Agriculture - When Cherokees Were Cherokee

agriculture - when cherokees were cherokee agriculture cherokees, like other natives of the southwest, relied on agriculture for only a part of their food supply. hunting, fishing, and the gathering of wild foods, roots, fruits, berries, augmented the cooking pots. every cherokee realized that they were merely caretakers of the land, or "trustee" for future occupants. to them, no one could "own" the land - they could only use or abuse it. towns were occasionally moved, and it is possible that this was in part owing to the fact that the land for these garden plots would gradually become exhausted, as would the firewood supply. as the town became surrounded by more and more useless land, the women would have to walk farther and farther to tend their gardens and gather firewood until at last the town would become an undesirable place to live. fields that had never been used had to be cleared of all vegetation. fields that had been used the year before had to be cleared, in the early spring, of the weeds and cane that had since grown up. although agriculture was principally an activity for the women and children, the initial clearing of the fields, and preparation for the new planting, was done by the men. crops: "the chief cultivated plants were melons, maize, beans, tobacco, peas, cabbages, potatoes, and pumpkins." (gilbert, 316) corn: "inds. in the eastern united states began cultivating beans at about the same time they began cultivating the eastern flint corn, at around ad 800 to 1000. the common bean (phaseolus vulgaris l.) occurs in hundreds of varieties, including kidney, navy, pinto, snap, and pole beans. some of these beans grow on bushy plants, while others grow on vines, requiring that they be planted alongside cornstalks or poles. most of these varieties ripen in about ten weeks. they "began cultivating squash perhaps as early as 1000 b.c., far earlier than they began cultivating corn and beans. they planted the northern species, cucurbita pepo l., a species comprising pumpkins and summer squashes. squash is a good vegetable because it is relatively easy to grow and it is highly productive. some varieties of squash could be stored in a cool, dry place and kept through the winter. "corn, beans and squash were unusually well suited to each other. when grown in the same field they complemented each other, and in recognition of their basic compatibility the iroquois called them the "three sisters"... corn and beans are particularly suited to each other, because while corn removes nitrogen from the soil, beans replace nitrogen, and the soil is therefore exhausted more slowly. moreover, beans and corn complement each other in a dietary sense. corn supplies some of the protein which is essential for good nutrition, but it lacks the amino acid lysine, which, as it turns out, is relatively abundant in beans. thus when eaten together corn and beans are a relatively good source of vegetable protein. "....sunflowers... yielded "large quantities of oily seeds rich in vitamins. with their hard shells, sunflower seeds would have been easy to store for use in winter. and considering the importance of the sun in their belief system, the southeastern inds. would not have failed to notice that the sunflower turns to face the sun when it rises, and then follows it across the heavens to where it sets in the west.

fields were cleared "...of large trees by girdling them with rings cut into the bark. before contact they used stone axes for this, for european steel axes were so superior that they quickly became one of the items which were most desired. ..after the girdled trees died, they were either burned or simply left to stand and rot. fields that had been used the year before had to be cleared in the spring of the weeds and cane that had grown up in the past season. although agriculture was principally a woman's occupation, the initial clearing of the fields was done by men. "the time when crops were planted depended upon the climate. the first planting of early corn usually came in march or april; in the northerly parts the first planting usually came in may. they planted the early corn as soon as the threat of frost had passed, but they waited another month or so before planting the late corn because by that time there were wild foods available to deflect the attention of crows and other pests. early corn was planted in the garden plots in and around the town, and late corn was planted in the large fields in the river bottoms. the garden plots were planted by the women, but the large fields were planted by both sexes. the labor in the large fields was communal. early in the morning of a working day, one of the old leaders would stand on top of a mound or in the plaza and call all of the people out to work. those who failed to come had fines imposed upon them. before the natchez planted seed, they took it to the great sun to have it sanctified. this may have been done in one form or another throughout the southeast. "although labor was communal, the large fields were divided into individual allotments. each household or lineage had its own plot, separated from the others by a strip of untilled soil. all the people worked together on one plot until it was worked up and planted, and then they moved on to another. in some cases an entire field would be cultivated by the people... and its produce turned over to the chief to use for ritual occasions and for redistribution to people in need. planting had a festive quality, and there was always a great deal of singing and joking. they worked the soil with digging sticks and with short hoes that had wooden handles and blades made of shell, flint, or the shoulder blade of a large mammal. the inds. did not till the entire field, but instead worked up small "hills" a foot or more in diameter. this both prevented soil erosion and preserved the fertility of the soil longer than did the plow-agriculture introduced by the european colonists. hills were laid out in straight lines and spaced three or four feet apart in both directions. laying out the corn in a regular pattern made weeding easier later on. in each hill.. they.. made a cluster of four to six holes spaced about one or two inches apart. seed that had been soaked for a day to hasten germination was dropped in, one grain to a hole. a little hill of dirt was then piled over each group of seeds. some of the inds. carefully planted just four grains of corn in each cluster; others probably planted more and thinned out the less robust stalks after they came up. "the kind of soil suitable for riverine agriculture was scarce, and because of its scarcity, the agricultural strategy of the southeastern inds. was designed to produce maximum yield from relatively small fields. they accomplished this by two techniques: intercropping and multiple cropping. intercropping was the planting of several kinds of vegetables mixed together in the same field. as we have seen, corn, beans, and squash complemented each other. the inds. planted corn and beans together so that the bean vines grew up

