American Indian Culture and Research Journal

As the American West has been glamorized in book and film, American Indians have frequently been portrayed as primitive hunter-gathers, living off wild meat. The dietary protein supplied by hunting activities was critically important to many Native cultures, but the perception that early Americans ate only meat, did not cultivate crops, had no domesticated livestock, had no weaving or spinning skills, and were nomadic is simply untrue. Five hundred years ago the land we now call the United States of America was fully occupied by diverse peoples who are the ancestors of today’s American Indians. These Americans were prosperous in their various cultures and supported established towns and villages through well-developed agriculture.