Indian Food

It's commonly known that in the early years of Native American history, hunting and fishing provided food for many tribes. Like other things that are considered Native American tradition, what they ate varied among the tribes. This depended a lot on the location of the tribe, as a tribe living in Alaska didn't have the same diet as a tribe living in the Great Plains. Some Indian tribes stayed in one place throughout the years, while other tribes moved frequently. This as well played a huge role in determining their diets. Indian food, while widely varied, was generally obtained in one of three ways.

Hunting and fishing is probably one of the most popular ways the tribes obtained food. They originally used spears to hunt and fish, but later switched to using a bow and arrow. When hunting some tribes would use migrate to follow the heard of larger animals like bison. They would try to cut off their escape paths making them easier to catch. Other tribes hunted smaller animals like deer or rabbit. Most tribes had fishermen and they part of the country they lived in would determine what types of fish they would eat. Indian food consisted of pretty much any animal on land and because the Native Americans had strong beliefs about wasting food they would even try to eat things like porcupine or any other animal they had killed for another reason.

While tribes often hunted and fished to get meat, they would also combine that with other means like gathering or farming to get a more varied diet. They would farm things like corn, sunflower, sweet potatoes, and wild rice to eat along with their meat. Corn was a popular crop and most Native Americans grew corn. They would also gather food that grew in the wild. This would include picking berries to eat or obtaining things like honey or maple syrup.

The Native Americans liked their food fresh. They served meat with little or no seasoning on it. Indian food tended to be plain. Things like fish were often smoked and sometimes baked. Meat was often roasted over a fire, sometimes they chose to grill it instead. Some sweeter foods like fruit or maple syrup were used to make puddings or candy for a treat. Most Native American drank water with their meals. While Indians were creative in choosing the food they ate, they tended to eat like they lived, simple.