WEBVTT

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- Taylor Bailey: Have you ever
enjoyed a squash?

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Summer corn?

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Sunflower seeds?

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If so...
[laughs]

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If so, you've eaten foods
related to plants

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that were part of Native diets
in this area for centuries.

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Wisconsin today is filled
with farmland.

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- Kacie Lucchini Butcher:
And it's not just dairy farms,

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though I do love a good cheese.

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- Everything from corn
to cherries to soybeans

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and more is grown here,

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but this region's
agricultural history

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is way older
than most people realize.

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Starting thousands of years ago,

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Indigenous farmers
in this region

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were growing and using
a wide variety of plants.

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[upbeat music]

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- Sissel Schroeder: People in
the past cultivated plant foods,

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and they also domesticated
certain plants

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that they grew in garden,
but overall,

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it reflects the management
of food resources

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by Indigenous people.

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- Edith Leoso: You know,
we were placed here,

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we say, by the Creator,
and we were told by the Creator

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that everything that we needed
to live a good life

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is already here.

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We just had to observe
everything and give it a name.

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Before Europeans came
to this continent,

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we've been doing things
like ricing.

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We still do that today.

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We still do it exactly
the same way.

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- What's the story
behind Native agriculture

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around the Great Lakes
and eastern North America?

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- This history goes back
about 5,000 years

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when Indigenous people
in the area began cultivating

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and domesticating
seed-bearing plants.

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So, what is the difference
between cultivation

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and domestication?

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- So, cultivation is
intentionally planting seeds

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in the ground

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in order to grow crops
in particular areas.

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Domesticates are when the plant
has gone through genetic changes

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that signal it is a domesticate.

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So, domesticated plants
typically have a larger seed

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than wild plants.

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And then, domesticated seeds
typically

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have a thinner seed coat,

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an outer seed coat,
compared to wild.

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- Liz Leith: So, this is
a wild sunflower seed.

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- Taylor: Oh, they're so tiny.

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- Liz: And this is, like,
you know, are the regular,

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now sunflower seeds today.

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So, as we grow different foods,
we want to eat more, right?

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We want to grow less
so that we can eat more.

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So, we want the plants
to get bigger,

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so we'll grow the crops
to get bigger and bigger.

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That's why we usually see
domesticates as bigger plants.

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- People probably
were actively selecting

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and choosing the plants
that had the bigger seeds

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or produced more seeds,

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and then setting those aside
to plant the following year.

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That sort of interaction with
the plants over many, many years

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results in domestication.

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- In eastern North America,
plant domestication began

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during what's known
as the Archaic period

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in Native history.

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About 6,000 years ago, climate
and environmental changes

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created a landscape

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that was ideal
for cultivating plants.

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This included fertile, stable
river valleys with good soil.

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From about 5,000
to 3,700 years ago,

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there were at least four plant
species that were domesticated

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by Indigenous peoples
in eastern North America.

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- The first seed-bearing plants
to be domesticated

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in this region were squash,
or gourds.

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This was followed by sunflower,
marsh elder, and<i>Chenopodium.</i>

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- These plants are a part
of what's known

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as the Eastern
Agricultural Complex.

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Three of these plants, squash,
marsh elder,

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and<i>Chenopodium</i>grow really well
in soil beds

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that are disturbed by annual
flooding in certain areas.

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They also produce
a lot of seeds.

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For people cultivating them,
this meant the potential

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for a big return without needing
a lot of work.

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- But these resources also
needed careful tending

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and smart harvesting practices.

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Today, these are still important
aspects of Native agriculture.

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- And I remember berry picking
with my grandmother,

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and she said, "Go fill up
your bucket over here.

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But don't take 'em all."

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You always leave some behind,

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because we never take more
than what we need.

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We should always leave something
behind, which helps it reseed,

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which helps it
for the next year.

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- What are some foods
that are native

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to this region of Wisconsin,
or to Wisconsin as a whole?

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- Well, wild rice.
- Taylor: Ooh, okay.

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- Kacie: Yeah.
- Yes.

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And we know that wild rice, from
an archaeological perspective,

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was being cultivated
at least 2,000 years ago,

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but probably even longer
than that.

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- This is wild rice,

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but we actually see it
burned in the record.

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So, this is some burned
wild rice versus the real.

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- Plant cultivation
and domestication

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wasn't just happening
in this region.

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It was taking place
all across the Americas.

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And as different groups traded
with each other and traveled,

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it meant the spread of certain
plants to new regions.

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- This is what happened
with corn and beans,

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which were domesticated
by Indigenous peoples

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in Mesoamerica.

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Corn, or maize, arrived in this
area in about 200 BC,

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during what's known
as the Woodland period.

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Within a few hundred years,

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it became a very important crop
for some Native cultures.

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This included Oneota groups,

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who also incorporated beans into
their agricultural practice.

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Another food resource that was
especially widespread were nuts.

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There is evidence
from across North America

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that people were using nuts

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like walnuts, hickory, acorn,
and hazelnuts.

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These could be eaten as is, or
used to make oils for cooking.

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- And there is some evidence

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that Indigenous peoples were
managing the forests in a way

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that ensured that these
nut-bearing trees would grow

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and grow close to the sites
where they were living.

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- But trees produce more
than just nuts and fruit.

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Some of them can also make sap

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that can be turned
into delicious maple syrup.

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This has been done by Indigenous
groups for centuries.

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- The practice of knowing when
to tap a tree for its sap

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shows how attentive
Native peoples were

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to their environment.

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This is still true
for many people

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preserving these traditions
today.

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- There is one particular thing
that happens,

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and it's when the snow
is still on the ground,

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when you put your foot
through the snow,

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and it's kind of powdery
underneath,

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but it's crusty on the top.

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And that's when the waters begin
to flow again.

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And so, we watch that, and the
water that flows in the trees

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is the first to start flowing.

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It tells you that it's time
to start tapping the trees

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to make maple syrup,
maple sugar.

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- It's important to note that
farming and plant practices

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were not universal
across this area.

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Different cultural groups used a
wide variety of food resources

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and approaches.

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- Some relied more heavily
on crops and agriculture,

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while others chose to prioritize
hunting and gathering.

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For those groups who focused
on increasing cultivation

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of the land and plants,
this could lead

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to some significant
cultural shifts as well.

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- And the more and more that
people invested

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in managing these
food resources,

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plant food resources
on the landscape,

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they really started settling
down, returning to the same site

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or community year after year.

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They had invested
in clearing the fields,

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so we really see a shift
in the ways

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in which people
use the landscape

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as they became more and more
engaged with agriculture.

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- Indigenous people
in the Great Lakes area

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and eastern North America

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had a wide variety of plants
in their diet.

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This included everything
from wild plants

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to carefully cultivated crops
like corn, beans,

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squash, and sunflower.

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- Today, many of the plants
that were domesticated

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in the Americas

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are a staple of cuisines
all over the world.

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Do you know the history
of your favorite foods

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or the history
of your culture's cuisine?

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See if you can find out the
stories behind these treats.

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Everything we eat, from snacks
to celebratory meals,

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has a story to tell.

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- We'll find some cobs that are
preserved,

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that are dried out.
- Oh, I thought these were...

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- So, that's what they would
look like.

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- I thought these were
pine cones. [all laugh]

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- Those are corn cobs.

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- Okay, wow.

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They're super tiny.

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- I thought you were gonna say
poop. [all laugh]