Tom Bridgeland wrote:

> Anyone have any hard facts on what the American Indians ate, or other
> recent paleo people? How about moderns?

I have a book I bought back in 1974 called "American Indian Food and Lore:
150 Authentic Recipes."  It was written by Carolyn Niethammer.  The plants
are listed along with their habitats, common and botanical names,
descriptions, seasons of flowering, historical significance, and
descriptions of the different tribal rituals surrounding each of them.
Some agricultural plants are listed (beans, chili peppers, corn, melon,
pumpkin, squash, and wheat) but the rest are all wild plants and they are:

CACTUS AND CACTUS-LIKE PLANTS
Agave
Barrel Cactus
Cholla
Ocotilla
Prickly Pear
Saguaro
Yucca: Datil and Palmilla

NUTS AND SEEDS
Acorn
Grass Seed
Jojoba
Mesquite
Pinyon Pine
Sunflower
Black Walnut

GRAPES, BERRIES AND CURRANTS
Chokecherry
Wild Currant
Elderberry
Wild Grape
Ground Cherry
Desert Hackberry
Net-Leaf Hackberry
Manzanita
Wild Rose
Squawberry
Wolf Berry

FOODS OF MARSH AND MESA
Buffalo Gourd
Cattail
Cota
Devil's Claw
Mormon Tea
Wild Onion
Puffball

GREENS
Rocky Mountain Beeweed
Canaigre
Curly Dock
Dandelion
Lambs-Quarter
Wild Mint
Horsemint
Pigweed
Monkey Flower
Tumbleweed

In "Protein Power" there is a reference to a study that was done (by
Claire M. Cassidy, Ph.D, an anthropologist with the University of Maryland
and the Smithsonian Institution) on two groups of American Indians who
lived in the same area of what is now Kentucky during two different time
periods.  One group lived there around 3000 B.C. and were
hunter-gatherers, living on river mussels, snails, deer small mammals,
wild turkey, box turtle, and fish.  Dog was sometimes eaten ceremonially.
There was no mention of the plants they consumed.  The other group lived
in the same area from around 1500 to 1675 and they were agricultural,
eating corn, beans and squash which was supplemented by wild plants and
deer, elk, small mammals, wild turkey, and box turtle.  Infant mortality
was higher and general life span lower for the farmers than for the
hunter-gatherers and the hunter-gatherers had all-around better health.

I have quite a few books on Native American life and some of my favorite
ones go into a lot of detail on foods that were eaten and prepared.  Three
of these books are by Gilbert L. Wilson, an anthropologist who visited the
Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in 1906.  One of his chief informants was
Waheenee-wea (Buffalo Bird Woman) who was born in 1839 and her stories are
told in "Waheenee: An Indian Girl's Story" and "Buffalo Bird Woman's
Garden", while her son's story is told in "Goodbird the Indian: His
Story."  Adolf and Beverly Hungry Wolf 's books are also very
informative.  Here is an example from "Good Medicine."

"Hunting for fresh meat, to supplement the vegetables from the garden,
often meant a family camping trip up into the mountains.  Such trips were
always made on horseback.  Sometimes there was quite a caravan if other
families went along.

"The families had favorite camping places where the tipis were set up.
These spots were picked for their beauty, their abundance in wild game and
planats, and the availability of water and feed for the horses.  Some food
was taken along, but the best of it was obtained in the vicinity of the
camp.

"The first successful hunter always shared his meat with everyone in
camp.  The choice parts were usually roasted and eaten immediately.  A
large roast was hung over the fire for a later meal.  The rest of the meat
was usually cut into thin slices and hung from poles or ropes near fire,
there to dry into pieces that were easy to store.

"The camp came to life early in the morning, when the men went out
hunting.  The women got their children up and ready, and then went out to
fill big pouches with wild berries, roots and plants, which they
gathered.  The afternoons were spent swimming, hiking, or relaxing in the
shade under a framework of poles covered with branches.  In the evenings
everyone gathered in one of the tipis, its owners acting as hosts for the
evening.  Pipes were smoked.  Drums and rattles were brought out to
accompany the singing.  Stories were told.  Cups of tea and bowls of
berries were passed around.  Weathered faces shone happily in the warm
light of a wood fire.

L'shalom,

Marishka