Uintah County Western Heritage Museum               Vernal, Utah

Corn, beans, and squash were known as the "three sisters", sustaining Native Americans across the continent.  Whether they lived in sod houses, pueblos, hogans, long-houses, or tepees, most tribes relied on these three staples to feed their families, combined with other crops they raised, game they hunted and fruit they gathered.

The entire continent was criss-crossed by a web of trails, and tribes traded food and other items.  Pottery vessels and tightly woven baskets were used for cooking and foods were dried or smoked to preserve them.

The 51 recipes in this book include foods common to many tribes, such as Fry Bread and Fruit Leather, as well as regional favorites. Succotash is common in modern times, but it originated in the northeast, where the Algonquins planted and cooked corn and beans together. Cranberry Bread and Cream of Chestnut Soup are other recipes adapted from the northeastern tribes.

Cherokee Sweet Potato Bread the Choctaw Carrot Bread came from the southeast and Wild Rice with Mushrooms is from Minnesota, where Native Americans still harvest the grain know as wild rice.  Buffalo Barley Stew is a great Plains dish, Salmon Cakes and Poached Salmon originated in the northwest, and several recipes contain the blue corn meal, peppers and herbs of the southwest.  From soups to sweets, the variety of native American foods is amazing. 

Booklet, c1996, 32 p. : ill. ; 14 cm.

$3.25