Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-03-01
ARoRIGINAL FARNIERs.
How the Original Inhabitants of the
Country Conducted = cricuIture.

ABORIGINAL FARMERS.
How the Original Inhabitants of the
Country Conducted griculture.
The abOrigines OF this country. says the (
Boston Budget were better acquainted I
with tae cultivation of plants than most |
savage races are when they firat come un-
der the notice of civilized people. The [
methods they pursued in raising corn and |
tobacco are still followed. IL is 10 be re- !
Tretted that go little care was taken ia [
prcscryin record OF how they conducted
many oi their farming operations as prac- |
ticed in the East.
Women were the aboriginal .gai-ie-
gaids,' OF farmers, Of North America, for
the savage lords OF the soil sc0rned tiIlage
as does a modern shCp-bOy, and passed
their time IN fighting or hunting or in fish
ing, although they never refused 20 eat
the products Of the soil. When new
field was 10 be cleared up in "wonne-
squam-sauEe,' the squaws would take
their hatcLets made # sharpened stone
and -irdle the trees 10y bTuisng off a wide
circle OF the bark; INC -e-ieeg-i-kWai-
wug,' as they called this employment.
the next spring. twelve months after
heaping dry limbs and leaves around the
decayed trunks, they would apply fire,
and while the flames consumed the dead
giants of the forest, and the heat killed
the roots 9f the UndcTbrush, the ashes
would leave the soil mellow and IN fine
heat. \ field thus titled would be used
br generations. thus proving the excel
fence of wood ashes IS fertilizer for In
dian corn.
Great care was taken by the Indians 20
select for seed the best ear for ''skamOOn,'
which was their name for Indian corn,
although they had distinct appellations
for the white, the red, the yellow and the
black varieties, all of which they pos
s. ssed, aud kept pOtt1-e fish and flesh of
all sorts, either new taken or dried, as
sbal, GELS, alewiYts, or a kind of herring,
o- amy other sort OF fish. Bus they dried
mostly those sorts before mentioned.
rIese th6y eat In pieces. bones and an,
and b0ied ,hem ia the aforesaid pot.8ge.
Also they boiled i'm this termenty an sorts
of flesh taken in hunting, as venis0n,
bears flesh, beaver, moose, otter or rae
coon. cut I'm small pieces. They also
mixed with IL several sorts Of roots, as
Jerusalem aTtichOke and ground nuts and
other roots, and pumpkins and squashes.
Also several kinds of masts, as oak
acGrE~. chcstnuts, Wainuts-these husk-d
and arisd and powdered, they thicken ID
this PottaZc herewith
Melons We're raised in great abund-
ance, as were also gOurds OF all sizes,
from the large ''cGlabash" that would
hold two or three gallons to the tiny re-
ceptacle for pigm. nts used in painting for
war. From the sap OF the maple they
made "A course grained sugar, which,
when mixed with freshly pounded Indian
meal and seasoned with dry whOrtleber-
ries. was baked into q dainty dish for
hl-u festivals. The dried meats OF Oil
nuts. rounded and boiled in water, was
their beverage at such fcaSts. and from
the green wax of the bayberry they made
candles with rush Wicks, which gave
cl-ar light, and yielded n pleasant
fragrance while burning.
''Mishmin' in the Algonquin tongue
signiiied apple, although it is the opinion
OF some learned writer's that this fruit
was unl nOwI before the arrival Of Euro
peans. / have in my possession, however,
several o4d printed compilations OF early
vOyagcTs, each Of which reckO2s apples
among tie early native fruits. and unless
crab stOce1 were found ! do not clearly
see how the large orchards mentioned by
the early writer's cOuld have been made
productive SO soon. AiC. WC}cCtt. a q IS
tmguished Connecticut magistrate, wrote
m 1873 certainly not more IMAM nye Years
alter tins colony was fist planted: Il
made 900 hOgshe3dS Of cider out Of nv
0 "a orchard in one year" Tais would
nave been almost impossible had ne been
+ Obliged To raise Lis orchard from seed, or
/ even had he carried trees OF such size as
. c 3uld have been transported through the
7 tracklesS wilderness. The apple may not
/ be indigenous TO the soil of y w TT =
+ land, and yet the Indians may have
+ possessed IT,, as they did Indian corn.
which undoubtedly came from the South,
ana which was never found growing wild.
