Mighty Oak Tree, Its Acorns Fed Many

Mighty Oak Tree, Its Acorns Fed Many (A Native American Food Source) Hard-cast shell flung down in Fall, food for man and beast nuggets of forested treasure, Nature sprinkles its bounty majestic Oaks rain fruited missiles to ground: thy treasure feeds life itself creatures survive on thy seeds winter hoards feed many fruit of thy life. Regal and tall, massive trunk, widespread limbs O' sweet thy summer shade Blessing to us all. R. J. Lindley November 11th , 1980 Old note- My grandfather explained that his people ate acorns, so I tried to eat just one. Bitterest thing Ive ever tasted.. Yet Native Americans had a method to remove that bitterness and its poison, in order to use that bountiful food source to survive. New Note: http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1055 Indians 101: Acorns Posted on September 7, 2011 by Ojibwa Long before the arrival of the first Europeans, California was the home to an extremely diverse variety of Indian cultures. The California culture area has the widest variety of native languages, ecological settings, and house types of any North American culture area. One of the mainstays of the diet for the region was the acorn which was used in soup, porridge, and bread. Sixteen different species of oak provided the acorns. Because of the nutrition provided by acorns, the Native American people in California did not develop agriculture. Acorns contributed to the fact that California peoples did not experience annual famine months or develop traditions or legends dealing with famine. It is estimated that among one tribe, the Yokut, a typical family consumed 1,000 to 2,000 pounds of acorns each year. While many of the early non-Indians in California noticed that the acorn oaks which were so important to many of the California Indian nations tended to grow in regular rows, they did not understand that these trees had been planted as orchards by the Indians. There are a number of steps involved in gathering and processing the acorns. They are gathered in September and October. Traditionally, the people gathered the acorns by climbing the tree and then beating off the nuts with a long slender pole. The acorns which are collected have white bottoms and no insect holes. The acorns are then dried in their shells, a process which takes anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. During this time, the acorns are stirred to increase air circulation and encourage drying. Once dry, the acorns are cracked to remove the nutmeat. This was traditionally done with a small, handheld stone pestle. The acorns are then ground or pounded into acorn flour. The flour is pounded as fine as possible. Once the acorns are ground into flour, it is then leached. Acorns contain tannic acid which is very bitter and which is poisonous in large amounts. The leaching process removes the tannic acid from the acorn flour. The leaching was traditionally done by digging a shallow sand pit near a creek. The flour was then carefully spread in the bottom of the pit and water was continuously poured over it until it was sweet. It would take several hours of pouring to leach the flour.