- How well we know the stereotype of the rugged Plains
Indian: killer of buffalo, dressed in quill-decorated buckskin, elaborately
feathered headdress, and leather moccasins, living in an animal skin teepee,
master of the dog and horse, and stranger to vegetables.
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- But this lifestyle, once limited almost exclusively to
the Apaches, flourished no more than a couple hundred years. It is not
representative of most Native Americans of today or yesterday. Indeed,
the "buffalo-as-lifestyle" phenomenon is a direct result of European
influence, as we shall see.
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- Among my own people, the Choctaw Indians of Mississippi
and Oklahoma, vegetables are the traditional diet mainstay. A French manuscript
of the eighteenth century describes the Choctaws' vegetarian leanings in
shelter and food. The homes were constructed not of skins, but of wood,
mud, bark and cane. The principal food, eaten daily from earthen pots,
was a vegetarian stew containing corn, pumpkin and beans. The bread was
made from corn and acorns. Other common favorites were roasted corn and
corn porridge. (Meat in the form of small game was an infrequent repast.)
The ancient Choctaws were, first and foremost, farmers. Even the clothing
was plant based, artistically embroidered dresses for the women and cotton
breeches for the men. Choctaws have never adorned their hair with feathers.
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- The rich lands of the Choctaws in present-day Mississippi
were so greatly coveted by nineteenth century Americans that most of the
tribe was forcibly removed to what is now called Oklahoma. Oklahoma was
chosen both because it was largely uninhabited and because several explorations
of the territory had deemed the land barren and useless for any purpose.
The truth, however, was that Oklahoma was so fertile a land that it was
an Indian breadbasket. That is, it was used by Indians on all sides as
an agricultural resource. Although many Choctaws suffered and died during
removal on the infamous "Trail of Tears", those that survived
built anew and successfully in Oklahoma, their agricultural genius intact.
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- George Catlin, the famous nineteenth century Indian historian,
described the Choctaw lands of southern Oklahoma in the 1840's this way:
"...the ground was almost literally covered with vines, producing
the greatest profusion of delicious grapes,...and hanging in such endless
clusters... our progress was oftentimes completely arrested by hundreds
of acres of small plum trees...every bush that was in sight was so loaded
with the weight of its...fruit, that they were in many instances literally
without leaves on their branches, and quite bent to the ground... and beds
of wild currants, gooseberries, and (edible) prickly pear." (Many
of the "wild" foods Anglo explorers encountered on their journeys
were actually carefully cultivated by Indians.)
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- Among my own people, the Choctaw Indians of Mississippi
and Oklahoma, vegetables are the traditional diet mainstayÖThe ancient
Choctaws were, first and foremost, farmers.
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- Many of the Choctaw foods cooked at celebrations even
today are vegetarian. Corn is so important to us it is considered divine.
Our corn legend says that is was a gift from Hashtali, the Great Spirit.
Corn was given in gratitude because Choctaws had fed the daughter of the
Great Spirit when she was hungry. (Hashtali is literally "Noon Day
Sun". Choctaws believe the Great Spirit resides within the sun, for
it is the sun that allows the corn to grow!)
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- Another Choctaw story describes the afterlife as a giant
playground where all but murderers are allowed. What do Choctaws eat in
"heaven"? Their sweetest treat, of course: melons, a never-ending
supply.
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- More than one tribe has creation legends which describe
people as vegetarian, living in a kind of Garden of Eden. A Cherokee legend
describes humans, plants, and animals as having lived in the beginning
in "equality and mutual helpfulness". The needs of all were met
without killing one another. When man became aggressive and ate some of
the animals, the animals invented diseases to keep human population in
check. The plants remained friendly, however, and offered themselves not
only as food to man, but also as medicine, to combat the new diseases.
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- More tribes were like the Choctaws than were different.
Aztec, Mayan, and Zapotec children in olden times ate 100% vegetarian diets
until at least the age of ten years old. The primary food was cereal, especially
varieties of corn. Such a diet was believed to make the child strong and
disease resistant. (The Spaniards were amazed to discover that these Indians
had twice the life-span they did.) A totally vegetarian diet also insured
that the children would retain a life-long love of grains, and thus, live
a healthier life. Even today, the Indian healers of those tribes are likely
to advise the sick to "return to the arms of Mother Corn" in
order to get well. Such a return might include eating a lot of atole. (The
easiest way to make atole is to simmer commercially produced masa harina
corn flour with water. Then flavor it with chocolate or cinnamon, and sweeten
to taste.) Atole is considered a sacred food.