After the spring burning, when the oaks
began to Leaf the SquaWS would cultivate,
: OF. rather, would root up the fields with
the fat shCulGcr-blades OF the moose, and
then marx the future hills by making
small holes (abOut 1 ieet apart with n
rude hoe, tee blade of which was large
clam shell. Into each hole they would
put an alcwife. caught in some adjacent
stream, or a horseshoe crab from the sea-
shore, and on the stimulant drop and
cover q half dozen grains of corn. The
land thus planted was guarded against
fhe deprCdatiOns of the birds, and, as the
corn crew, the earth was scraped around
the stalks with clam-Shells until the hills
were feet high, & mode Of culture super
seeded by blowing. although some persist
in iabOTiOusly following 1t at the present
day. Generally the stalks grow 6 or S
feet in height, bearing two ears each, and
we are told that there were eight rows,
containing thirty grains, or over, on an
ear. Early in September the ears were
plucked, leaving the stalks and leaves
TO enrich the ground, and were
carried in back-baskets to their
wigwams. There the corn was
placed, unhusked, on frames resem-
bling the fish flakes of our tins, under
which a smOldering fire was kept up.
When the corn was thoroughly dried it
was husked, shelled, and packed in large
birch-barR boxes, which were buried in
the ground below the action of the frost.
Sometimes. when they cooked this corn,
it was soaked in I've until the hull came
OF, then dried again, pounded in a wood
en- mortar and called 'nausamp," which
was boiled with venisOn fat and Bit of
dried salmon to give Il flavor. "OmO-
nee'' was the dried corn, simply cracked
in a stone mortar and then boiled; sup
palln' was the corn meal, sitteG through
a basket, which they baked into cakes on
Hat stones. The warriors and hunters,
however. when away from home, subsist-
ed ON simple parched corn, supply Of
which they carried with them. Roger
Williams speaks Of having travelled
with near 200 Indians at once, near 100
miles through the woods. every man car
rying a little basket of this at Lis back
sufficient Tor one man three or four days.
They call It "n0cake."
Several varieties Of beans We're raised
with corn; that the fall dish of ''musick-
ouatush," or green corn, might be en-
i0ycd. i was not. however like the
''succOtash' OF orr day). simply com
posed Of corn and beans, for GOOdkin tells
Us that "they frequently boil in this"
Certain II Is that they mad orchards 81
peaches and OF cherries ana OF plums,
stores of which were dried for winter use.
Huge grapevines entwined many forest
tree. and there was an abundance of ber-
res. Small patches OF tobacco. too. were
cultivated BY squaws of every chIeftaiu,
and the medicine men, had their apOthe
cary wigwam so well stocked that they
would be considered invaluable nOw-a-
days by the disciples of DR.. Thompson, or
the good CID danes who find a panacea
for every i'll in a nice cup OF '-yarb tea.'
Their wigwams were constructed of
sapplngs. set INTO the ground in a circle,
and then drawn together at the top until
they formed a cOnical frame some . or 10 1
feet high at the apex. This was covered
with thick mats, or with large sheets OF
birch bark Sc we'd together with the dried
siuews Of the deer. and ''Calked" with
some resinOus gum. In the centre was
stone hearth, with an opening above II
for the escape of smoke, and the only
article Of furniture was a large couch.
elevated about a foot from the ground
and spread with skins and mats. Birch
bark boxes were used 10 hold clothing
AID provisions, while the frame work of
the wigwam was hung with war clubs,
l,ou-s arrows fiShing-spearS, hoes, axes