Page 30 - Fall2012

California's Ancient Cornucopia:

A Story of Abundance, Diversity,
and Indigenous Stewardship

By M. Kat Anderson and Jennifer House

he diverse, seasonal foods of California's first

peoples came directly from the land they nurtured,
Twhich nurtured them in turn. This diversity included

plant foods such as acorns, wildflower seed crops, grains,
underground plant parts, fruits, berries and greens; animal

foods from various mammals, fish, fowl and insects; and
fungi, seaweeds and shellfish added even more variety.

Granaries were filled, and plant parts and animal parts were
regularly dried for storage and eaten in the off-seasons,

but much food was seasonal, valued for its seasonality,
even eaten in situ in pleasure and appreciation.

Lucy Thompson, a Yurok woman from northwestern California, wrote
in 1916: “My people were in the habit of eating but two meals a day. . . the
menu differing according to the season of the year.” With a great assortment
of available foods and a broad, functional knowledge of them, California's
indigenous people had diets that were generally secure and exceptionally
nutritious.

30 Wise Traditions FALL 2012 FALL 2012 Wise Traditions

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