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Basic Human Needs
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Humans have always had certain physical
needs: food and water, clothing, shelter and health.
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The way that these needs are met depends
upon the factors of time and place.
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Obtaining food can either be by
hunting, foraging, farming or all combined.
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Clothing
needs are determined by the climate conditions, age or gender.
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Shelter is
dependent upon the climate and surrounding conditions where a person lives or
travels.
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Health needs are governed
by age, sex, living conditions, disease or injury.
Ethnobotanicals
can be categorized into several groups depending upon their uses
Crops and cooking, Wood and
carving, Herbs and Healing, Fibers and Weaving
A
little Biology
Food is substance consisting essentially of protein,
carbohydrate, fat, and other nutrients used in the body of an organism to
sustain growth and vital processes and to furnish energy.
We need enough food to perform daily tasks, such as
physical activity, digestion, thinking, breathing, and maintaining organ
functions. Different foods have different amounts of energy (calorie =a
unit of energy equivalent to the heat energy needed to raise the temperature of
1 gram of water by 1 °C).
All types of macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and
fat) are sources of calories. The only difference between them is the number of
calories they contain. Protein and carbohydrates offer four calories per gram,
while fat provides nine calories per gram.
Hunter-gatherer Nutrition and Its
Implications for Modern Societies - 2002, Kious, Brent M., UCLA
They consumed relatively large quantities of wild game
and uncultivated vegetables and fruits, but few grains (grass seeds) and no
dairy products.
Further analysis of the vegetable portion of their diet
has shown that on average fruit represented 41% of hunter-gather diets, seeds
and nuts 26%, underground storage structures (tubers, roots, and bulbs) 24%,
and other plant tissues (flowers, gums, leaves) the remaining 9%.
Cordain L, Miller JB, Eaton SB, Mann N, Holt
SHA, Speth JD. Plant-animal subsistence ratios and
macronutrient energy estimations in worldwide hunter-gatherer diets. Am J Clin Nutr 2000;71:682-92.
There is no evidence of the earliest hunter gather groups
in New Mexico eating plants for food. Much of their nutrition needs came from
killing and eating animals. A butchering site of an extinct species of bison from over
10,000 years ago was discovered by George McJunkin in
Wild Horse Arroyo near Folsom.
Farming has been practiced in New Mexico as far back as
2,500 years ago beginning with the Mogollon people who grew corn, squash and
beans.
Ethnobotany is "the scientific study of
the traditional knowledge and customs of a people concerning plants and their
medical, religious and other uses.”
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The Native American Pueblo farmers depended
upon growing and using the three sisters - corn, beans and squash. And their
stepsister - gourds.
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They foraged in their immediate area for the
plants that they used for various functions taking into consideration the type
of terrain and the time of the year. The early Hispanic farmers who came to New
Mexico learned much from them. In addition, the colonists brought most of the
crops that we are familiar with today from Spain.
Origins
of the Cultivated Pueblo Crops
Squash - Squash is believed to be the oldest cultivated
food in North America, about 8000 years ago. Gourds were used before that.
Corn or maize - Scientists believe people living in
central Mexico developed corn at least 7000 years ago from teosinte grass. In
New Mexico there is evidence that corn was grown here 5000 years ago.
Beans – Pueblo farmers began growing beans about 2,500
years ago.
Chiles – These were brought to New Mexico by the
colonists of Juan de Onate in 1598. They were originally from Bolivia.
Discovered by the Spanish when Hernan Cortez conquered the Aztec in Mexico.
Some
of the Important Native Wild Foods
Pinion pine (pine nuts )
Oaks (acorns)
Currants
Yucca (flowers, fruit, seeds)
Cacti (pads, fruit)
Mallows, globemallow (seed pods, leaves)
Ground cherry (only when ripe)
Pigweed, goosefoot – amaranths (seeds, leaves)
Purslane
Grasses (seeds)
Wild
Plants Used as Food by the Early Native-Americans
Wild plants were eaten by the early Native-Americans, but
unlike the cultivated ones their availability was determined by the type of
terrain and the time of the year that they were available.
