Native food paragraphs

Native Americans had many ways of cooking. They baked, boiled, and roasted. They made various soups and stews by boiling. This was done often. When water was scarce, they baked and roasted. They baked things in shallow pits with hot coals around the outside. They wrapped food in wet leaves to prevent burning. When they boiled, to assist with the heating process, they took rocks out of the fire and placed them in the water.

Indians gathered the majority of food from fields, as it was eaten every day. They gathered food such as berries and camas, an onion-like food. When they collected acorns, they usually washed, ground, and used them in bread. When they collected rice, they rode in canoes and grabbed the stalks. They beat it with a mallet until all the rice came out. For sap collecting, Indians set up temporary camps by trees and cu a “V” in each trunk. Then sap dripped into a bucket.

Indians got many new foods from settlers. Indians gave them recipes, while settlers gave them pigs and cows. Indians got dairy products from the settlers, also. Indians used these new ingredients in traditional recipes. Indians also used new ingredients to make fry bread.

Before the horse came, Indians had to be innovative in hunting. They wore wolf masks and chased bison off cliffs to be collected at the bottom. When they hunted small groups of animals, like turkey, they set up small, temporary camps. After the horse came, Indians tamed them. They then mastered horseback hunting. Indians knew the best fishing spots, and came back to them every year. To catch massive amounts of fish, they used nets and weirs. A weir is an underwater fence that fish run into. For catching individual fish, they used harpoons, spears, hooks, and lines.

Along with gathering and hunting, Indians also grew food. They grew sunflowers, corn, beans, squash, chilies, peanuts, and pumpkins. Chilies, however, grew only in the southwest. They almost always grew corn, beans, and squash together. The beans could use the corn for support, while the squash shaded the ground and kept it moist. They roasted their sunflower seeds, then brewed them to make a coffee-like drink. They used their fresh corn kernels in stews.