What did the Seminole eat?
Food: Seminole men were good hunters. Fish were speared from canoes. They caught otter, raccoon, bobcats, turtle, alligator, and birds. To catch deer, they would burn a patch of grass. When the new grass grew in, the deer came to feast, and the Seminole caught the deer.
They did not tend their crops. The land teemed with food like wild pineapples, mangos, guava, oranges, and mulberry trees.
Villagers planted crops behind their house and on nearby hammocks. They did not weed or fertilize or irrigate. Wild plants mingled with the ones they had planted. The Seminole planted pumpkins, pawpaws, and corn.
Corn was the main crop. They used corn to make corn flour, corn bread, corn pancakes, and even a corn soft drink called sofkee. Sofkee is still a popular soft drink among the Seminole today.
Cane Sugar: These early people sweetened their food with sugar cane. To crush the cane and get the sugar, they put wheels on either end of a wooden pole. The men pushed the pole across the cane until it shredded.
Eating Houses: Each village had an eating house. This was the biggest house in the village. The women cooked the food, and made food for the entire village. Everyone ate together. They did not have silverware. They ate with their fingers. The two big meals were breakfast and lunch.