Wild greens were available in the spring and early
summer, grass seeds, berries, acorns and pine nuts in the late summer and fall.
Mainly used as supplements.
In winter there was not much to forage. Storage was the
key!
Wild plants were eaten by the early Native-Americans, but
unlike the cultivated ones their availability was determined by the type of
terrain and the time of the year that they were available.
Wild greens were available in the spring and early
summer, grass seeds, berries, acorns and pine nuts in the late summer and fall.
Mainly used as supplements.
In winter there was not much to forage. Storage was the
key!
Here
Come the Spanish Settlers - 1598
The early Spanish farmers who came to New Mexico learned
much about available foods from the indigenous people.
The colonists brought with them most of the crops from
Spain that we are familiar with today.
Tomatoes, potatoes, chiles and chocolate were New World
foods but were brought to New Mexico by the Spanish. (Residue of a chocolate
derivative was found in some excavated Chaco mugs.)
Chiles were originally from the highlands of Bolivia.
They were discovered by the Spanish when Hernan Cortez conquered the Aztec in
Mexico who used many types in their cuisine.
Food Crops Brought by the
Spanish
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Grains (especially wheat - use of horno ovens)
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Fruit (apples, cherries, peaches, apricots,
plums, grapes, lemons, limes, oranges, etc.)
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Vegetables (cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce,
garlic, onion, chiles, chives, watermelons, other melons, etc.)
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Herbs (oregano, parsley, rosemary, fennel,
coriander, etc.)
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Spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves,
etc.)
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Coffee
All
of the other fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices that we
are familiar with today came later either from other Europeans or Asia.
New Mexico Special Foods
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Posole (hominy)
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Blue corn atole
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Carne adovada
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Chicos (dry roasted corn)
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Green chile sauce
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Sopapillas
Mexican
Cuisine/ Spanish Ingredients
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Soups and stews from the South
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Antojitos (small foods) - tacos, enchiladas,
tamales
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Guacamole
Some
plants used for medicine and other uses
(This includes use for food, clothing, currency, ritual,
medicine, dye, construction, cosmetics and a lot more.)
1. Plains
Slimleaf Mustard Schoenocrambe
linearifolia Ethnobotanical Uses
Medicine:
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Ramah Navajo – An infusion of leaves was used
as a ceremonial eyewash.
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Cold infusion of leaves used as a mouthwash
for sore gums.
2. Broom
Snakeweed – Gutierrezia sarothrae Ethnobotanical
Uses
Medicine:
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Bath to alleviate the pain of arthritis and
rheumatism
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Tea for stomachache; curing colds and sore
throats
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Application for sores, bruises and aching
muscle
Other uses:
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After the winter solstice to serve as a
blessing at Sandia Pueblo
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Tops used to make a yellow dye
Horseweed – Conyza canadensis Ethnobotanical
Uses
Medicine:
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The Zuni Indians crush the rays of its
blossoms between their fingers and insert them into their nostrils to cure
rhinitis.
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The early Spanish ladies mashed, then soaked
the leaves in water, and rinsed the face with the strained liquid. After
this has been allowed to dry, a coat of powder was applied.
Purplestem
aster – Symphyotrichum puniceum
Ethnobotanical Uses
Medicine:
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Decoction of roots taken to cause sweating
and reduce a fever.
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Chew root applied to tooth for toothache.
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Infusion of roots taken for colds.
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Infusion of roots taken for consumption and
pneumonia.
Threadleaf
groundsel – Senecio flaccidus Ethnobotanical
Uses
Medicine:
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Poultice of flowers and leaves used for sore
muscles.
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Plant placed on hot coals and smoke
stimulated faint and sick person
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Infusion of 6-inch piece of twig used for
stomach trouble.
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Plant parts used in bed for the good smell.
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Plant parts used in bed as a bedbug repellent