in China or eating the Italian Lasagna in Italy.

Grains such as wheat, rye, barley, oats and rice were shared. Citrus fruits, grapes, onions, cabbage, turnips, cotton, coffee, sugarcane, as well as spices and herbs, were among the many other foods and plants introduced to Native American culture. Also introduced were European religion and culture, new tools for agriculture, and new weaponry such as knives and firearms.

1)Paleo-Indians, the first Americans lived in bands of fifteen to fifty people, and traveled within their territory to hunt. Archaic Indians experienced a warming climate. One of the results of the warming climate was better hunting. Forest grew larger with a greater variety of plants and animals. The changes allowed some Indians to reside in permanent homes. The ample supply of food allowed more peoples to live on less acreage. The weather also allowed for specialization of caring for plants; this was the beginning of controlling crops to better supply the people.

When the Native Americans were forced onto reservations they stopped hunting and preparing their own food. Instead the United States government gave them food that their bodies were not used to digesting. Indians were not used to eating flour, lard, canned meats and poultry that are swimming in fat, and canned fruits and vegetables packed in sugary syrup.

The Native Americans, at the time of the first encounter, were still very culturally and socially primitive compared to the Europeans. They moved a lot, lived mainly of fishing and hunting, spent their time cultivating and used primitive tools and equipment in their daily activities.

When American Indians and Europeans first encountered each other they did not understand the ways to react to the different culture. Many tribes culturally differ from each other as some have cultural similarities. The American Indians would respect the land and would use all parts of the animal prey. They would use the meat for food, use the hide for clothes, shelter and

When red dye came to the world only the rich and powerful could have it.

Before the Europeans arrived, most of the Native American tribes were hunters and gatherers. They grew the three sister beans, corn, and squash. They also grew tobacco, melons and peas. Some documents say they grew wild rice other say that they did not . The Potawatomi were farmers and with growing crops like tobacco you can quickly use all the nutrients in the soil. When the soil was depleted of nutrients the tribe moved to new locations . The Potawatomi tribe hunted Buffalo for food which used to live in the Great Lakes area.

Farming was the way of life for the Indians. Indians had farmed almost all of their food products, with the exception of meats. The farming of corn, wheat, and barley were most intriguing to the Europeans. The Europeans took these new crops back to the Old World where they introduced them to the Kings. Once, the value of these crops was discovered Kings from all over the Old World funded more and more trips back to the New World. According to A. Brinkley (pg. 15), such foods as squash, pumpkins, beans, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes all found their way into European diets. With all their intriguing gadgets, the white men brought deadly diseases to the Native Americans.

There is an evident difference in a variety of cultures and traditions throughout the world. According to Dr. Lucy Long, food culture “refers to the practices, attitudes, and beliefs as well as the networks and institutions surrounding the production, distribution, and consumption of food. It encompasses the concepts of foodways, cuisine, and food system and includes the fundamental understandings a group has about food, historical and current conditions shaping that group’s relationship to food, and the ways in which the group uses food to express identity, community, values, status, power, artistry, and creativity.” (Dr. Lucy Long, lexiconoffood.com). Four cultures and foods related to heath and obesity that are very different are the Chinese,

One of the first and most famous groups that influenced our cuisine is the Native American Indians. The earliest settlers in Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts relied on the American Indians with their way of preparing and cooking food. The three main crops that the American Indians used were corn, beans, and squash. The Native American Indians generously shared and taught their way of life and how they made their food to the settlers. Throughout the forming of the colonies there were many different cultures and eating habits. There were hunters, farmers, and both. Things started to change once the 13 colonies were beginning to be formed.

within their lifestyles. They slowly learned to eat foods such as nuts, grains, roots, and

The topic is not as to if the indigenous peoples had a better diet, it is that today, it is not practical. I consider myself a natural meat eater about once a month. By this definition, I have gone into the wild and harvested wild game (legally). I have had the meat processed, packaged and frozen. Once a month I cook the food. I have deer venison, elk, javelin, mountain lion, and fish. I can explain later how I prepare the venison using family recipes to produce what I think is a good, healthy dish. However, today, in our society, no one cares. It takes too much time, effort, and money. A lot of people have told me they have tried venison before and did not like it. I assume because they did not consider the person that harvested the animal. Shooting an animal, dragging it out through our desert, leaving the cape attached in 100 degree heat, can lead to a bad taste. This relates to my experience and heritage of the correct harvesting methods resulting to a better quality.