As spring quickly passes us by this year, we can see throughout Baldwin County the small family gardens and the large commercial farms that are so much a part of our lives and have been for as long as most people can remember.

As a historian, spring planting leads me to think about this same time of year in the lives of the Native Americans that occupied the Old Southwest during the Mississippian Period, 1000–1500 AD.

The Mississippian was dominated by indigenous people that were the last to live a life free of influence by Europeans. These were the people who lived in our region prior to the European designation of the Creek, Choctaw and Chickasaw, among others.

During that early time period, the Indians in our region had already perfected the crops that constituted the majority of their diet. And while they met their nutritional needs primarily from agriculture, the Native Americans continued to supplement their regimen with wild fruits, vegetables, and game.

Old Southwest Native American diet in the Mississippian Period

Core foods- Corn, beans, squash

Wild game- White-tailed deer, rabbit, raccoon, turkey, turtles, fish

Wild Plants- Plums, grapes, blackberries, pecans, acorns

Of the three core foods, corn was primary. It was found in a variety of forms, with white corn being the most dominant in this area. While it was originally a tropical plant, corn most likely traveled along the trade routes into North America from Mexico, where it quickly became a staple food.

Numerous varieties of squash were utilized by the Indians, but the most popular seems to have been yellow squash, winter squash, and pumpkins.

Beans added to the protein intake for Indians, and while not as rich as deer meat, they were often more predictable and available. Indians consumed varieties such as green, speckled, kidney, and white beans. Along with corn, beans were an ideal food that could be grown in surplus amounts, dried, and used during the lean winter months.

Many of the foods the Mississippian Period Native Americans enjoyed became the staples of the Europeans as they occupied more and more of the North American continent, and those same foods remain staples today in the southern United States.