SEMINOLE FOOD

How Seminole People Met Their Needs of Food

• All communities must rely on the availability of food resources for their survival.

• In the past, Seminole culture depended on a healthy ecosystem. They relied on what nature provided.

Hunting and Fishing

Early Seminole people hunted and fished, just like other Indian peoples.

Hunting was more like a sport game for men in the tribe; they used bows and arrows to hunt, and spears to catch fish. Later men began to use muskets to hunt deer.

• The Seminole people usually hunted: . wild turkeys

. deer . rabbits . alligators . raccoons

and occasionally bears.

Fruit & VegetablesThe Seminole were also farmers.

Women grew gardens of corn, beans, squash, and Indian potatoes.

They also cultivated small patches of pumpkins, sugar cane, rice, sweet potatoes, and fruits such as: bananas, huckleberries, melons, and grapes.

They gathered wild plants like coontie (Zamia), the root of which was used to make flour.

Raising Livestock

The draining of the Everglades in the early 1900’s caused the wild animal population to decrease. To compensate for the loss of food sources, hunting was replaced by livestock. Seminoles started to raise cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, etc.

Manner or Eating HabitsSeminole people did not eat three meals a day, like most of us do today. They only ate when they felt hungry. In fact, food was always available so people could eat anytime during the day.

Meals were cooked and served in the eating house, which was a large building in the village. Women cooked for the entire village over an open fire. Therefore, there was always hot soup or stew kept warm on the fire.

Seminole Meals

Seminole Meals

Seminole woman preparing traditional fry bread

Typical meals for the tribe includedcornbread, fry bread, soups, stews, and hominy.

Nowadays, they use traditional foods for special events. •Hominy, made of corn•Fry bread, made of flour •The Sofk, a drink made of grits and

roasted corn, .

For every day meals, the Seminole people eat just about the same kind of food that everyone else does. They enjoy going shopping, buying groceries and eating pizza, but they also enjoy eating some of their traditional food, such as hominy and fry bread.

WHAT SEMINOLES EAT TODAY

Resources

• http://www.seminoletribe.com/culture/SeminoleFood.aspx

• http://www.bigorrin.org/seminole_kids.htm

• http://www.members.tripod.com/~shamm/food.htm

• http://www.mce.k12tn.net/indians/reports1/seminole2.htm

• http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/education/guides/Inquiry_Boxes_FL_Native_People_Seminole-Part4.pdf

• http://www.fnps.org/palmetto/bennett_bradley_c_an_introduction_to_the_seminole_people_of_south_florida_and_their_plants__part_ii__seminole_plant_use_vol_17_no_3_fallwinter_1997.pdf