In spring, I think much about how the local Indian people lived on the land traditionally, gathering plant resources for sustenance. I see the glorious blooms of the chaparral yucca (Yucca whipplei) and wonder how it must have been hundreds of years ago. Can you imagine the entire lower San Bernardino Mountains dotted with the glowing blooms, high above the foliage of the chaparral on tall thin stalks? And then, eating the flowers or, later in the season, the stalks. I've tried roasted yucca stalk. It made a meal worth looking forward to.
While the book, Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World, by Jack Weatherford, doesn't directly address the lives of southern California Indian people, it does relate histories of many of the foods that originated in the Americas that have become staples in the cuisines of cultures all over the world. Food being one of my favorite subjects, of course I loved these chapters. However, my common American history education (that is, minimal at best) is also being toppled by the unique perspective the author takes on the influences of various Indian tribes on the development of American institutions.
I'll be back in the field this weekend, reveling in the chaparral wildflowers and trying to learn a few more shrubs. With flowers on, it should not be difficult! If anyone would like to join me on a flower-watching foray in the next few weeks, while the flowers are still present, let me know and we'll set it up!
Happy Reading
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