Pâakuhiv, Acorn gathering time.

We travelled about an hour and a half. It was a beautiful sunny fall day on the Klamath River. We stopped to pick up two girls and then we travelled to our family acorn gathering grounds. This is an age old acorn gathering ground, it is not new, but ancient. I was admonished during the early 1980s to gather my acorns there. “That place fed our people forever,” said my great grandmother, Bessie Tripp. I said, “I’ll go there and gather the acorns” (not a direct quote but more or less what I said).

Since that instruction to gather at the family site in the 80s we began gathering every year since the early 1990s, about 15 years. We have had fantastically productive years and lean years. In 2011 it is a bumper crop year. There was an incredibly long rainy season during this last winter and as a result all plant life has been “late”. The tan oak acorn crop is also somewhat late this year. When we arrived at the site today (we were somewhat late this year in shaking out a weekend to gather) we found an acorn grove that was FULL of newly fallen acorns. We gathered 2 gunny sacks in a few hours. We were so happy.

And that’s what being an Indian is. Always wondering but always doing what we are supposed to do. And there are time when we will receive great gifts while we may face challenges at other times. It is always (ALWAYS) about faith in our old ways. Don’t, and I repeat, don’t innovate our old ways. Always rely wholly on the old teachings and instructions. Innovate in other ways, but leave our old ways alone. (That’s my understanding at least.)

Ah, xuntápan nukyâatihat. Táay vúra!

END

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 22nd, 2011 at 11:20 pm and is filed under Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.