Hunting, gathering still vital to Native American heritage

By BETTY SMITH
Press special writer

TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS September 02, 2008 10:04 am

— One of the photos in Roger and Shawna Morton Cain’s presentation on Cherokee hunting and gathering depicts an elder with her full cart, in the aisles of Wal-Mart.
The picture has more than one meaning, Shawna Cain said. Many people today turn to Wal-Mart, whereas their ancestors turned to the woods for sustenance. And the Stilwell Wal-Mart Supercenter is built on land formerly occupied by hickory and pecan trees, where Cherokees gathered nuts since arriving in this area.
There was yet a third significance. The shopper was buying pork meat and eggs, to go with a traditional wild onion meal she planned to prepare.
The Cains discussed “21st Century Cherokees: Hunters, Gatherers and Modernity,” during the State of Sequoyah Commission conference last week at Northeastern State University.
The Cains, graduate students a the University of Arkansas, are researching these elements on traditional Cherokee culture, focusing on the Greasy and Marble City communities.
Shawna said many people brought up with the knowledge of how to hunt and gather their food, what plants to use, and when and where to look for them, are running out of room. Much land in Oklahoma is no longer open for these purposes.
Many acres were lost under water when Lake Tenkiller was created.
“They were paid a pittance for their land so we could water ski and swim,” she said.
The Cherokee Nation holds about another 50,000 acres in trust, and it is posted “no trespassing,” along with much private land. Property owners wanting to keep hunters out prevent many people from gathering plant materials, and not otherwise affecting the environment.
Logging, especially in Adair County, has further reduced the availability of land, Roger said.
Still, people are using natural foods in their everyday lives, although this tradition is vanishing. The Cains are trying to preserve and pass along the knowledge. They say one-on-one and one-on-two apprenticeship is the best method for the teacher and student.
Shawna first discussed research by Anna and John Kilpatrick before the construction of Tenkiller Ferry Dam. They talked with Cherokee elders being displaced by the project. These people spoke of the thick layers of acorns and other nuts that used to carpet the bottom of the forest.
“It was so thick that no one had to feed the animals,” Shawna said.
Squirrels and other small animals people hunted for food were plentiful as well.
“As a basket maker, I go to the woods to gather my dye materials, my river cane,” Shawna said. This is getting more difficult.
The Cains became interested not only in Cherokee plant-gathering, but in the language used to describe the plants.
“We’re convinced that Cherokees arrange their plants differently than westerners,” Shawna said.
They learned that many of the names for plants classify them by their shape, their color, their use.
One of their first activities was conducting a survey of elders in Marble City and Greasy.
“We’re very interested in these people who live in rural isolated areas, were raised up or born in rural, isolated areas,” Shawna said
They also wanted to deal with people who were fluent in Cherokee, and have learned the language was passed most often to people who were close to grandmothers who were fluent in Cherokee, and used the language in conversing with their grandchildren.
They asked people to list the traditional foods they ate, according to cultural significance – those they hunted or gathered in nature.
“In the 21st century, what does hunter and gatherer mean? If we want to find a plant, a hickory nut or wishee [mushroom], you have to go hunt it,” Shawna said.
Their survey found gender differences. Women most often reported gathering wild onions, poke, or watercress. Men listed game as their first five priorities, with squirrel and fish topping the list.
The Cains were surprised when they asked one elder where she got her wild onions.
“Oh, I just buy them from a little old Indian lady,” the woman said.
In her defense, she worked full time and found it easier to purchase the wild onions, although she knew how to gather them and certainly how to prepare them.
The Cains said what the elders wanted the most were community activities and access to Cherokee trust land for their gathering.
“If elders had more access to Cherokee land, we would see a lot of our traditional arts flourishing more,” Roger said. “This wisdom can be found in communities where Cherokee is spoken every day.”
One inspiration for their research was the late George Pumpkin, Roger’s grandfather, who taught him much when he was a young man.
The intent was not to talk to, but to listen to, the elders.
Roger said they enjoyed learning the Cherokee meaning of plant names. Watercress, for example, means “fire lives on water,” and mayapple is “flower with a hat on.”
He said river cane covers less than 2 percent of the area it once did. Many landowners have cut river cane to harvest hay on the rich bottom land. But river cane can be valuable in preserving the river or creek bank, preventing erosion.
“We’re looking at canebrakes that are more than 100 years old and still growing,” he said.
The No. 1 plant gathered was hickory nuts for kanuche.
“If you’ll really talk to the Cherokee elders, they know what hickory nuts to gather,” he said.
Once he gathered two large bags of hickory nuts and took them to Pumpkin, asking how to make kanuche. The knowledgeable elder told him the nuts he had gathered were the wrong kind, not even suitable for hogs. Now he knows better.
“A lot of the knowledge with the elders is to know the seasonality, knowing when to gather it,” he said.
The “no trespassing” signs not only keep out people who want to gather food, but people seeking material for traditional arts, such as basket-weaving, bow-making and mask-making.
Factors that have contributed to delocalization, to the loss of community and shared language, are loss of land for lakes and other purposes, consolidation of rural schools, and closing of rural stores that served as gathering spots.
The Cains would like to see the elders pass along their knowledge in a community atmosphere – to younger people who want to learn, in a small apprenticeship basis – and Cherokee land opened for the preservation of these traditions.

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