When my refrigerator is running low on food, I drive over to my nearest supermarket. I load up my shopping cart with fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy. Then I proceed to checkout and return home with relatively little effort exerted. Drastically different, the Paleoindians were not able to shop for food this way instead they were hunter-gatherers. When the Paleoindians needed to feed their family, they had to go out and kill an animal, which would then be their source of food. A single mammoth kill was enough to feed around twenty to forty people. Some of the meat would be eaten right away, while the rest of the animal would be preserved for more long-term use. The Paleoindians were adept at using the entirety of a kill for food, clothing, and tools. This practice is something that today’s New York City dwellers should try and keep in mind. Garbage overflows in landfills and some of that garbage probably can be reused!

One specific tribe, the Lenape, was also hunter-gatherers. The Lenape men hunted deer and bear all year long. In autumn, they created large hunting groups, which included women that would go out and kill many deer. They used a technique called a “fire surround” in which they essentially trapped deer in a ring of fire and then forced them into traps or snares. They also pursued geese, swans, pigeons, and turkeys by using nets or arrows. Fish was also part of their diet; the fish were caught using lances and long drag nets. Estuaries were a great source of food because they provided oysters, clams, mussels, and crabs.

The Lenape’s relationship with their environment was one of necessity. The Lenape relied on the animals living around them for sustenance. By virtue of being hunter-gatherers, they were dependent on the land because they needed somewhere to hunt. The earth is diverse and therefore supplied the Lenape with a varying diet that included mammals, fowl, fish, and seafood. I’m sure the Lenape truly appreciated the land that they owed their life to much more than today’s urban population. Mostly everyone, including myself, repeats the supermarket shopping experience on a regular basis in order to have food. Imagine if that wasn’t an option. We would all have to take a page from the Lenape’s and learn to appreciate the goodness that Earth provides straight from the ground and through its natural animal dwellers.