17th and 18th Century Chickasaw Plant Use and Subsistence

This paper explores 17^th and 18^th century Chickasaw edible plant use and the incorporation of old and new plants into traditional subsistence practices.  Using a holistic approach, we incorporate methods from ethnobotany and ethnohistory to analyze plant remains from three house sites located near present-day Tupelo, Mississippi. The integration of these data demonstrate the ways in which historical Chickasaw households and communities negotiated identity, social relationships, and the ever-changing environment through strategic subsistence practices.