They were predominately poor (Employee of Cherokee Nation's Facility Management,

personal communication, August, 2005).

 The drought during the Great Depression in the 1930s put many farmers near

starvation and they were unable to remain economically self-insufficient. Many

Cherokees abandoned farming as a commercial activity. However, many still maintained

gardens and canned their food. In Delaware County, "Cherokees continued to live off the

land. Everyone had a garden and supplemented their diet with fish, crawdads, squirrels,

mushrooms, berries, and nuts.... Awards were given [by the Indian Farm Agent] to the

Cherokee who canned, cured, or dried the most for 'winter use' and who saved the 'most

seed for his or her garden"' (O'Brien, 2001, p.15). According to the U.S. Census of

1930, "Indians [Cherokee] are more commonly owners of the farms they operate than

both whites and Negroes" (Hewes, 1942, p.403) within four counties in northeastern

Oklahoma. The average acreage cultivated was likely ten and many Cherokees had home

garden plots rather than commercial farms (Hewes, 1942, p. 408).

 Within Adair County near Stillwell, with the help of school teachers and Extension

Agents, Cherokees developed a prosperous strawberry cooperative and received loans for

farm implements under the Indian Welfare Act. Eventually, in 1946 the cooperative

dissolved and many growers started their own private strawberry operations (Debo,

1951). Although few Cherokees grow strawberries commercially in Stillwell, the town

still holds an annual strawberry festival in remembrance of the strawberry industry.

 In 1928 the Merriam Report depicted the overall state of Indians in America. The

report highlighted issues about Indian policy related to agriculture and assimilation. This

included recognizing that there was a lack of experienced educators, farm implements

and loans available to Indian farmers. Further, leasing of lands and allotment were