Nets were used to take sturgeon.[70] Nets were placed across rivers at the falls to take bass. The trapped fish were then shot with arrows or speared.[71] Bass were also caught in weirs.[72] The tending of nets went on at night as well as during the day, the fishermen resting on the shore near small fires until it was time to check their nets.[73] Sturgeon were also taken at night—using a different technique. A torch was waved about over the side of the canoe to lure the fish. When the fish came near, an Indian in the canoe would drive a harpoon into his belly. Thus secured, the struggling fish was dragged back to shore.[74] The method of taking eels was to wade into the water, tread them out of the mud with the feet, then grab them.[75]
DOMESTICATED ANIMALS
The Wampanoags’ only domesticated animal at the time the Europeans arrived was the dog.[76] Later, those Indians who adopted European culture as part of their conversion to Christianity seem to have begun keeping the types of livestock—cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, etc.—brought by the settlers.[77]
AGRICULTURE
Horticulture was a major occupation of the Wampanoags from the spring until fall. Chief among their crops was the native American corn, Zea mays. Historical sources mention a number of colors—red, blue, yellow, and white.[78] Of the squashes and their relatives (all grouped into the family Cucurbitacae) there are mentioned pumpkins and cucumbers.[79] Also cultivated was the native American variety of tobacco, Nicotiana rustica.[80]
Gardening was work done by women, except for tobacco growing, which was the business of men.[81] The implements of cultivation were such things as clam shell hoes, and fish were used for fertilizer. During the time that the corn was growing the women would weed it and protect it from birds. Watch houses might be built in the fields where the gardener or her older children would sit all day to frighten away birds.[82] Sometimes hawks were captured, tamed, and kept nearby the house in order to chase the other birds away from the corn fields.[83]
Corn might be harvested green or allowed to ripen in the fields, depending upon the use for which it was intended. Green corn seems to have been a favorite food, and to get as much as possible two plantings might be made during a summer.[84] At harvest time the women gathered in the corn and prepared it for consumption or storage.[85]
When preparing a new field the first step was to remove the forest cover. Trees were cut down, leaving only the stumps; the branches were burned on the spot. Ashes left from the burning enriched the soil. Gardens were then planted between the stumps.[86] A field thus prepared would gradually diminish in fertility over a period of years of continuous use, despite the addition of organic fertilizers (fish) with each planting. When this happened, the field was left fallow for a period of time, during which a cover of weeds and brush would develop. This cover was then burned off, the ashes worked into the soil, and the field planted again.[87]
FOOD PROCESSING
Preservation and Storage: Both animal and vegetable foods were preserved by drying.[88] With this technique, there was constant danger of spoilage through dampness. Prior to the arrival of the European settlers, salt was not available to the Wampanoags for food preservation.[89] The method of drying fish and shellfish was to cut it into thin strips and hang it on a scaffold over a fire prepared for that purpose. Both the sun and the fire worked to dry the fish quickly; the fire served the additional purpose of keeping away flies, which would have spoiled the food.[90] At night or when the weather was humid, the drying fish was moved to the warm, smoky interior of the wigwam to hang above the fireplace.[91] Corn, chestnuts, currants, beans, and acorns were also preserved by drying. There is no description of the process, save that they were spread out on mats.[92]