A Secret, Historical Spot

What does this look like to you? A beautiful little stream? Autumn leaves on a stone? A hole in the rock, filled with water for birds?

Well, I get a chill when I see this place. That circle in the rock is an ancient acorn grinding hole. It was used for thousands of years by hundreds of women who would sit and grind acorns into flour.

The tribes in this area were the Juaneno, Luiseno, and Gabrielino(Spanish names). Each year, they would gather acorns that fell from oak trees. They would crack open the acorn shells and take out the nut meats. Acorn nuts are very bitter. The people would have to soak them in water to remove the bitter stuff. This is called leaching out the tannins. Once the tannins were removed, the acorn nuts pieces would be dried. Then they were placed in these holes. With a rounded rock, women would grind the acorns into flour. The Spanish word for the hole or dish is "metate." The Spanish name for the grinding stone is called "mano."

I can only see one "metate" on the side of this stream, but I feel like there are probably more that I cannot see. Usually there are several grinding holes on one rock. I have seen another grinding rock area about two hours away from here where there were about 15 holes. I have seen pictures of some where there are a couple of HUNDRED holes on one huge stone area! You can just imagine several women talking and laughing here while they were grinding the acorn meal. Once the acorns were ground into meal, it was made into bread or pancakes. And what do bees make that is sweet? Honey! What a treat for them to have pancakes and honey.

This metate was probably being used up until about 150 years ago. Before that, it was used for thousands of years. Seeing this metate makes history come alive for me. It makes it easier for me to imagine the Juanenos living, playing, and working here in nature.

Does anyone in your home sing or whistle, laugh or talk while they are doing chores?
What do they do?

Did you find this useful? If so, you can send a "tip" to my PAYPAL.COM account. My email address is kathomatho@yahoo.com. I will donate 10% of your tip to The Orange County Zoo.