Food Trading with Charles Moran

Years ago you know it was the eating habits of our people were a lot different and it was it’s it’s hard today to try to think of how they’re trying to get us to eat today you know even in even in the lunch rooms and the school systems is really it’s it’s it’s a different food you know it’s it’s a processed food and it’s supposed to be a little bit healthier for you but you know it’s not at the same time it’s a lot of sodium in here in their food city and I’m not to say anything about the cooking or school because that cook is my little sister my little daughter and I don’t wanted to it’s not no it’s not it’s nothing to book that but she has rules that she has to follow you know fur for feeding meals and it’s it’s a lot different you know they tell us that you see a lot of the meal sites are the things that going on a lot of day by the times today they talk about eating meals with solids today you know you should be eating a lot of salads well our people here were probably earthly eaters are ready you know if we had the beans we had squash we had sunflowers we grew those and actually traded for meat for those for buffalo meat back in the day or deer meat our friends from Lakota people or our did the coaches from Montana or Spirit Lake would come over and trade maybe some meat that they needed some beans or corn so you know it was a try trading process here was a big trade here it was like the biggest one where ever you know we had everything here so people were coming here to get what they needed and then they would move on and then things like that but you know back in those days i’ve heard stories or I’ve heard or read that you know our peoples died it was only 10% meat and everything was souped you know they boiled everything they boiled beans they boiled corn you know made soup out of it and what happens when you get a cold you want to eat soup you know so soup has been in probably every nationality besides our people that was soup you know so they made soups they made their breads you know and a little meat in there for flavoring you didn’t have to put so much meaner but you know they filled up on the carbs that the corn the beans had a lot of carbs and that’s what held over you stick sticks to your ribs they say you know like spaghetti ER or macaronis but you know those and then you eat not big portions people know how to eat back then people are real active you know I sit in my class and I could sit all day if I wanted to but I’m not supposed to you know you have to move around and walk around and get around but yeah it’s they used not just but they grew but they’ve picked berries they picked wild I knew he had about onions here for flavoring the different herbs that grew here there’s a story long time ago that along the river bottom they had grapes a little bitty grapes it looks like probably the size of those red buffalo berries about that say but they grew on vines just like grapes he had little bunches you know just so big and my uncle he’s gone now and I have a couple other uncles that were a little bit younger in him that talked about them grapes no sweet they were and that they wished for them and they’re in their 70s and 80s now you know so you know that it’s gone but I don’t know if it’s either up further upstream or for the downstream maybe there might be grapes but you know the when before this flood ever happened here in the 50s they would I be out horseback riding and he buries all day and they talked about these grapes that grew in vines and they would you know they wished for that taste so you’re just thinking about it my mouth is like I wonder what it tastes like you know getting kind of like wishing for something like that you know turnips are real big here universally an earthly food hearty you know filled you up they had their own sweets they made their own sweets with the berries pemmican corn balls I think one of the older ladies that still can make her daughter’s make it for her now but there’s still a few that can make traditional old-style corn balls today we cheat you know we use the cornmeal or you know go downtown they don’t get the corn and try it and grind it you know powder it down they don’t do that today a lot of folks and you can taste the difference you know so much older ones not saying that I’m old but I’ve got to taste older people’s foods and it’s got a different taste to it and a different texture you know when you ate traditional corn balls you still like kitchen your teeth you know that like oh you know he had to bite on it a little harder sometimes and to break the corn up you know because it’d be like little pieces of corn you know so yeah it was how did they get them to the corn ball the stick hello the fat tallow and berries you know berries it was it’s really sweet it corn balls yeah corn balls it I’ve tried to give crime boss to like different people that came here and you’re like ooh what is that you know it tastes like berries but it’s got a different taste to it you know yeah it’s it’s pemmican same way and I’ve tasted pemmican from the crow people that used elves you know different types of beef we are not beef but a different type of mean deer and antelope elk moose you know so I’ve tried different tribes as pemmican anymore we’re not the only people had pemmican yeah and that’s cut berries in it you know and so they kind of knew how to treat each other and at the same time made it healthy a good healthy meal we could live on pemmican you know because it had everything in it and all the nourishment had protein you know all those kinds of meals