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- It is ironic that Indians are strongly associated with
hunting and fishing when, in fact, "nearly half of all the plant foods
grown in the world today were first cultivated by the American Indians,
and were unknown elsewhere until the discovery of the Americas." Can
you imagine Italian food without tomato paste, Ireland without white potatoes,
or Hungarian goulash without paprika? All these foods have Indian origins.
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- An incomplete list of other Indian foods given to the
world includes bell peppers, red peppers, peanuts, cashews, sweet potatoes,
avocados, passion fruit, zucchini, green beans, kidney beans, maple syrup,
lima beans, cranberries, pecans, okra, chocolate, vanilla, sunflower seeds,
pumpkin, cassava, walnuts, forty-seven varieties of berries, pineapple,
and, of course, corn and popcorn.
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- Many history textbooks tell the story of Squanto, a Pawtuxent
Indian who lived in the early 1600's. Squanto is famous for having saved
the Pilgrims from starvation. He showed them how to gather wilderness foods
and how to plant corn.
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- More than one tribe has creation legends which describe
people as vegetarian, living in a kind of Garden of Eden. A Cherokee legend
describes humans, plants, and animals as having lived in the beginning
in 'equality and mutual helpfulness'.
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- There have been thousands of Squantos since, even though
their names are not so well-known. In fact modern day agriculture owes
its heart and soul to Indian-taught methods of seed development, hybridization,
planting, growing, irrigating, storing, utilizing and cooking. And the
spirit of Squanto survives to this day. One example is a Peruvian government
research station tucked away in a remote Amazon Indian village called Genaro
Herrera. University trained botanists, agronomists and foresters work there,
scientifically studying all the ways the local Indians grow and prepare
food. They are also learning how to utilize forests without destroying
them, and how to combat pests without chemicals.
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- The trend that moved some North American Indian tribes
away from plant food-based diets can be traced to Coronado, a sixteenth
century Spanish explorer. Prior to his time, hunting was a hobby among
most Indians, not a vocation. The Apaches were one of the few tribes who
relied heavily on animal killing for survival.
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- But all that changed as Coronado and his army traversed
the West and Midwest from Mexico. Some of his horses got away and quickly
multiplied on the grassy plains. Indians re-tamed this new denizen, and
the Age of Buffalo began.
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- Horses replaced dogs as beasts of burden and offered
excellent transportation. This was as important an innovation to the Plains
Indians as the automobile would be to Anglos later on. Life on the Plains
became much easier very quickly.
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- From the east came another powerful influence: guns.
The first American settlers brought their firearms with them. Because of
the Indian "threat", they were soon immersed in weapons development
and succeeded in making more accurate and powerful weapons. But they also
supplied weapons to Indians who allied themselves with colonial causes.
Because it was so much easier to kill an animal with a rifle than with
a bow and arrow, guns spread quickly among the Indians. Between the horse
and the rifle, buffalo killing was now much simpler.
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- The Apaches were joined by other tribes, such as the
Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapahos, Comanches, and Kiowas. These tribes "lost
the corn", gave up agriculture, and started living nomadic existences
for the first time. It wasn't long before their food, clothing, and shelter
were entirely dependent on one animal, the buffalo.
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- George Catlin lamented this fact as early as 1830. He
predicted the extinction of the buffalo (which very nearly happened) and
the danger of not being diversified. Catlin pointed out that, were the
Plains Indians only killing a buffalo for their own use, the situation
might not be so grave. But because the great beasts were being slaughtered
for profit, they were destined to be wiped out.
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- Conversely, the tribes who depended little or not at
all on animal exploitation for their survivalÖare thriving and growing,
having assimilated without surrendering their culture..
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- It was the white man who profited. There was an insatiable
Eastern market for buffalo tongue and buffalo robes. In 1832, Catlin described
a wholesale buffalo slaughter carried out by six hundred Sioux on horseback.
