Niesnan Maidu/Northern California Indians
In the foothills of the great Sierra Mountain Range in the
Sacramento valley there resided an ancient people who called themselves the Niesnan Maidu,
living peacefully with their neighbors, the Miwuk's. They loved their canyon ridge home
within the old Oak forest above the Natomon River. The Maidu's spent their days in
gathering Ooti, the fat acorn, and catching the abundant giant juicy pink fleshed
salmon. It is when the day ends and the sun has left the sky, and the fires are but a
glow, and the women are tucking their small ones under blankets of rabbit fur on soft
river rushes, that coyote approaches the tranquil village of Anape to announce that he is
hungry and has come for food. No one wants to offend Coyote for they know he is a teacher
and a trickster and has the magical powers to bring powerful lessons to the Indian People,
as well as in playing thought provoking tricks, and so the women begin their
courtesy’s by stoking the fires to make them bright and beautiful, warm and inviting.
The men walk to the darkened waters of the river standing very still in the shallow
ripples, watching as the salmon make their way between their feet seeking their nest for
the night. With a quick movement of the hand, a powdered herb is thrown over the water and
spreads above the fish, melting around their large bodies, stopping their movement just
long enough for the men to firmly grasp the salmon with their two hands and throw the huge
fish on shore for coyote’s dinner. Soon, the fragrance of food fills the air and the
people sit watching as coyote waves a paw in the air with a gesture of offering to share
the cooked catch to all that are present. As the chunks of bright pink meat are pulled
into their mouths, coyote begins to chuckle for he has not come in hunger, but to bring a
new gift to share with the people that they will never forget. No, this night will be
different for the Maidu people, and coyote will make it so.
COMMENTARY:
The winter weather brought all of the Maidu families
together in the "kum", the Round House in the old villages of Anape, Yulimhu and
KicKic along the Natomon River. Deep in the belly of Mother Earth, underneath the lodge
pole pine beams and thick layers of bark and Mother Earth, stories were passed from one to
another to insure the young would know the origin of things and the old ones would again
be entertained with the stories of their youth. No matter the prevailing weather, all was
right inside by the firelight that brought comfort and a way of life that still in part
exists today thousands of years later.
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