Native American agriculture in Virginia

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As is the case with most native populations that did not use systems of writing for most or all of their history, much of what is known about Native Americans comes from the records of the Europeans who first encountered them in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Some of these accounts are accurate, while some include parts that are accurate and other parts that reflect their biases towards native peoples. One aspect of native life which the European colonists often remarked upon, when they left written records, was their system of agriculture.

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Agriculture is one of the primary means by which pre-industrial human societies impacted their environments; through plant and animal domestication, disruption of prehistoric soil matrices, and the resulting population increases that some degree of agricultural sophistication makes possible within partially nomadic or fully settled groups of people.

Given the topographical and climatological variances found within its borders, Virginia allowed for the development of several unique agricultural systems that worked in concert with traditional hunting and gathering systems. Post-European contact, these modes of subsistence were greatly altered as European technology was introduced to the native Virginians and their grip on their ancestral lands slowly receded towards the mountains.

Background

History of Virginia The proposed and accepted dates for the beginning of native habitation in Virginia vary widely; traditionally the assumed date was somewhere between 12,000–10,000 B.C. The recent archaeological excavations at Cactus Hill, however, have challenged those dates with hard evidence of far earlier habitation within the state.

The Cactus Hill site is located along the Nottoway River in southeast Virginia and is now one of the oldest known sites with evidence of human habitation in the country. Clovis-type tools found at the site have been radiocarbon dated to between 11,500–10,000 B.C., and the remains of hearth fires have been dated to around 15,000 B.C. Work continues at the site, but these findings appear to have set back the generally accepted start of human habitation in Virginia by about 5,000 years. [1]

The periods between when native peoples first settled in Virginia (at least 15,000 B.C.) and about 2500 B.C. are called the Paleo and Archaic periods. Tribes in Virginia were hunter-gatherers during these periods and didn't establish permanent settlements. Semi-permanent habitations first appeared during the Sedentary Forager Period (2,500 B.C. – 900 A.D.) and larger settlements had developed by the Middle-to-Late Woodland Period. [2]

Tribe distribution

The tribes on the coast were part of the Powhatan confederacy. Individual tribes in the region included the Nansemond in the south, the Chickahominy, Pamunkey, and Mattaponi along the central coast, the Potomack on the north shore, and the Accomack on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. In the central and western regions of the state were the Monacan, Mannahoac, Saponi people, Nahyssan, Occaneechi, and Tutelo people. Some Cherokee lived in the southwest, and there was an isolated pocket of Nottoway people and Meherrin tribes in the south between the coast and the Piedmont. [3]

Differences in agriculture resulted more from geographical variation than differences in tribal farming practices or customs.

Origins of agriculture

Agriculture in Virginia is believed to have begun in the same manner that agriculture in most other places developed. Native Virginians made extensive use of wild plants in their subsistence systems, and it is hypothesized that the first attempts made at cultivation in Virginia were the selective nurturing of wild edible plants in ways that encouraged their growth. Eventually, such pseudo-agriculture developed into the purposeful planting, cultivation, and artificial selection of certain species and varieties. The agricultural systems that developed before the introduction of maize and other, more well-known native crops, have been dubbed the Eastern Agricultural Complex.

None of the domesticated crops that are usually associated with native Virginians are native to the area. Maize (Indian corn), the predominant native crop in the collective mind of most Americans, came up from Mexico and was incorporated into the native agricultural systems. Squash and beans, the other two crops that make up the famous "three sisters" agricultural trilogy, migrated up similar routes and eventually became firmly established in native agricultural systems in Virginia around 900 A.D. during the beginning of the Middle Woodland Period. [4]

Tidewater

Natives in the Chesapeake region and on the Eastern Shore practiced a variety of subsistence methods in order to provide for themselves throughout the year. They gathered wild plants, nuts, and fruit, hunted deers, turkey, and waterfowl, fished along the rivers that feed the Chesapeake, gathered shellfish and mollusks along the coast, and cultivated maize. [5]

Some of the best farmland was in the river valleys on the Eastern Shore. By the Late Woodland Period (c. 900–1600 A.D.), however, flooding and rising sea levels made it impossible to farm the lower-lying areas closer to the shore. Once they were pushed onto the less fertile plots of land, native farmers had few choices for improving the lower natural fertility of the new soil. Lacking artificial fertilizers or, prior to European contact, crops that return nitrogen to the soil, natives relied on rotation systems to ensure that they always had at least a few fertile plots available at any one time. Thanks to the lower density populations that Eastern shore natives enjoyed, they were capable of taking plots out of cultivation for several years in order to restore fertility and soil nutrients. [6]

Piedmont

Thanks to the presence of numerous rivers, the Piedmont offered large amounts of fertile land for native habitation and cultivation. Native settlements tended to be established alongside river-adjacent fields and moved up and down the river every few years in order to allow the soil from the previous fields to be revitalized.