they twined around the corn stalks. in between the hills of corn and around the edges of the field they planted gourds, squash, pumpkins, and sunflowers, and chenopodium (goosefoot plant) came up wherever they allowed it to grow. "multiple cropping was the planting of two successive crops on the same field in one season. they.. used this technique on their early corn, which ripened early and was picked and eaten green. as soon as they could clear the field of the first crop, they planted another crop in the same field to be eaten later in the season.... "after they planted their corn, cultivation consisted of "hilling" the corn, keeping predators away, and keeping the weeds down. after the corn came up a few inches, they.. hilled it by piling loose dirt around the roots. corn requires a large quantity of water during its growing season, but it also needs good drainage so that the plants do not drown. hilling helps satisfy both of these requirements. furthermore, corn has roots that are relatively weak and shallow for its size, and hilling helps keep the stalks from being blown over by the wind. "people stayed on watch in the fields during the day in order to frighten away bird and animal pests. at night fires were sometimes built around the fields for the same purpose. this job of watching the fields fell to old women, or to young boys under the supervision of old men. watching the fields was a rather dangerous and sometimes fatal occupation because enemies would seize upon the watchman's lack of protection for a surprise attack. (note: there is not one recorded incidence that this ever happened.). "some... employed a particularly clever way of keeping pests out of their gardens. they placed poles around the gardens and on the poles they hung gourd houses for purple martins. purple martins not only consume large numbers of insects each day, but they are also aggressive toward crows and blackbirds, both of which are especially destructive of newly planted corn... also, some "may also have encouraged the nesting of swifts and wrens, which also eat insect pests and chase away crows and blackbirds. "when the corn was about one foot high," they "went through their fields with hoes, cutting down the weeds. some repeated this weeding several times during the summer, but others were less meticulous, letting the weeds grow up to compete with their crops. each they they weeded the corn, they hilled it a little more, until by the end of the summer a noticeable mound of earth was piled around the bases of the stalks. some.. "suckered" their corn by breaking off the secondary shoots which grew at the bases of the stalks. this was to make the ears grow larger, increasing the yield. in august, after growth had stopped, the ears of the late corn were bent down against the stalk to keep water from running into the husk and rotting the corn. "they harvested this late corn as soon as it was dry enough, usually in september or october. each household or lineage harvested its own plot of corn, though in some places the plot assigned to the chief was harvested with volunteer labor from the entire town. they went through the fields collecting the ears of corn in large pack baskets carried on their backs. in some places each household or lineage contributed a portion of its crop to the chief's store. "the last essential step in raising a crop of corn was storing it and keeping it safe from field mice and other animals. in some places.. (they).. stored their corn in cribs raised seven or eight feet from the ground on posts which were polished so mice could not climb them. the crib itself was plastered inside and out with mud.

