Seminole Diet

Seminole Diet. . Traditionally, the Seminoles ate native plants and animals and used the natural resources available to them instead of farming. They harvested edible plants, fished along creeks and shores, and hunted wild game. Their core diet consisted of corn, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, fruit, hearts of palm, fry bread, venison, pork, turtles, fish, and a traditional drink - sofkee - made with roasted corn. , , Coontie Biology , This palm-like plant can reach 3-feet high and 5 to 6-feet wide. The coontie is a hardy, slow-growing evergreen that is found throughout much of peninsular Florida. It will grow in sandy soil and either dense shade or sunny areas. The roots of the plant provide starch, but the plant also contains a water-soluble toxin that must be removed before it is eaten. , , , Making Flour , When the Seminoles needed flour, they worked together to collect and process coontie roots. The roots of the plant were chopped into chunks, placed into a log mortar, and mashed with a wooden pestle. The finely pounded pulp was then placed into a bark tray and submerged in water. This washed its toxins away. The pulp was strained through deer hides, which allowed starches to drain to the bottom. The starch was then allowed to settle and ferment for a few days before being placed on palmetto leaves to dry. The yellowish-white flour was then ready to use. , , (captions) , Making Fry Bread , One traditional food made with coontie flour is fry bread. , Photo courtesy State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory , , Zamia floridana , The coontie is considered a living fossil because it was very common more than 65 million years ago , during the age of dinosaurs. Native to Florida's pineland and hammock habitats, it is less abundant due to over-collection for starch production , Image courtesy Pattie Smith , , Coontie Log Illustration circa 1886 , Early settlers learned to make coontie floor from the Seminoles and sometimes referred to the plant as “Seminole Bread.” , Smithsonian Institution