The "three sisters" agricultural concept was commonly implemented across the Piedmont. Aside from providing complete nutrients (when complemented with game and wild plants), the three plants worked cooperatively to preserve soil nutrients. The beans and squash (or gourds) fixed nitrogen in the soil and shaded the ground, preventing the growth of weeds, while the corn gave the beans a stalk to wind around as they grew. It also had the benefit of being a low maintenance form of agriculture; with the gourds holding down weed growth and little to no fertilization needing to be done, the plants could hold their own far more successfully than the labor-intensive European farming systems. [7]

Appalachians

The soil quality in the Appalachians was (and is) less productive than in other areas state; the hilly geography also makes farming larger areas of land difficult and some regions at higher elevation are drier and harder to grow in than areas lower on the mountains. As a result, agriculture was less pervasive in the mountains than in other regions. Corn was, however, still widely and successfully grown, along with other standard native crops such as variants of squash and domesticated species of formerly wild plants. [8]

Effects of European contact on native agriculture

The most punishing effect of European arrival and settlement was loss of land. Europeans relied more heavily on farming for their subsistence than the natives did, and were also far more likely to grow surplus crops that could be traded or sold. Thus the new arrivals needed large amounts of fertile land to support their quickly growing populations. Virginia's native population found itself being pushed towards – and eventually over – the mountains as European arrivals snatched up large land grants made by the English governors of the new colony.

Agriculture also impacted the relations between the Jamestown settlers and the nearby native populations. It's commonly known that sympathetic natives helped the agriculturally-ill equipped settlers to feed themselves, but the negative effects of those interactions aren't as widely recognized. Virginia suffered several droughts around the time that the Jamestown settlement was established, which limited the abilities of both the natives and the new settlers to provide for themselves. When the natives weren't able to give any more food to their new neighbors (out of concern for the feeding and care of their own people) the Jamestown residents became angered and relations between the two populations degraded significantly. [9]

Another impact of European contact was the integration of European crops into native agricultural systems. [10]

Primary sources

Some of what is known about native agriculture in Virginia comes from archaeological evidence. The majority of the primary sources that mention native agriculture have some degree of Euro-centrism bias, usually with regard to the colonists' belief that native agriculture was "uncivilized" in some way, or that it didn't exist at all. [11] The primary factor of native agriculture that made it so unappealing to European sensibilities was also the factor that made the native agricultural system so much more successful: the use of interactive crop types that cut down on the labor needed to maintain the fields, as well as enriching the soil and increasing the number of seasons that fields could be used. In some areas, native Virginians also planted their crops in and among the remains of the wooded areas that had been cut down so a field could be cleared. This debris made the fields look somewhat messy, but assisted in adding nutrients back into the soil (through decomposition) and made for an easier and quicker transition back to wild growth once the natives had moved on down the river. [12]

Related Research Articles

Agriculture Cultivation of plants and animals to provide useful products

Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities. The history of agriculture began thousands of years ago. After gathering wild grains beginning at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers began to plant them around 11,500 years ago. Pigs, sheep, and cattle were domesticated over 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. Industrial agriculture based on large-scale monoculture in the twentieth century came to dominate agricultural output, though about 2 billion people still depended on subsistence agriculture.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to agriculture:

Shifting cultivation Method of agriculture

Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned while post-disturbance fallow vegetation is allowed to freely grow while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cultivation is usually terminated when the soil shows signs of exhaustion or, more commonly, when the field is overrun by weeds. The period of time during which the field is cultivated is usually shorter than the period over which the land is allowed to regenerate by lying fallow.

Slash-and-burn Farming method in which trees are cut and burnt to clear land

Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed vegetation, or "slash", is then left to dry, usually right before the rainiest part of the year. Then, the biomass is burned, resulting in a nutrient-rich layer of ash which makes the soil fertile, as well as temporarily eliminating weed and pest species. After about three to five years, the plot's productivity decreases due to depletion of nutrients along with weed and pest invasion, causing the farmers to abandon the field and move over to a new area. The time it takes for a swidden to recover depends on the location and can be as little as five years to more than twenty years, after which the plot can be slashed and burned again, repeating the cycle. In Bangladesh and India, the practice is known as jhum or jhoom.

