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Those who were raised with the principle that severe punishment somehow equates to love can truly empathize with the Taihos Indians, an indigenous tribe of Arawaks residing on the island of San Salvador at the time of Christopher Columbus’ voyages. Columbus wrote back to the King and Queen of Spain about his discovery of this society saying "So tractable, so peaceable are these people, that I swear to your majesties there is not in the world a better nation. They love their neighbors as themselves, and their discourse is ever sweet and gentle, and accompanied with a smile; and though it is true that they are naked, yet their manners are decorous and praiseworthy."

 Following this keen insight from landing on the shore of San Salvador, Christopher Columbus proceeded to fulfill his obligation as a good Christian and commenced a rigorous repair job upon a system that apparently was not broken. The Arawaks did not resist being converted to the strangers’ religion; they did, however, have a problem with great numbers of these strangers landing on their shores to thieve the island’s natural resources. Their resistance to the thievery solicited the use of sabres and guns by these strangers until "... whole tribes were destroyed, hundreds of thousands of people in less than a decade..." (Brown, 2). This behavior by the Europeans continued until a pattern developed and spread over the Americas for the four centuries following Columbus’ landing, leaving us only a glimmer of insight into what these cultures were and would be. These facts are not revealed to the reader to invoke pity or introduce yet another melodrama about the betrayal of the Indians. They are simply written to foster an additional respect for the people about whom this research in cultural foodways has been conducted, and perhaps to encourage the reader to truly know who they invite for dinner before extending the invitation. A concentration on the southeastern tribes of North America will be emphasized to show changes in the indigenous subsistence technology and how that in turn influenced how the South eats today.

 For southeastern Indians, there were two major divisions in subsistence labor - one, a gender division, the second a seasonal one. Gender identity among all tribal people was clearly defined in labor division and the seasons, whether cold or warm. This identity dictated what facet of work was to be performed. There was a clearly recognizable balance in this system that relied upon the hunting and gathering of wild foods along with the cultivation of domesticated foods. Many years of research has shown an even proportion of labor division between the two.

 The most general separation in men's and women's subsistence roles was that men obtained the meat and women cultivated/gathered the fruits and vegetables. Of course, there was much more underlying each gender’s economic role than just these simple tasks. Women were the gatherers, planters, harvesters, cooks, tanners, tailors, potters, weavers, and home builders. Each day the Native American women would transform Earth’s valuable resources into life giving and sustaining products for her family. Women worked at cultivating domesticated foods and gathering wild foods, this work being hard and unrelenting. There was little time for leisure in their typical day; however, they were quite comfortable with this role. For example, in the Natchez tribe of what is now Louisiana, the young girls were warned that laziness would disqualify them from marrying a good husband. The rhythm of the seasons dictated the rhythm of women’s tasks, while "... anticipation of the appearance of the first edible greens in the spring, planting of the gardens, harvesting, storage for the long winter, indoor labors during the cold and the dark" (Niethammer, 105) was a cycle which repeated every year of their lives.

 There was little specialization in labor for daily subsistence for southeastern Indian women, such as in the Choctaw tribes of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The duties included working the kitchen gardens situated near their home, cultivating agricultural fields, and cracking corn into meal with a mortar and pestle (see fig #2). Women also gathered most of the wild foods and firewood, often traveling considerable distances to obtain a suitable supply. Their hard work yielded a diverse selection of agricultural foods such as corn, beans, and squash. In Figure one, a Choctaw woman is shown at work at the typical form of food processing.

 The Iroquois called corn, beans, and squash the "Three Sisters" due to their magnificent compatibility in cultivation. All three crops thrive in a moist, heat intensive environment and tolerate the acidic soils of the southeast well. Most importantly, though, their compatibility lies within their ecology which Indians may or may not have understood. Corn removes the essential element, nitrogen, from soil while beans replace nitrogen. When these two species are grown together, nitrogenous exhaustion in soil comes very slowly. This method is sometimes utilized by today’s gardeners. "Along with several other Indian gardening techniques, multiple cropping is still used today by some Southern gardeners." (Hudson, 297-8).

 The most fascinating dimension of the labor, however, is the roots of that labor. The methods by which Indian women were exploiting their natural food resources had a very long history with origins extending back to the Archaic tradition. These methods of cultivation and preparation were perhaps over nine thousand years old, proof of why they should have been respected as teachers instead of fortunate recipients of west European knowledge. The American Indian woman was the backbone of all clans across the continent, not just in the southeastern regions. As a result of this role, one could not say men were preeminent over women in the southeast. Women owned the houses and agricultural fields and in turn enjoyed considerable security and economic independence.

Nancy Ward was an eighteenth century Cherokee woman who fought in battle, spoke in councils, and conducted negotiations with an invading American army in 1781. She was named "War Woman" and "Beloved Woman" by men of her clan. When her uncle, Little Carpenter, attended a council in Charleston, he was shocked when he found no women representing the British colonists in saying, "Is it not true that white men as well as the Red were born of women?"

 The best description of the Native American woman thus far, though, is one offered by Carolyn Niethammer in her book Daughters of the Earth where she states,

While the man was the hunter and the warrior, and essentially destructive orientation, and Indian woman’s activities were turned to the conservation of life. As she wandered the countryside gathering the seeds, roots, and fruits of the land, as she labored in her garden, coaxing the plants to grow, and as she provided clothing and shelter for her family, she felt her oneness with the earth, and her constant concern with growth and life reinforced her unity with the womanly principles of universal motherhood.

