History of the Seminole squash and Choctaw pumpkins.

[buffaloberry]

 Evening ladies and gents! I wanna find out learn more of the ranges for both the Seminole and Choctaw pumpkins since they're both tied to the Muscogee Confederation in the southeast U.S and I'm growing the Choctaw one since I have some family ancestry from Mississippi. Are Choctaws truly Mississippi in origin? Did the Seminole type used to grow northward to the Virginia coast years ago? Seminole pumpkins are prehistoric since they been a flagship crop of the Florida ancient agricultural landscape as well as the rest of the southeast. Should Seminoles be reintroduced to their former growing range as they were centuries ago? If there's anymore historic ranges and stuff for both types of pumpkins, then please let me know. Take care!

[macmex]

Maybe someone will drop in here who has more historical info. I really don' t know the range of these squash. Yes, from what I've heard, the Choctaw were originally from the Mississippi/ Alabama region. I think I've mentioned elsewhere that these squash were probably part of a landrace, meaning a larger population of similar strains, but with wider variability than what is found in what is generally considered a "variety." 

I suspect that Cherokee and Choctaw pumpkins may have overlapped a bit even though they were sometimes enemies.

[buffaloberry]

So the Choctaw must be a descendent from one of the Cherokee or Creek ones after all? Did the Chickasaw and others in the Muscogee family had the same type of squash? I'm growing this year at my urban farming program to honor my mom's ancestral homeland in Mississippi to honor her side of the family. I heard it tasted like a sweet potato.

[rdback]

buffaloberry , I don't have additional info to add, other than what Baker Creek states on their website. I'm not sure if you've seen this or not.

Seminole Pumpkin seeds at Baker Creek