Food Supply

Fall: During the fall, people moved back to their familial land to hunt and fish for moose, bear, deer, and other animals. Women continued to gather squash, berries, and nuts.

Winter: Hundreds of people lived in large villages. They ate dried nuts and berries and smoked meat. Hunting continued. People went back to their familial hunting land in late winter to hunt moose and other game. At this point, preserved corn and other rations were running low.

Spring: People went to the lowlands and lived in large villages, but every family had their own land which they hunted on. The men hunted for muskrats and birds, and fished for animals like walleye, salmon, and lake sturgeon, while the women planted the corn, squash, and beans and gathered berries, nuts, and vegetables. This was also the time to tap trees so that the sap could be boiled into maple syrup!

Summer: Nuts, berries and vegetables were foraged and some were dried for winter. Men hunted and fished. The farmed crops would be harvested from late summer to fall.

Hunting: People hunted on land that was in their family. They hunted only certain portions of it at a time to make sure that the animal populations had time to recover and would not become too wary of people. Men hunted with bows and arrows and in the winter used snow shoes and sometimes dogs.

Fishing: Several fishing methods were used and many depended on what was to be caught. Eels were trapped in baskets by night, or were speared, harpooned, fished using hooks, or caught in nets. Small fish were fished using a spear. According to the Chief of the Abenaki Cowasuck Band in NH, and educator on Abenaki foodways, Paul Pouliot, fishing is extremely important as evidenced by how it was practiced more than hunting and remained important to Indigenous families even when other traditional ways were being lost or were stopped. In fact, certain fishing laws passed made it very difficult to fish traditionally.

Cooking: Food could be cooked over an open fire in earthen pots, skins, or baskets Stones from the river could also be heated up and placed next to the food to cook it. Stones were used multiple times. Pointed bottoms on pots ensured the food cooked well.