Description: This is an original artwork oil painting on canvas of a California Maidu Native Village. The scene depicts what a day in the life of a Maidu Village may have looked like. In the foreground we see a woman making a traditional Maidu basket, the Maidu were known for their exceptional basket making. Also in the foreground a woman grinds acorns into flour, acorns when in season were a major food source for the Maidu and many California Native Americans. In the background we can see an individual collecting acorns from an oak tree. The Maidu, which means “the people,” lived in the Sacramento Valley, but also in thesurrounding foothills. The southernmost were called the Nisenan, which means “from among us”or “on our side”. Maidu society consisted of tribelets. A tribelet was a group of two to twenty ormore villages. In each group one village was the main village, the site of the ceremonial andreligious buildings such as round houses. The villages could be as large as 500 people or as smallas one or two families. Organization in the villages was informal. Leaders were more like advisors.There might be one leader for war, another for religious matters; but one leader could not speakfor the village on all matters. The Maidu spent about ½ of their work day hunting, gathering and preparing food and theimplements used for these tasks. Like most Native Californians, the Nisenan used acornsextensively. Acorns provided a well-balanced nutrition of carbohydrates, proteins and fat. Theacorns were gathered in the fall. Some were used immediately and the rest were stored infreestanding granaries for use in the winter. After shelling, the acorns were ground in mortars intoa meal, much like our current day flour. Before the meal could be eaten the bitter tasting tannicacid needed to be removed. The meal was placed on leaves in a sand depression, and water waspoured over the meal, leaching out the tannic acid. This leached meal was then cooked in a tightlywoven basket using fire heated rocks. The nutritious meal could be eaten as a mush, soup orbread. Imagine the time it took to gather and prepare about 500-1000 pounds of acorns for eachadult each year! Acorn meal is an efficient food source as it provides more calories per servingthan wheat or corn. Nearly everything nature had to offer was used as a food source to supplementthe acorns. A few animals were not eaten, such as the vulture, coyote or owl; but other game, fish,seeds, insects, nuts, berries and grasses were included in their diet. This is a large unstretched canvas measuring roughly 39" w x 19" h. For shipping I can put it in a shipping tube to reduce costs.
Price: 375 USD
Location: Orlando, Florida
End Time: 2024-10-05T15:47:03.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Size: Large
Signed: No
Material: Canvas
Framing: Unframed
Subject: Maidu Culture, California History, Native Americans
Type: Painting
Original/Licensed Reproduction: Original
Item Height: 19 in
Style: Realism
Theme: Animals, Art, Cultures & Ethnicities, History, Natural History, People, Social History, California History, Maidu Culture, Native American, Acorns, Acorn Harvest
Production Technique: Oil Painting
Item Width: 39 in
Culture: Maidu
Time Period Produced: 1990-1999