These men killed fourteen hundred animals, and then took only their tongues.
These were traded to whites for a few gallons of whiskey. The whiskey,
no doubt, helped to dull the Indian talent to make maximum use of an animal.
Among the tribes who did not trade with whites, each animal was completely
used, down to the hooves. No part went to waste. And buffalo were not killed
in the winter, for the Indians lived on autumn dried meat during that time.
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- But now buffalo were killed in the winter most of all.
It was in cold weather that their magnificent coats grew long and luxuriant.
Catlin estimated that 200,000 buffalo were killed each year to make coats
for people back East. The average hide netted the Indian hunter one pint
of whiskey.
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- Had the Indians understood the concept of animal extinction,
they may have ceased the slaughter. But to the Indians, the buffalo was
a gift from the Great Spirit, a gift which would always keep coming. Decades
after the disappearance of huge herds, Plains Indians still believed their
return was imminent. They danced the Ghost Dance, designed to bring back
the buffalo, and prayed for this miracle as late as 1890.
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- In spite of the ease and financial incentives of killing
buffalo, there were tribes that did not abandon the old ways of the Plains.
In addition to the farming tribes of the Southeast, tribes in the Midwest,
Southwest, and Northwest stuck to agriculture. For example, the Osage,
Pawnee, Arikaras, Mandans, Wichitas, and Caddoans remained in permanent
farming settlements. Even surrounded by buffalo, they built their homes
of timber and earth. And among some of the Indians of the Southwest, cotton,
basketry, and pottery were preferred over animal-based substitutes like
leather pouches.
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- Catlin was eerily accurate when he predicted dire consequences
for the buffalo-dependent tribes. To this day, it is these Indians who
have fared the worst from assimilation with other races. The Sioux of South
Dakota, for one, have the worst poverty and one of the highest alcoholism
rates in the country. Conversely, the tribes who depended little or not
at all on animal exploitation for their survival, like the Cherokee, Choctaw,
Creek, and Chickasaw, are thriving and growing, having assimilated without
surrendering their culture.
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- In the past, and in more than a few tribes, meat-eating
was a rare activity, certainly not a daily event. Since the introduction
of European meat-eating customs, the introduction of the horse and the
gun, and the proliferation of alcoholic beverages and white traders, a
lot has changed. Relatively few Indians can claim to be vegetarians today.
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- But it was not always so. For most Native Americans of
old, meat was not only not the food of choice, its consumption was not
revered (as in modern times when Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving as
if it were a religious duty). There was nothing ceremonial about meat.
It was a plant, tobacco, that was used most extensively during ceremonies
and rites, and then only in moderation. Big celebrations such as Fall Festivals
centered around the harvest, especially the gathering of the corn. The
Choctaws are not the only ones who continue to dance the Corn Dance.
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- What would this country be like today if the ancient
ways were still observed? I believe it is fair to say that the Indian respect
for non-human life forms would have had a greater impact on American society.
Corn, not turkey meat, might be the celebrated Thanksgiving Day dish. Fewer
species would have become extinct, the environment would be healthier,
and Indian and non-Indian Americans alike would be living longer and healthier
lives. There might also be less sexism and racism, for many people believe
that, as you treat your animals (the most defenseless), so you will treat
your children, your women, and your minorities.
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- Without realizing it, the Indian warriors and hunters
of ages past played right into the hands of the white men who coveted their
lands and their buffalo. When the lands were taken from them, and the buffalo
herds decimated, there was nothing to fall back on. But the Indians who
chose the peaceful path and relied on diversity and the abundance of plants
for their survival were able to save their lifestyles. Even after being
moved to new lands they could hang on, re-plant, and go forward.
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- Now we, their descendants, must recapture the spirit
of the ancient traditions for the benefit of all people. We must move away
from the European influences that did away with a healthier style of living.
We must again embrace our brothers and sisters, the animals, and "return
to the corn" once and for all.
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- Rita Laws is Choctaw and Cherokee. She lives and writes
in Oklahoma. Her Choctaw name, Hina Hanta, means Bright Path of Peace,
which is what she considers vegetariansim to be. She has been vegetarian
for over 14 years.
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