Native American Seeds

[adisonedu]

Does anyone know where to get any true Native American, "Indian" seeds? We are going to do a living history garden at a local Ute Indian museum with the Junior High School and want to do as much authentic items as possible.

I have corn and tobacco so far but am having a hard time finding seeds from items the Indians really grew. If anyone has any seed or places I can get small amounts of seed please let me know.

PReston

[cff]

Homegrown member "Blueflint" would be a really good person to ask.

Dec 27, 2008 16:01:17 GMT -5 @adisonedu said:

Does anyone know where to get any true Native American, "Indian" seeds? We are going to do a living history garden at a local Ute Indian museum with the Junior High School and want to do as much authentic items as possible.

I have corn and tobacco so far but am having a hard time finding seeds from items the Indians really grew. If anyone has any seed or places I can get small amounts of seed please let me know.

PReston

[peapod]

Preston,

Have you tried doing a search on line for specific seeds you are looking for?

What would you like to grow for the school/museum? Also when do you plan on starting the project?
Most schools are out during the summer... Unless this is a track scchool? Or Summer school. Ask the Ute Museum for some seeds. There are several catalogs that offer heirloom varieties and thats what Indians grew. That would be a good start right there.




I am Indian and my ancestors ate squash (zucchini and pumpkins) like folks do today. That is as traditional as it gets. Seeds from several different corn varieties were ground with a bowl and an anval type thing. They ate potatoes too. That might be a place to start.

If you want to understand how harvesting was done over a one hundred years ago then that is a different subject of its own right.
If that is what you want to teach then there are some books that I can suggest that you read. Obtainable from a local library. Good reads too.
Shoot me an email on here PM if you want any more information.

Good Luck and it looks like you just joined the wonderful folks fo Homegrown Goodness. Welcome! And Enjoy! Every on here is just a wonderful as it gets.

[adisonedu]

Have you tried doing a search on line for specific seeds you are looking for?

I have found a few sites but the costs for such seeds make it hard to buy enough to do a great garden. I do have some more time to look and maybe find some that are cheaper.

What would you like to grow for the school/museum? Also when do you plan on starting the project? Most schools are out during the summer.

We are going to put up a stick fence as soon as we can dig the cold ground and plant in spring. The garden will be at the Ute museum and we will let the kids help as long as they can up until school lets out.

If you want to understand how harvesting was done over a one hundred years ago then that is a different subject of its own right.

I was thinking of doing this so authentic as to re-create tools that they used to farm the ground but will it prove to be too difficult? We shall see.

PReston

[orflo]

It's in fact reasonably easy to make some hand tools, you need some basic woodworking and /or forging skills (unless you want to go really authentic and use stone tools ).
I try to make my own material, but people throw away so many good things thus I'm mainly re-using these old tools. And a drawknife and spokeshave make it easy for creating some new handles.
A simple forge can be made from an old barbecue or something similar, air can be provided by an old hair dryer (although not ideal, but it works) or some sort of ventilator (you could even make a pair of bellows), you can use charcoal (or make it yourself, it's not that difficult either) as a fuel, and a few hammers and something to pound on are easy to find (an old piece of railroad track for instance, but a 'true' anvil is better). All it takes is a bit of practice (your first home-made tools will probably need some improvement, but you will have learned a lot from it) , some time and optimism ;D ;D ;D,
Frank

[flowerpower]

Dec 27, 2008 19:57:06 GMT -5 peapod said:

Seeds from several different corn varieties were ground with a bowl and an anval type thing.

Not sure about other tribes/area, but the Iroquois used a giant mortar and pestle made from logs to grind corn. I've used it many times at the Iroquois museum.

Preston, is this a ''Ute" garden or just NA? I'll send you some hard shelled gourds if you want. Are you doing a 3 sisters display?

[johno]

www.nativeseeds.org/

Native Seeds/SEARCH has numerous Native American (or Indian as some prefer) seeds. Not sure about Ute in particular...

[adisonedu]

Thanks for the advice. The garden is not specific to the Ute Tribe because it might have little or nothing in it since I cannot find any seed even labeled Ute. I want to do a representation of general Indian agriculture with a small variety of items that Native Indians would have eaten or used.

I did find Native Seeds but unless you are a close member the seeds can add up. I might get some from them.

Preston

[jason]

Hey Preston,

If you don't mind me asking where is the museum? I know Utes lived in the mountain areas around here.. and I've been meaning for some time to spend more time researching their lifestyles. I don't know that they really practiced much agriculture before "modern" times. It would be interesting to have a general native american garden, but have you thought about planting some of the wild plants that the Utes may have used? Although it may not show how they gardened I think it would be interesting and enjoyable for people to learn how amazingly diverse and special the wild plants around may have been for them.

[johno]

Here is a link that might be useful for instructing students about the Ute Indians: www.bigorrin.org/ute_kids.htm There is a link within for more detailed Ute information.

It looks like they were hunter/gatherers, so Jason is on the right track recommending that you explore the wild/native plants they used.

[adisonedu]

Dec 28, 2008 13:34:13 GMT -5 jason said:

Hey Preston,

If you don't mind me asking where is the museum? I know Utes lived in the mountain areas around here.. and I've been meaning for some time to spend more time researching their lifestyles. I don't know that they really practiced much agriculture before "modern" times. It would be interesting to have a general native american garden, but have you thought about planting some of the wild plants that the Utes may have used? Although it may not show how they gardened I think it would be interesting and enjoyable for people to learn how amazingly diverse and special the wild plants around may have been for them.

I am in Montrose Colorado and the museum is south of town. I don't know where in this area they stayed and the museum might be located here because of the town and what it offers. I hope to find some plants that the Ute's used but it seems like that history may be long gone.

PReston

[flowerpower]

There is a major difference between what tribes grew and what they harvested from the wild. Berries-raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, strawberry, juneberry....Tubers from daylily and cattails were collected. Reed, willow (and other trees) and certain grasses were used for basket making. Other plants would have been collected for dyes, medicines, and spiritual purposes.

Here's a link for you to check out

www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/herbs3.html

[jason]

Is it just me or did Preston unregister? I hope not!
Anyway, yeah there is so much diversity in wild plant life.

[seedjunkie]

PReston is back. I had to change some things and wanted to go by what I am, a seed junkie...

I thanks everyone for the help, it will go along way to making the project more successful. Did anyone find a place on the web where I can find pictures of tools that the Indians may have used?

[grunt]

from www.artsci.wustl.edu/~landc/html/wilson/ about Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden.