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Food

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Buffalo was the main food of the People of the Plains. Fresh meat was often cooked in a skin bag by placing hot stones directly in the bag producing a rich, nutritious buffalo soup. One version of how the Stoney Tribe got their name was a result of this method of cooking. Fresh buffalo meat was also roasted over a flaming fire.

Because keeping meat fresh was difficult, it was dried and could then be stored for a long time. The lean parts of the buffalo were cut into thin slices and hung on a tripod (much like in a tipi foundation) to dry in the sun. Some of the dried meat was pounded into a powder and mixed with hot, melted buffalo fat and berries to form pemmican.

Bone grease and frying grease were collected from the bones and fat respectively and stored in buffalo paunches. One use for frying grease was to prevent bannock from sticking to the surface of the pan in which it was cooked. Bannock is a delicious yeast-free bread which Natives cooked over the fire.

Women collected berries as soon as they ripened in the summer. While some berries were eaten fresh, many were dried and stored for use as: dyes, food, jewelry and medicines.

While the People of the Plains depended primarily on buffalo for food, large game such as deer, moose and elk were also hunted. Wolves, coyotes, lynx, rabbits, gophers, prairie chickens and various other birds and small animals were also trapped.

Vegetables were an essential part of the Plains diet. The Indian turnip was the most important root. Turnips, dug by women, were peeled, dried in the sun and pounded in a rawhide bag to a fine powder. Turnip flour would last for a long time if kept dry. Turnip was also eaten uncooked, boiled or roasted. A favourite dessert of the Plains People was a pudding made from turnip flour mixed with berries. Several other roots were gathered and eaten as well.