 Through the introduction of "essential" technological advances in food preparation and acquisition, European contact may have indeed caused the death of perhaps the most sacred and artistic of all past, present, and future life paradoxes - the Indians acquired true independence by their total dependence on their native environment. That environment was forcefully assumed and in return, the original Americans were handed total dependance on European technology. Was it a fair trade?

 There were not many available role choices among southeastern Indians. Ironically, though, one could choose between being a "woman" or a "man". The man’s role was highly demanding and required the possession of certain character assets in order to gain and keep the respect of his clan. These included agility, great strength, endurance, tolerance for pain, and courage. These high demands may have fostered the previously mentioned "ironic" choice, for some men became "women" who "cultivated fields and carried burdens along with the women" (Hudson, 269). These men actually chose the female role instead of the role commonly associated with males. The early French explorers reported that these assumed roles included sexual intercourse which, if true, would mean the original Americans actually possessed an unconditional acceptance for individuality in sexual identity, one of the most controversial issues today. The typical Indian male, though, seemed to have two primarily important roles, warrior and hunter, which required the previously mentioned male attributes.

 Hunting was a respected activity as it was the most necessary route to acquiring a clan’s animal protein. Several interesting techniques were employed by the southeastern Indians in hunting wild game. In small game seasons, the blowgun, a simple seven to nine foot piece of hollow cane, was used to direct and propel 10 to 22 inch wood-shaft darts embellished with animal hair or thistle down on one end to create an air seal inside the shaft. These blow guns were primarily used by boys and young men. The Cherokees were known to be accurate to sixty feet when hunting fowl or small mammals with the blow gun. A Choctaw may be seen demonstrating the blowgun in figure 3.

 Wild deer was probably the largest contributor of animal protein to the southeastern Indian diet. Due to its availability, nutrition value, and flavor, the majority of southern tribes had a high regard for the deer. The animal’s swiftness and keen senses for avoiding predation were the main contributing factors to the respect Indian hunters had for the deer. Because of this, hunters employed a great amount of reason and imagination to overcome potential prey. Some hunters would save skins from kills to fashion lifelike decoys of the head region which they operated like a hand puppet. The Indians so mastered their mimicry of the deer that several accidental hunting deaths resulted. The Natchez were known to launch an effort often requiring over one hundred men in hunting the white tail deer. They would form a U-shape around the animal with the intent to frighten and tire the deer. Charles Hudson further described the Natchez hunt, "The men gradually closed the circle and ran the deer until it was completely exhausted. When it fell, they picked it up and carried it to the Great Sun (their leader). Afterwards, they killed and quartered it, presenting the meat to the Great Sun, who in turn distributed it to the men who organized the hunt." (279). One can certainly find gratitude for the concept of grocery stores when considering the amount of protocol attached to these historical methods of food procurement.

 The black bear was another highly valued mammal in southeastern hunting, but valued more for the oil that could be extracted from its fat rather than as a staple for food like the deer. This was due to the scarcity of the species owing to its low reproductive rate. The preferred season for hunting bear was winter because the bears’ hibernation habits greatly lessened the challenge in hunting them.

 Birds were also a large food source for southeastern Indians. The wild turkey, passenger pigeon, and several species of waterfowl were readily available. Other small game contributing to the diet were rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, and opossums, the raccoon and opossum making up the two most important sources of small game meat. Among the more regionally peculiar species obtained for food were alligators, manatees, and even the occasional whale that ventured too close to the beach. Fish was a main staple only in southern Florida and along the Gulf Coast. Fish was actually under utilized in the remainder of the southeast due to cultural food taboos that perpetuated avoidances and elaborate rules surrounding fishing. One example of such in Cherokee culture was the odor of decayed fish was seen as highly revolting and dreaming "of decayed fish was a nightmare portending evil" (Hudson, 281). For the southeastern cultures that did eat fish as a staple, obtainment required such methods as spearing, trapping, and netting in fashions that directly parallel those employed in commercial fisheries today. The line and hook method was even used with the hooks being fashioned from deer and turkey bones.

 Though the focus has been mainly on the historical aspects of southeastern Indian foodways, it is surprising how much of the Indian diet carried over into the present day. Here on the Gulf Coast of Florida, mollusks and crustaceans were often a source of sustenance for those Indians and are currently a popular dish served in many restaurants or used in home recipes. Venison is hunted and consumed today, hunters still using trickery to capture the wily deer. Of course, corn, beans, squash, cherries, and other fruits and vegetables still make up common side dishes and desserts, though not commonly used as a main dish as the Indians did.

 Even more interestingly, some foods and plants used by the Indians for medicinal purposes are ingredients in our homeopathic medicines: eucalyptus and wintergreen for sore throats and congestion; aloe to treat burns, and garlic for high cholesterol. It is interesting to note our present day natural medicine "discoveries" actually have ancient roots.

A true appreciation for the means and methods of Indian food production and procurement may only be gathered were one to do extensive and lengthy research as to their daily chores and then to perform those same chores. Though a full insight might take much more than is given here, hopefully, a bit more dimension has been added to the understanding of Indian gardening and hunting methods. The intention is to elaborate on the stagnant vision of the leather-clad plains warrior engaged upon an equestrian pursuit of the bison (which was in fact a style taught by early Europeans) and bring about a more well-rounded understanding of the southeastern Indian foodways.
 
 

References

 2.) Rain, M.S. (1990). Earthways (New York: Pocket Books).

 3.) Hurt, R.D. (1987). Indian Agriculture in America(Kansas: University Press of Kansas).

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