Coast Miwok are known to have used split roots of the yellow bush lupine , which grows in sandy soil behind the dunes, and fiber from the riparian shrub, ninebark, for twine and rope.
What type of plants did the Miwok eat?
The principal crops were as follows: mushrooms in winter , clover in spring, seeds in summer, acorns in fall. Plums and cherries were gathered between the seed harvest and the acorn harvest. Bulbs were gathered in the spring. In winter the diet was more largely of meat than at any other time of the year.
What natural resources did the Miwok use?
- Land: Sea, coastal regions, mountains, rivers and lakes.
- Climate: Mild temperate climate.
- Natural Resources: Oak trees, acorns, buckeye nuts, mushrooms, hazel nuts, bulbs, roots and grasses.
What were Miwok houses made of?
Houses were made of branches covered with mats of tule . Each house had a small acorn house constructed on legs in order to store the acorns they would collect and protect from deer and insects. The Miwoks had no pottery, made no fabric, and planted no seeds.
How did the Miwok make baskets?
Twined baskets were woven with the fingers alone , except for occasionally tightening a round with a bone awl, or sewing on a reinforcing hoop at the rim with the same instrument. All Miwok twined baskets, other than cradles, in the University's collection, have reinforcing willow hoops sewed to their rims.
Does the Miwok tribe still exist?
Today there are about 3,500 Miwok in total .
How did the Miwok get their food?
The Miwoks were hunter-gatherers. Miwok men hunted deer and small game and caught fish in the rivers and lakes . Miwok women gathered acorns and ground them into meal to make bread and fruits, as well as collecting berries, nuts, and other plants. Here is a website with more information about Native American recipes.
What does the name Miwok mean?
Miwoknoun. A linguistic group of indigenous people, native to central California. Etymology: Miwok means “ the people ” in the native Utian language. Miwoknoun.
What was the Miwok tribe known for?
Traditionally, the groups near and on the coast—the Coast, Lake, and Bay Miwok— gathered acorns, fished, and hunted deer and other game with bow and arrow . They lived in semisubterranean pole- and earth-covered lodges and produced watertight basketry ornamented with beads or feathers.
Is the Miwok tribe federally recognized?
The California Valley Miwok Tribe is a federally recognized tribe of Miwok people in San Joaquin County and Calaveras County, California. They were previously known as the Sheep Ranch Rancheria or the Sheep Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indian of California.
Did the Miwok tribe use any form of money?
Clamshell disks were used as money , though they were considered less valuable among the Miwok than among their neighbors to the north. Pieces of clamshell were shaped into small circles, holes bored in them, and strung on strings. Miwok men and women wore strings of clamshells as necklaces, and to show their wealth.
What are Miwok houses called?
Their traditional houses, called “kotcha” , were constructed with slabs of tule grass or redwood bark in a cone-shaped form. Miwok people are skilled at basketry.
Were did the Miwok tribe live?
They established their villages alongside the rivers and streams of the Sierra Nevada from the Cosumnes River on the north to the Calaveras River on the south . Other Miwok groups lived to the west and south in California's great central valley as far west as Mount Diablo and south as far as Yosemite National Park.
What did Miwok use baskets for?
Basket used for parching seeds and other foods .
What is the Miwok religion?
The Bay Miwok believed totally in the power of animal spirits and the spirits of each other . They worshipped animals as ancestors, imitated them in dance, and told myths about them. In many stories Coyote was honored as their wisest, funniest, and trickiest. Coyote was the Creator of all the Miwok family of mankind.
What are some Native American last names?
- Ahoka.
- Awiakta.
- Catawnee.
- Chewey.
- Colagnee.
- Culstee.
- Ghigau.
- Kanoska.