the only entrance was a small door which was sealed with mud each time it was used. they stacked the ears of corn in rows, with the better corn near the back of the crib, and the poorer corn near the entrance where it could be used first. in other places ..they.. stored their corn in special rooms in the houses in which they lived." ... "sometimes... ears of dried corn "were protected from insects by wrapping each one with grass and then plastering it all over with wet clay mixed with grass. in this manner they were able to keep corn from one year to another." (hudson, 292-299). fields: "in the spring, women walked "a considerable distance from the town" to sow fields of "pompions, and different sorts of melons". they chose to plant when days were longer and warmer and predators might bypass their fields in favor of other succulent foods. by may "the wild fruit is so ripe," wrote adair, "as to draw off the birds from picking up the grain." after planting time, old women guarded outfields form high scaffolds that overlooked "this favorite part of their vegetable possessions" if hungry animals or birds approached, the sentries frightened them away "with their screetches". it was dangerous work, for human predators came first to such far-flung fields and "sometimes kills them in this strict watch duty". long past the age of farming, older women continued to share responsibility for food, even endangering their lives to do so. "community fields of corn, beans, and other staples stretched two to four miles beyond the towns. in addition to small, early corn,... the diversity and sequential planting of staple foods offered a slender margin of defense against crop failures and pest invasions. at the very least, seeds from limited crops could be harvested and stored for the following year. "town priests allotted land to each clan in proportion to their numbers and need. in may, the entire town joined together to plant under the direction of a chosen leader. they began "fellowshiply on one end", continuing across each field "till they have finished all". as they worked "one of their old orators cheers them on with jests and humorous old tales, and sings some of their most agreeable wild tunes". drumming and singing, joking and calling, elders urged on planters while reinforcing town customs and community solidarity. everyone, including chiefs, joined the labor. though disdainful europeans usually described them solely as hunters and warriors, men -- brothers -- also prepared community fields, clan by clan, as selu had instructed. landholdings remained centered in the matrilineage, cared for by male as well as female members. "...farming was a great leveler of social distinctions. community lands meant community crops so that "thire vitols" could be "comen to all people". portions from every clan's field went into the "publick granery", a resource "to repair to in case of necessity". since every family contributed, each could claim an allotment if their own food "falls short, or is destroyed by accidents, or otherwise". the public storehouse also made it possible to offer hospitality to "armies, travelers, or sojourners", as well as neighboring towns. "when fields 'became impoverished', town members left them 'with one consent' and found a fresh spot to clear and sow. old fields then became in important component of a settlement's changing resources. fallowing fields were gradually colonized by useful weeds like poke and by fleshy fruits such as strawberries, maypops, sumac, plums, and persimmon. over time, pioneering shrubs and tree seedlings transformed old fields into patches of secondary growth.

such scrub communities supplied food, medicine, and dye to gatherers and attracted a variety of animals and birds for hunters. bartram journe'd through five miles of such fields "now under grass, but which appeared to have been planted the last season." "...farming skill and fertile soil produced an "abundance of corn, beans, and vegetables" unless disasters intervened; but forces of nature frequently injured or destroyed even the most carefully tended fields. floods, droughts, or crop failures were reported several times a decade throughout the eighteenth century, and surely many 'hungary times' went unrecorded... the specter of famine hovered over southeastern fields, and farmers of all races and both sexes regularly watched the skies and felt the soil with anxiety. "long memories of early frosts, harsh winters, spring floods, and summer droughts contributed to a rich complex of religious beliefs and social behaviors. townswomen enacted secret rituals to avert disaster; for example, they disrobed every full moon 'at the dead of night' to circle 'entirely around the field of corn'. they said 'thanks and prayers in a series of devotional chaunts' to selu while they tended corn and weeded fields. when drought came, women from each clan fasted while men brought deerskins and meat to the priest. the priest then prayed to the creator moon and sun, shaking a terrapin shell filled with pebbles to summon thunder and rain. to avert cold, priests built fire of seven special woods and sacrificed to the woman of the east a terrapin shell filled with old tobacco. in ritual speeches at green corn festivals, priests urged strict adherence to customs and prohibitions i "corn, or maize;... besides the stalks bruis'd and boil'd, make very pleasant beer, being sweet like the sugar-cane." (lawson, 81) several varieties of apples are said to make good cider. in the old days, however, of which we are concerned, there was little if any fermenting of corn or grape to make an alcohol. perhaps the nearest to it was persimmon beer: a medical student, rafinesque, wrote in his medical flora in 1818: "the persimmon beer is made by forming the fruits into cakes with bran, drying them in an open oven, and bruising these cakes afterwards in water. the large variety has fruits as big as an egg, and deserves to be cultivated on a large scale as a fruit tree". another writer gave this procedure: "wheat bran is kneaded with persimmons in fall and baked as a pone. the pones are broken into pieces and placed in a runlet. warm water is added and left for about nine days. wheat chaff or hay straw may be placed in as a strainer". it should be noted that this straw will aid in the growth of bacteria and fungi which abound in such a medium as it decomposes. another recipe went like this: put a bunch of wheat straw above mouth of hopper and then layer of ashes..next layer of persimmons to layer of honey locust beans. put boiling water on and let seep through. must have a large ash cake put above the ashes to act as yeast". most made this in a barrel with a spigot near the bottom. after it fermented they opened the spigot and let out a little into a cup, it being filtered through the straw. since it contained penicillin and gramicidin, no wonder the users of it remained more healthy than other folks.