The Lost Colony and Hatteras Island by Scott Dawson

Author:Scott Dawson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2020-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

How the natives cooked fish. Library of Congress.

Yaupon leaves were used to make what the Europeans labeled the “black drink.” This drink was used in a ceremony or holiday that was meant to be a day of forgiveness toward everyone in the tribe, sometimes called the green corn ceremony. It was held in late summer when the first harvest of corn was ready. It was a day to start anew. The black drink was made from the leaves of the yaupon bush that were not roasted but rather chopped up raw and mixed with hot water. It caused whoever drank it to vomit violently and charged them with a huge caffeine buzz. The vomiting was a physical symbol of getting everything bad out of the body so that everyone could start over with a clean slate. Yaupon also contains more caffeine than coffee and, if the leaves are roasted before being processed into tea, makes a fine drink that is still consumed on Hatteras Island today, even at church. In fact, yaupon production and sale to the mainland remained a part of Hatteras Island culture well into the early twentieth century. The phrase “kinnakeeter yaupon eater” comes from the large amount of yaupon processed in the village of Kinnakeet on Hatteras Island, and saying said phrase in Kinnakeet today is a good way to get beat up.

Hunting and fishing were a huge part of the diet and everyday life of the Native Croatoan. The main animal hunted was deer. Not only could the animal provide a lot of meat but also clothing. The same was true for black bear, which were/are numerous on the North Carolina mainland. The hamstrings of the deer were used for the strings of bows, and the antlers were used for a variety of tools and even as pipe bowls. Bows and arrows were the main weapons used to hunt deer, although spears were also used.

Fishing was done by nets, spears and traps. Fish, crabs, turtles and shellfish were eaten in great abundance by the Croatoan. Lawson describes a creative way the Natives had for catching crabs and other shellfish where they halfway cooked some venison and then cut it into strips that then had a sharp reed stuck through them. They took the baited reeds and stuck the sharp end of the reed into the bottom of the water and waited. Every now and then, they would check the baited reeds and take off the shellfish, then repeat the process. The larger fish they caught from the ocean were dried and smoked on hurdles made of canes in the shape of a gridiron; thus, the meat could be stored.

The most effective form of fishing was the weir net system. It is from this system that we get pound netting designs today. Fish will instinctively swim toward deeper water when they encounter a barrier. The Natives built fences made from river cane that were perpendicular to sandbars or shore and led fish into deeper water but also into a series of spade-shaped rooms that trapped the fish without causing them any harm.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.