Agriculture in Mesoamerica Account of archaic North American agriculture

Agriculture in Mesoamerica dates to the Archaic period of Mesoamerican chronology. At the beginning of the Archaic period, the Early Hunters of the late Pleistocene era led nomadic lifestyles, relying on hunting and gathering for sustenance. However, the nomadic lifestyle that dominated the late Pleistocene and the early Archaic slowly transitioned into a more sedentary lifestyle as the hunter gatherer micro-bands in the region began to cultivate wild plants. The cultivation of these plants provided security to the Mesoamericans, allowing them to increase surplus of "starvation foods" near seasonal camps; this surplus could be utilized when hunting was bad, during times of drought, and when resources were low. The cultivation of plants could have been started purposefully, or by accident. The former could have been done by bringing a wild plant closer to a camp site, or to a frequented area, so it was easier access and collect. The latter could have happened as certain plant seeds were eaten and not fully digested, causing these plants to grow wherever human habitation would take them.

Powhatan Indigenous Algonquian people that are traditionally from eastern Virginia

The Powhatan people may refer to any of the indigenous Algonquian people that are traditionally from eastern Virginia. All of the Powhatan groups descend from the Powhatan Confederacy. In some instances, The Powhatan may refer to one of the leaders of the people. This is most commonly the case in historical records from English colonial accounts. The Powhatans have also been known as Virginia Algonquians, as the Powhatan language is an eastern-Algonquian language, also known as Virginia Algonquian. It is estimated that there were about 14,000–21,000 Powhatan people in eastern Virginia, when English colonists established Jamestown in 1607.

Three Sisters (agriculture) Agricultural technique of Indigenous people in the Americas

The Three Sisters are the three main agricultural crops of various Indigenous peoples of North America: winter squash, maize ("corn"), and climbing beans . Originating in Mesoamerica, these three crops were carried northward, up the river valleys over generations, far afield to the Mandan and Iroquois who, among others, used these Three Sisters for food and trade.

Neolithic Revolution Transition from hunter-gatherer to settled peoples in human history

The Neolithic Revolution, or the (First) Agricultural Revolution, was the wide-scale transition of many human cultures during the Neolithic period from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement, making an increasingly large population possible. These settled communities permitted humans to observe and experiment with plants, learning how they grew and developed. This new knowledge led to the domestication of plants into crops.

Founder crops Original agricultural crops

The founder crops are the eight plant species that were domesticated by early Neolithic farming communities in Southwest Asia and went on to form the basis of agricultural economies across much of Eurasia, including Southwest Asia, South Asia, Europe, and North Africa. They consist of three cereals, four pulses, and flax. These species were amongst the first domesticated plants in the world.

History of agriculture Aspect of history

The history of agriculture records the domestication of plants and animals and the development and dissemination of techniques for raising them productively. Agriculture began independently in different parts of the globe, and included a diverse range of taxa. At least eleven separate regions of the Old and New World were involved as independent centers of origin.

Eastern Agricultural Complex Agricultural practices of pre-historic native cultures in the eastern United States and Canada

The Eastern Agricultural Complex in the woodlands of eastern North America was one of about 10 independent centers of plant domestication in the pre-historic world. Incipient agriculture dates back to about 5300 BCE. By about 1800 BCE the Native Americans of the woodlands were cultivating several species of food plants, thus beginning a transition from a hunter-gatherer economy to agriculture. After 200 BCE when maize from Mexico was introduced to the Eastern Woodlands, the Native Americans of the eastern United States and adjacent Canada slowly changed from growing local indigenous plants to a maize-based agricultural economy. The cultivation of local indigenous plants other than squash and sunflower declined and was eventually abandoned. The formerly domesticated plants returned to their wild forms.

Tsenacommacah Native homeland of the Powhatan people

Tsenacommacah is the name given by the Powhatan people to their native homeland, the area encompassing all of Tidewater Virginia and parts of the Eastern Shore. More precisely, its boundaries spanned 100 miles (160 km) by 100 miles (160 km) from near the south side of the mouth of the James River all the way north to the south end of the Potomac River and from the Eastern Shore west to about the Fall Line of the rivers.

<i>Chenopodium berlandieri</i> Species of edible flowering plant

Chenopodium berlandieri, also known by the common names pitseed goosefoot, lamb's quarters, and huauzontle (Nahuatl) is an annual herbaceous plant in the family Amaranthaceae.

Nottoway people

The Nottoway are an Iroquoian Native American tribe in Virginia. The Nottoway spoke a Nottoway language in the Iroquoian language family.

