References to these dishes are taken from interviews
with some of the Indian Territory Freedmen during the
1930's WPA Federal Writers Project (WPA) Many of these
slaves had been slaves on the Indians of the Five Civilized
Tribes, and they lived and practiced the culture and customs
of the nations where they had been enslaved. Though many of
these nations today do not wish to acknowledge that they had
Africans live in their nations the fact is that the slaves,
former slaves and their descendants continued to live in the
tradition in which they had been raised. Indian Territory was
their home, their language was that of the nation where they
were born and enslaved and the culture that they practiced
was that of their fellow compatriots. Though denied many
of the priveleges of citizenship, these African Native people
shared the same diet, language, and traditions of the
land of their birth----Oklahoma.
In regards to food, corn was a main staple of the Indian diet,
and thus of the Black Indian diet. Ash cakes, Tom Fuller, variations
of hominy and others were common fare in their Black Indian world.
Many of the Black Indians spoke of their diets and some of their
rememberances of their food ways are recorded here to illustrate
their traditions.
Common Food Eaten by Choctaw Freedmen
-Tom Fuller
-Pashofa
-Hickory Nut Grot
-Tom Budha
-Ash Cakes
As described by Polly Colbert
Choctaw Freedwoman
"We cooked all sorts of Indian dishes: Tom-fuller, pashofa,
hickory-nut grot, Tom-budha, ash-cakes, and pound cakes
besides vegetables and mat dishes. Corn or corn meal was
used in all de Indian dishes. We made hominy out'n de whole
grains. Tom-fuller was made from beaten corn and tasted
sort of like hominy."
"We would take corn and beat it like in a wooden mortar
wid a wooden pestle. We would husk it by fanning it and
we would den put in on to cook in a big pot. While it was
cooking we'd pick out a lot of hickory-nuts, tie em up in
a cloth and beat em a little and drop em in and cook for a
long time. We called dis dish hickory-nut grot. When we made
pashofa we beat de corn and cook for a little while and den
we add fresh pork and cook until de meat was done. Tom-budha
was green corn and fresh meat cooked together and seasoned wid
tongue or pepper-grass."
******************** Common Dishes Eaten By Creek Freedmen
-Sofki
-Pounded Hickory Nuts
-Roasted Green Corn
As Described by
Lucinda Davis,
Creek Freedwoman
"When you make de sofki you pound up de corn real fine,
den pour in de water and drain it off to get all the
little skin off'n de grain. Den you let de grits soak
and den boil it and let it stand. Sometime you put in
some pounded hickory nut meats. Dat make it real good."
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Common Dishes Eaten by Chickasaw Freedman Dishes
-Tom Pashofa
-Ash Cakes
As Described by Kiziah Love,
Chickasaw Freedwoman
"One of our choices dishes was "Tom Pashofa" an Indian dish.
We'd take corn and beat it in a mortar with a pestle. They
took out the husks with a riddle and a fanner. The riddle
was a kind of sifter. When it was beat fine enough to got
through the riddle we'd put it in a pot and cook it with
fresh pork or beef. We cooked our bread in a Dutch oven
or in the ashes."
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