SEMINOLE FOOD

1
SEMINOLE FOOD
2
How Seminole People Met Their Needs of Food

• All communities must rely on the availability of
  food resources for their survival.
• In the past, Seminole culture depended on a
  healthy ecosystem. They relied on what nature
  provided.

3
Hunting and Fishing

• Early Seminole people hunted and fished, just
  like other Indian peoples.
• Hunting was more like a sport game for men in the
  tribe they used bows and arrows to hunt, and
  spears to catch fish. Later men began to use
  muskets to hunt deer.

• The Seminole people usually hunted
• . wild turkeys
• . deer
• . rabbits
• . alligators
• . raccoons
• and occasionally bears.

4
Fruit Vegetables

• The Seminole were also farmers. Women grew
  gardens of corn, beans, squash, and Indian
  potatoes.
• They also cultivated small patches of pumpkins,
  sugar cane, rice, sweet potatoes, and fruits such
  as bananas, huckleberries, melons, and grapes.
• They gathered wild plants like coontie (Zamia),
  the root of which was used to make flour.

5
Raising Livestock

• The draining of the Everglades in the early
  1900s caused the wild animal population to
  decrease. To compensate for the loss of food
  sources, hunting was replaced by livestock.
  Seminoles started to raise cattle, goats, sheep,
  pigs, etc.

6
Manner or Eating Habits

• Seminole people did not eat three meals a day,
  like most of us do today. They only ate when
  they felt hungry. In fact, food was always
  available so people could eat anytime during the
  day.

7
Seminole Meals

• Meals were cooked and served in the eating
  house, which was a large building in the village.
  Women cooked for the entire village over an open
  fire. Therefore, there was always hot soup or
  stew kept warm on the fire.

8
Seminole Meals

• Typical meals for the tribe included
• cornbread, fry bread, soups, stews, and hominy.
• Nowadays, they use traditional foods for special
  events.
• Hominy, made of corn
• Fry bread, made of flour
• The Sofk, a drink made of grits and
  roasted corn,
• .

• Seminole woman preparing
• traditional fry bread

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WHAT SEMINOLES EAT TODAY

• For every day meals, the Seminole people eat
  just about the same kind of food that everyone
  else does. They enjoy going shopping, buying
  groceries and eating pizza, but they also enjoy
  eating some of their traditional food, such as
  hominy and fry bread.

10
Resources

• http//www.seminoletribe.com/culture/SeminoleFood.
  aspx
• http//www.bigorrin.org/seminole_kids.htm
• http//www.members.tripod.com/shamm/food.htm
• http//www.mce.k12tn.net/indians/reports1/seminole
  2.htm
• http//www.flmnh.ufl.edu/education/guides/Inquiry_
  Boxes_FL_Native_People_Seminole-Part4.pdf
• http//www.fnps.org/palmetto/bennett_bradley_c_an_
  introduction_to_the_seminole_people_of_south_flori
  da_and_their_plants__part_ii__seminole_plant_use_v
  ol_17_no_3_fallwinter_1997.pdf