Perennial rice Varieties of rice that can grow season after season without re-seeding

Perennial rice are varieties of long-lived rice that are capable of regrowing season after season without reseeding; they are being developed by plant geneticists at several institutions. Although these varieties are genetically distinct and will be adapted for different climates and cropping systems, their lifespan is so different from other kinds of rice that they are collectively called perennial rice. Perennial rice—like many other perennial plants—can spread by horizontal stems below or just above the surface of the soil but they also reproduce sexually by producing flowers, pollen and seeds. As with any other grain crop, it is the seeds that are harvested and eaten by humans.

Indigenous horticulture is practised in various ways across all inhabited continents. Indigenous refers to the native peoples of a given area and horticulture is the practice of small-scale intercropping.

Farming systems in India

Farming systems in India are strategically utilized, according to the locations where they are most suitable. The farming systems that significantly contribute to the agriculture of India are subsistence farming, organic farming, industrial farming. Regions throughout India differ in types of farming they use; some are based on horticulture, ley farming, agroforestry, and many more. Due to India's geographical location, certain parts experience different climates, thus affecting each region's agricultural productivity differently. India is very dependent on its monsoon cycle for large crop yields. India's agriculture has an extensive background which goes back to at least 9 thousand years. In India, in the alluvial plains of the Indus River in Pakistan, the old cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa experienced an apparent establishment of an organized farming urban culture. That society, known as the Harappan or Indus civilization, flourished until shortly after 4000 BP; it was much more comprehensive than those of Egypt or Babylonia and appeared earlier than analogous societies in northern China. Currently, the country holds the second position in agricultural production in the world. In 2007, agriculture and other industries made up more than 16% of India's GDP. Despite the steady decline in agriculture's contribution to the country's GDP, agriculture is the biggest industry in the country and plays a key role in the socio-economic growth of the country. India is the second-largest producer of wheat, rice, cotton, sugarcane, silk, groundnuts, and dozens more. It is also the second biggest harvester of vegetables and fruit, representing 8.6% and 10.9% of overall production, respectively. The major fruits produced by India are mangoes, papayas, sapota, and bananas. India also has the biggest number of livestock in the world, holding 281 million. In 2008, the country housed the second largest number of cattle in the world with 175 million.

Prehistoric agriculture on the Great Plains

Agriculture on the precontact Great Plains describes the agriculture of the Indian peoples of the Great Plains of the United States and southern Canada in the Pre-Columbian era and before extensive contact with European explorers, which in most areas occurred by 1750. The principal crops grown by Indian farmers were maize (corn), beans, and squash, including pumpkins. Sunflowers, goosefoot, tobacco, gourds, and plums, were also grown.

This glossary of agriculture is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in agriculture, its sub-disciplines, and related fields. For other glossaries relevant to agricultural science, see Glossary of biology, Glossary of ecology, Glossary of environmental science, and Glossary of botany.

The history of rice cultivation is long and complicated. The current scientific consensus, based on archaeological and linguistic evidence, is that Oryza sativa rice was first domesticated in the Yangtze River basin in China 13,500 to 8,200 years ago. From that first cultivation, migration and trade spread rice around the world - first to much of east Asia, and then further abroad, and eventually to the Americas as part of the Columbian exchange. The now less common Oryza glaberrima rice was independently domesticated in Africa 3,000 to 3,500 years ago. Other wild rices have also been cultivated in different geographies, such as in the Americas.

References

  1. ↑ McWeeney, Linda. "Pre-Clovis Occupation on the Nottoway River in Virginia". National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 2007-10-17. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
  2. ↑ "Colonization". National Park Service.
  3. ↑ Wood, Karenne. "The Virginia Indian Heritage Trail" (PDF). Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-07-04.
  4. ↑ "Colonization". National Park Service.
  5. ↑ Rountree, Helen (1997). Eastern Shore Indians of Virginia and Maryland. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
  6. ↑ Rountree, Helen (1997). Eastern Shore Indians of Virginia and Maryland. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
  7. ↑ Rountree, Helen (2002). Before and After Jamestown: Virginia's Powhatans and Their Predecessors. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
  8. ↑ Yarnell, Susan. "The Southern Appalachians: A History of the Landscape". Treesearch. U.S. Forest Service, Southern Research Station.
  9. ↑ Wood, L. Maren. "The Founding of Virginia". Learn NC.
  10. ↑ Glasser, Leah S. "America, Africa, and Europe: Three Worlds on the Eve of 1492". Virginia Center for Digital History. Miller Center of Public Affairs.
  11. ↑ "Native American Voices". Digital History. University of Houston. Archived from the original on 2011-12-28.
  12. ↑ Rountree, Helen (2002). Before and After Jamestown: Virginia's Powhatans and Their Predecessors. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
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