The only Native Americans in what is now the USA who had alcoholic
beverages pre-European contact were located in one small corner of the
desert Southwest.  So if his reference is to the Wampanoag before the
arrival of Europeans, then he is correct.
 
Mac Marshall
 
At 02:16 PM 10/7/97 -0400, you wrote:
>---------------------- Information from the mail header
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>Sender:       Alcohol and Temperance History Group
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>Poster:       Jonathan Highfield <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject:      Alcohol in preEuropean North America
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>
>I am teaching John Hanson Mitchell's CEREMONIAL TIME this semester which
>imaginatively traces the history of a square mile in Massachusetts.
>Mitchell categorically states: "Indians of the region had no previous
>experience with alcohol" (94). There are several moments in the book
>where I think Mitchell strays too far into the imaginative part of his
>cultural history, and I thought this might be one of those cases. Does
>anyone have a confirmation or refutation of Mitchell's assertion? I seem
>to remember reading about "corn beer" somewhere, but I couldn't locate
>the reference. If this is true, isn't it surprising that an agricultural
>people who lived on an annual subsistence cycle would not use
>fermentation of grains and fruits as a preserving technique?
>
>Mitchell is writing specifically about the Wampanoags, but more generally
>the quote seems to refer to all of the Eastern Woodland Tribes. He
>suggests that apple cider was the first alcohol the Eastern Woodland
>tribes experienced because apple trees were readily planted by Native
>American communities.
>
>Thanks for any help.
>
>Jonathan Highfield
>
>