FRIENDS OF THE RIVER BANKS VISITS THE MAIDU AT CAMP POLLOCK by Nita Davidson

The FORB event on Saturday, June 14 attracted about 50 people, including more than a dozen who arrived by bike. We met downriver about a mile from Sutter’s Landing Park at Camp Pollock to learn about the rich lives of the Nisenan Maidu, who thrived in this area until the Gold Rush. Chuck Kritzon, primitive education expert, gave a fascinating introduction to Maidu culture and highlighted the incredible natural resources of this area that supported it.

We began the morning by meeting inside the recently restored Camp Pollock lodge, which was built in 1924. Chuck laid out reproductions of Maidu artifacts on several tables for us to examine. As he described them, we learned that the Maidu used every part of the local plants and animals for tools, hunting and fishing equipment, clothing, musical instruments, games and toys, and currency. When they needed obsidian to make tools, they traded feathers with tribes near Mount Lassen or the Modoc area. They fashioned whistles from duck wing bones and dice for gambling out of walnut shells. They made water-tight baskets from sedge roots and nets out of dogbane to catch salmon and sturgeon.

As we ventured outside toward the river, we saw some of the important local plants. Oak trees were plentiful and provided acorns for mush that was baked into pancakes. Manzanita berries and elderberries could be made into cider or used medicinally. The Maidu dug up mature brodeia bulbs and roasted them like potatoes, leaving smaller bulbs to mature for harvesting the following year. In this way, they continued reaping bulbs from the same fields for hundreds of years.

After hiking down to the river, we returned to the lodge where several people played native gambling games.

For more information about Camp Pollock activities, visit www.sacramentovalleyconservancy.org. The lodge, only minutes away from Boulevard Park or Sutter's Landing Park by bike or car, can be rented for special events or office retreats.