Most of us have heard of the Three Sisters— squash, corn and beans, which were the three staple crops most frequently cultivated by the Cherokee and other Native American tribes throughout North America. The sisters were grown close together in a type of companion planting.
Each of the sisters was an important storage crop, but corn, or selu in the Cherokee language, figured most heavily in their diet and culture. Some Native American tribes grew small quantities of sweet corn for fresh eating, but for the bulk of their diet they relied on flint and flour corn.
Flint corn varieties have an extremely thick and tough endosperm, or kernel interior, and are most suitable for grinding into cornmeal. Flour corn varieties have only a very thin hard layer enclosing a soft endosperm that can be ground into fine flour. Flour corn varieties require longer periods of high temperatures to properly mature, and were grown more frequently by Native Americans of the Southeast and Southwest. While corn is easy to store and easy to remove from the cob, it does have a major disadvantage as a staple crop: In its raw state it is deficient in free niacin, part of the B vitamin complex and a nutrient essential for human health.
Mesoamerican tribes long ago developed a process called nixtamalization, wherein dried corn is soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution called limewater. The nixtamalized corn is more nutritious, tastes better, is easier to grind into flour and holds together to form dough for cooking. This process spread through the Americas with the spread of corn itself, and traditional corn was a healthful staple crop for the Cherokee.
But when Europeans adopted corn into their agriculture and diets, they neglected to adopt the nixtamalization process as well. European people eating a diet composed primarily of unprocessed corn became niacin deficient, a condition that often resulted in the debilitating and regularly fatal disease called pellagra. In the early s, pellagra reached epidemic proportions in the South—the Spartanburg Pellagra Hospital was the first facility in the nation dedicated to discovering the cause of pellagra—and it is still common in modern populations that rely on unprocessed corn as a staple food.
Cherokee legends tell of the origin of corn—it came from the blood of Selu, the Old Woman, who was killed by her foolish sons—and a number of ceremonies and festivals accompanied the variousstages of the crop. The Green Corn Ceremony featured cleansing rituals and occurred around July, when the ears of corn were still green but big enough to roast and eat. Later in the season, around September, the Ripe Corn Ceremony was an occasion for thanksgiving that occurred when the whole crop was ready for harvest.
The Cherokee also celebrated the thirteen full moons of the year, including that of Duninudi, the harvest moon. The harvest moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the autumnal equinox.
For the Cherokee, it was a time to give thanks for bountiful harvests and abundant game. The idea of a time for rest and gratitude transcends the boundaries of culture and time, and is a common thread woven through the fabric of agricultural communities the world over. This tradition still lives on in modern Cherokee culture.
It is part of the Qualla Boundary, a small portion of the ancestral Cherokee territory and modern-day home of the federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who are the descendants of those that escaped forced removal on the Trail of Tears in the s. The road to Cherokee winds lazily through sleepy coves, surrounded by lush forest that occasionally parts to reveal breathtaking views of the mountainsides.
The Cherokees had a large number of distinctive recipes, many of which they still use. They made stews from corn, beans, acorns and other vegetables, often adding game meat or poultry. They made breads and biscuits from corn, acorns and beans, as well as a type of flat fry bread from flour to accompany stews and soups. They also ate roasted turkey and roasted rabbit, they fried and seared fish and drank teas made from indigenous herbs and juices of fruits and berries.
Chris Deziel has a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in humanities. Many tribal social activities and interactions are centered around sharing meals and spending time together still today. The tribal diet commonly consisted of foods that were either gathered, grown, or hunted. The three sisters — corn, beans, and squash — were grown. Wild greens, mushrooms, ramps, nuts, and berries were collected. Deer, bears, birds, native fish, squirrels, groundhogs, and rabbits were all hunted.
In the pre-contact era, many meals were one-pot stews made over an open fire. After contact, the tribe also began to grow fruit like watermelons and peaches and to eat farm animals like chicken, pigs, and cows.
Cherokee food traditions not only teach you how to gather, hunt, and grow, but also how to store and preserve certain foods. Prior to the introduction of metal, cooking vessels were made of clay. Food was also sometimes buried in hot coals to cook. Many foods are prepared by grilling, frying, boiling, baking, and occasionally over an open fire.
Cherokee people still eat the three sisters and grow a variety of vegetables and fruits. People also get together for hot dogs, hamburgers, BBQ, turkey, ham, steaks, fish, etc. One more modern, local favorite is shared by many people in the Qualla Boundary and beyond: it is called fry bread.
Fry bread is a modern tradition found in many tribes in North America, and, in Cherokee, there is a wide variety of recipes. Each person typically has their own recipe and preparation tricks. To make fry bread, sections of the dough must be pressed flat, and a hole is made in the center. Were they pintos, yellow eye, or some other type? They would be basically pinto beans, but there are a lot of different kinds of beans and they had a lot of them.
Hey Karen! Mabey you could add that section on? Otherwise, this website was very helpful. Hi Iris! How authentic do you need it to be? I think eating corn tortillas with refried beans, green onions, and sliced tomatoes and zucchini would be pretty much what Cherokee people ate. You could have fish tacos too. If you want something simpler, Cherokee people ate popcorn and fresh or dried blueberries, too. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Cherokee food — What did Cherokee people eat? Cherokee food: Corn on the cob. Cite this page: Carr, K.
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