Roger Williams and The Language of America
Roger Williams’ publication in 1643 of A Key Into the Language of America has given us the best possible insight into the life enjoyed by the Narragansett Tribe before substantial English contact. As a practical matter, Williams’ description of Narragansett life also applied to most of the tribes in the New England area.
The Narrangansett Tribe's Home Territory
In the early 1600s, the Narragansett Tribe occupied approximately the area where present day Rhode Island is located. They were one of about a dozen tribes, some consisting of only one village of a few hundred natives. The Narragansett Tribe was prominent among the New England tribes numbering five thousand in 1630, but occupying the relatively small area of twelve hundred square miles.
The Food and Diet of the Narragansett Tribe
Agriculture, fishing and hunting were occupations common to all New England natives. Of these three, eighty percent of their diet came from the garden. They first began harvesting corn about 1000 B.C. and by 1630 each village had several communal gardens of corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, artichokes and tobacco. The agricultural work was performed according to custom by the women. The men did share the garden labor to care for tobacco. “They generally all take tobacco,” wrote Williams, “and it is commonly the only plant which men labor in, the women managing all the rest.” Tobacco was used to cure the toothache and as a special drug to be smoked or ingested. Although it was the custom for the women to do all the garden work, a man might sometimes, “either out of love to his wife, or care for his children, or being an old man,” help the women. And when a field was to be turned over to create a new garden spot all the tribe would gather and do the job quickly.
Corn Preparation
The women did all the food preparation including the beating down of the corn into mealy flour. It was eaten hot or cold mixed with a little water (the natives had no dairy products in their diets) and occasionally eaten with fish. When traveling “every man carried a little basket of this at his back…sufficient for a man three or four days.” Corn was very important to the natives and was commonly traded as a form of commodity or money. Because the natives relied upon corn for survival they were not nomadic as were the western plains Indians but often occupied the same village for generations. In order to maintain good ground for corn production the natives alternated their planting so that about half of their garden was left unplanted each year.
Other Food Crops
In addition to corn and those other crops already mentioned the natives also ate walnuts, chestnuts, currants, and they particularly enjoyed the sweetness of the strawberry. Williams stated: “This berry is the wonder of all the fruits growing naturally in those parts; it is of itself excellent…God never did make a better berry: in some parts where the natives have planted, I have seen as many as would fill a good ship…the Indians…mix them with meal and make strawberry bread.”
Hunting and Fishing
For the most part the men spent their time hunting, fishing, and gathering clams and other shellfish on the beaches. They hunted in two ways: first in small groups of twenty or more…and secondly, by traps of several types. The seaside natives delighted in the shellfish. Lobsters, oysters, and clams were harvested and used to make a broth and as favor for their corn bread. The men fished for both fresh and salt water fish using both a harpoon and nets made of hemp. Occasionally a whale beached itself and the natives cut it up into several parcels and sent it to all their villages. In the winter they bored holes in the ice of fresh water ponds to obtain fish.
Source:
Rogern Williams, The Complete Writings; Neal Salisbury, Manitou and Providence: Indians, Europeans and the Making of New England, 1500-1643, (New York: Oxford University Press), 30; An excellent study of the food economy of the New England native is M. K. Bennett, “The food Economy of the New England Indians, 1605-1675, The Journal of Political Economy, 63, (October, 1955), 5.
Dale Raugust - I grew up on a farm in Eastern Washington, received a BA in history from Washington State University, a MA in history from Eastern ...
