In contrast, the Southwest Indians and those of Mesoamerica were primarily agriculturists who supplemented their diet by foraging.Ī foraging economy usually demands an extensive land area it has been estimated that people who depend on such methods must have available 7 to 500 square miles (18 to 1,300 square km) of land per capita, depending upon local environmental conditions. In pre-Columbian North America, for instance, most Arctic, American Subarctic, Northwest Coast, and California Indians relied upon foraging alone, but nomadic Plains Indians supplemented their wild foods with corn (maize) obtained from Plains villagers who, like Northeast Indians, combined hunting, gathering, and agriculture. Many cultures have also combined foraging with agriculture or animal husbandry. Most hunter-gatherers combine a variety of these strategies in order to ensure a balanced diet. Their strategies have been very diverse, depending greatly upon the local environment foraging strategies have included hunting or trapping big game, hunting or trapping smaller animals, fishing, gathering shellfish or insects, and gathering wild plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, tubers, seeds, and nuts. Until about 12,000 to 11,000 years ago, when agriculture and animal domestication emerged in southwest Asia and in Mesoamerica, all peoples were hunter-gatherers. Hunter-gatherer, also called forager, any person who depends primarily on wild foods for subsistence.
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