Agriculture of the Hidatsa Indians: An Indian Interpretation

A detailed ethnographic account of traditional Hidatsa farming and related lifeways, describing garden preparation, planting, cultivation, and harvest of corn, sunflowers, squash, beans, and tobacco; practical processing techniques such as parching, threshing, braiding, drying stages, and cache-pit storage; tools, field layouts, and seed selection for crop improvement; social practices connected to cultivation including watchers, booths, songs, and communal labor; and notes on changes after contact, such as new crops and iron implements. Indigenous terms, a phonetic alphabet, measurements, and step-by-step procedures are included to convey practical and cultural knowledge.