Picture acquired from [insert location]

As the Culinary expert, you will research the basic diet of the tribe.  What did they eat?  Did they hunt and fish, grow food, gather food, or was it some combination of these practices?  How did they use herbs for medicinal use?  What herbs are indigenous to their area?

Some general information from a fourth grade project can get you started.  Go to the Central Valley portion of te site (at the top) and click on your subject http://www.cuca.k12.ca.us/la/tribes.html .

•FOOD AND NATURAL RESOURCES

• The Native Americans needed to rely on the natural resources around them for food. 
• •Explore the animals and plants of the Sacramento & El Dorado county area that the Indians would have used for food.
• •Record what you find in your journal.

Source: Reader's Digest (1978). America's Fascinating Indian Heritage. NY: Reader's Digest Association, Inc., p. 267

     PREPARING ACORNS at 

              Indian Grinding Rock, CA

Click on the picture at the right to see some food gathering and preparation tools.

Indian Grinding Rock State Park

in California where the Miwok tribeswomen used stone pestles to create these mortar holes in the limestone rocks around their village.  Being hunters and gatherers, much of their energy went into food gathering and preparation. As with most Native Californians, the acorn was the staple of the Miwok diet. It took a great deal of time to gather and prepare the approximately 2,000 pounds of acorns every adult ate in a year. Acorn meal provides more calories per serving than either wheat or corn, an important factor in a hunting/gathering society's diet. However, before an acorn can be used for food, it must be processed. Acorns contain tannic acid, and this must be removed prior to using them as food The acorns would be gathered in the fall, with some being prepared immediately while the rest of the supply was stored in cone-shaped baskets for use over the winter months. After shelling the acorns and removing the membrane that surrounds the meat, the meat was ground into a meal in mortars. The meal was then placed in a sand basin near a stream or river, and warm water was poured over the meal. This was repeated until the water leached the acid out of the acorns and left them with a nutritious meal that they could eat as a mush, soup or bread. 

http://www.virtual-markets.net/vme/ARNHA/acornepi.html This site will give you more information about acorn preparation.

Recipe for Acorn Soup