Native American Foods: Before and after Contact: Sixteenth Century

Native American foods of the sixteenth century changed relatively little, but they were enhanced with European trade items. In the sixteenth century Europeans found Native Americans to be avid traders. The Europeans established what would become vast fur-trading empires and bought salt for European markets. After settlement this kind of trade intensified and was extended to staple foods, such as corn, for survival. Europeans bartered with metal cookware, implements, and a few foods. As Eastern Woodlands trade increased, Europeans added to their trading posts on coastal and inland waterways, exposing inland Indians to their products.