While the stereotype of American Indians, carefully crafted and nurtured by the European invaders, painted a picture of a people whose livelihood was based on hunting, in reality most American Indian nations had a farming economy. On the eastern edge of the Central Plains, Indian nations practiced farming long before the European invasion. Among these farming nations were the people we know today as the Pawnee.
The Pawnee are a Caddoan-speaking group who separated from the other Caddoan groups long before the European invasion and began a migration north from their homelands in present-day Texas. They migrated first into the Red River region of present-day Oklahoma and then into the Arkansas River region of northern Oklahoma and southern Kansas. By the early 1700s, the Pawnee had begun to divide into four politically autonomous tribes: Skiri (also known as the Skidi, Loup, or Panimaha), Chawi (also known as the Grand Pawnee), Kitkahahki (also known at the Republican Pawnee), and Pitwhawirata (also known as the Tappage).
The Pawnee fields were protected by fences made of bushes and tree branches. The fields, which were tended by the women, ranged from half an acre to an acre and a half for each family. The fields were located along creeks and in river bottoms and could be located as far as 10 miles from the village. In the spring, the fields were planted with corn and beans as well as other plants. When the corn reached a certain height, the tribe would leave for the summer hunt on the plains, leaving the crops untended. In late August, they would return to harvest their crops.
The Pawnees raised four subspecies of corn—flint (the characteristic variety of New England, well-suited for cold moist climates), flour (the characteristic variety of the Southwest, well-suited for dry climates), sweet corn, and popcorn—in 10-15 varieties. One of the kinds of corn which they raised was known as Wonderful or Holy Corn which was raised only for inclusion in medicine bundles and was not eaten. Anthropologist Gene Weltfish, in The Lost Universe: Pawnee Life and Culture, reports:
“it is evident that the Pawnees were quite capable of producing pure strains of corn and maintaining the breeds.”
In a good year, the Pawnee fields would yield 25-30 bushels of corn per acre. In addition, they raised melons, sunflowers, seven types of squash and pumpkin, and eight types of beans.
Seeds from the sunflowers were eaten raw, cooked, or roasted. They would also be dried or parched and then ground into a meal. The sunflower meal could then be used to make cakes, to thicken gravy, or to make a mush. Sometimes the ground seeds would be made into a paste similar to peanut butter.
The Pawnees planted corn (maize) in small hills about a foot in diameter. The corn hills would be irregularly distributed over the field, but the women would make sure that there were an even number of hills, making an analogy with their breasts. After the corn had been planted, they would plant beans, often in the same hill with the corn so that the vines could be supported by the cornstalks.
The Pawnee planted pumpkins, squashes, and watermelons last. These would be planted in separate patches and often served to separate the different varieties of corn in order to preserve the breeds.
The Pawnee, like the other tribes of the Central Plains, also grew tobacco: Nicotiana quadrivalvus. In making a smoking mixture, the dried tobacco leaves were mixed with the inner bark of the red dogwood.
In addition to raising a number of crops, the Pawnees also gathered a number of wild food plants: the prairie turnip, Indian potatoes (Glycine apios L.), black-eyed peas (Falcata comosa (L.)), groundnut tubers (Apios American), bigroot morning glory roots (Ipomoea pandurata), and hog-peanuts (Amphicarpaea bracteata). Artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus L.) were also gathered but could not be dried so had to be eaten fresh. Of these wild food plants, the Indian potato was most important. Indian potatoes were boiled, smoked, and dried.
Indians 101
Twice each week Indians 101 looks at different American Indian topics. More from this series:
Indians 101: Southeastern Agriculture
Indians 101: Aboriginal Farming in New England
Indians 101: Iroquois Farming
Indians 101: Acoma Farming
Indians 101: The Mandans, Farmers on the Northern Plains
Indians 101: Traditional Whaling
Indians 101: Spiritual and Medicinal Plants Used by the Chumash Indians
Indians 101: Shellfish and California Indians
