Food from the land

DAKOTA

A few Dakota were farmers who stayed in one location and grew crops such as corn, beans, squash, sunflowers, and pumpkins. They went on hunting trips only a few times a year. After the arrival of the Ojibwe the Dakota were pushed into the southern plains of Minnesota, and they adapted to more of a hunting lifestyle. In addition to hunting, they would also collect wild berries and root vegetables wherever they could. Hunting bands often visited farming villages to trade buffalo meat for vegetables. People who lived near the woodland areas of the plains also hunted and ate other animals such as deer, elk, turkey, and quail.

Buffalo - The Main Food Source

The main source of food for the Dakota was the buffalo. After a successful buffalo hunt, people at as much cooked meat as they could. They dried the rest and saved it for times when they would not have fresh meat available. It only took a few days for meat to dry in the heat of the hot sun and become jerky, which lasted for months. Sometimes the curing, or preserving, process was speeded up by smoking the meat over a fire.

FAVORITE FOODS

A favorite meal in a Dakota camp may have been a stew made of vegetables and buffalo meat. Another was a sausage dish made by stuffing meats and kidney suet into a cleansed intestine. The intestines themselves could be roasted until they were crispy and eaten like chips. Buffalo blood was made into a thick jelly-like pudding. Smoked buffalo tongue was considered a delicacy.

Soups and stews were cooked by heating rocks over a fire and then dropping them into a rawhide case filled with water.

PEMMICAN

Some meat was made into pemmican, which lasted a long time. Pemmican was made by drying buffalo meat and then pounding with stone into a paste that was mixed with fat and berries. This mixture was shaped into cakes. People could survive for weeks on jerky and pemmican alone.

pemmican: dried buffalo meat

Hides and Bones

NOTHING GOES TO WASTE

The people of the Plains did not waste single part of the buffalo they hunted. The hide of the buffalo became tipis, clothing, drums, shields, and bedding. Bones were used to make toboggans, tools, weapons, and utensil. Even the brains and liver of the buffalo were useful!

CLEANING THE HIDE

After the hungers killed the buffalo, the women of the camp stripped off the hides. They stretched the hides out flat on a rock or rack, held them down with pegs and carefully scraped off the fat and gristle. When the hides were clean, the women soaked them until the fur could be removed with a scraper.

TANNING A HIDE

Tanning is the process that turns an animal hide into soft leather so it can be used to make clothes and bags. To tan a hide, women rubbed a liquid into it to soften and preserve it. Sometimes this liquid was made from the brains and liver of the buffalo. The women stretched the hides next to a fire pit of rotted cottonwood or other plants. The smoke from the fire gave the leather a gold or brown color, kept it soft, and helped repel insects.

RAWHIDE

Rawhide is a stiff, hard leather. It was made by cleaning and soaking the buffalo skin and then drying it in the sun. Dakota used rawhide for things that provided protection, such as shields or the soles of moccasins. Rawhide was also used to make drumheads. It was soaked and stretched. After it was dry, it held its shape and was rubbed with oils to make it more flexible.

^ Spoon made out of buffalo horn

^ Parfleche (carrying case) made out of buffalo rawhide

^ Moccasins made out of buffalo rawhide

^ Toboggan made out of buffalo ribs

Additional Resources

Sources

Kalman, B. (2003). Life in a Plains Camp. St. Catherines: Crabtree Pub.

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