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What kinds of things did they eat?



The Huron were horticulturalists, which means they were farmers or gardeners. They grew their own corn, beans, and squash. In this longhouse you can see corn and some things that look like pumpkins. Pumpkins are a type of squash. Why did they grow these three things together? Corn, beans, and squash are called the Three Sisters. Corn and beans have amino acids in them. Amino acids are what we need to make protein. We usually get this from meat, but some people don't eat meat. Some people are vegetarians. They need to find their protein from other foods. Corn and beans have amino acids that complement each other. This means that if you eat them together, you will get a complete protein. If you eat them separately you will have an incomplete diet. The Huron were also hunters and gatherers. They hunted animals like deer, bear, and wolves. They fished from the lakes and rivers around their village. The Huron gathered berries and roots for food, as well as other things that could be used for making different medicines.

Inuit ate only meat and fish. Lichens and moss were the only types of vegetation that grew in the Arctic. The Inuit people did not want to eat the lichens and moss right off the rocks. (Yuck! I don't think you would like to eat moss either!) There was one way that the Inuit could get the nutrients that they needed from vegetation and this might surprise you! Caribou like to eat moss and lichens. When Inuit hunters killed a caribou, they opened up its stomach to see if the caribou had eaten any lichens and moss. If some of this partially digested vegetation was in the stomach, the Inuit would eat it to get the nutrients they needed. This was a delicacy, which means that it was very special and very desired.

The Haida and other Northwest Coast people did not need to grow their own food. They had access to many different kinds of food. Because there was a milder climate, many edible things, as well as things that they used for different medicines grew in the forests around their villages. They were hunters and gatherers. They hunted animals like deer, bear, and mountain goats in the forests and mountains. The Haida also fished in the rivers and lakes. Most impressive, they hunted large sea mammals like seals and sea lions.

Activity: Growing Corn

Corn, beans and squash were domesticated in North America. What does domestication mean?


Domestication means that humans have taken something wild and have tamed it. A long time ago, when people started to populate North America, they had to search for things that were good and safe to eat. When they found something that they liked they would dry the seeds and plant them in them ground year after year. This was what we call trial and error. If something worked, they would keep doing it. If something did not work, they would not repeat it. So, things like corn and wheat once looked like grass with very small seed heads.

What other plants were domesticated in North America?

Africa	Near East	East Asia	Europe	North America	Pacific Islands	South America
sorghum  tef pearl millet  finger millet cow pea African rice yams oil palm  watermelon okra	wheat barley peas chickpeas fava beans lentils  carrots  beets safflower olive fig dates fenugreek	rice millets buckwheat soybean  adzuki beans turnips Chinese radish canola seed apricot peach water chestnut cucumber sesame  tea	oats  rye beets hazelnut plum apple cabbage  almond  pear  lettuce carob onions grape	corn (maize) common bean lima bean chili pepper sweet potato tobacco  sunflower  papaya pumpkin  tomato bottle gourd  squash	breadfruit  sweet potato  taro  arrowroot coconut  yams lemon grapefruit orange mangos bananas cloves black pepper eggplant sugar cane	quinoa common bean manioc squash  tobacco  cacao  sweet potato  potato  cotton  avocado cashews pineapple papaya peanut