Ethnobotany Stories

Ethnobotany is the study of the human relationship with plants. Each AMLT newsletter will highlight a native plant that is used by the Amah Mutsun. We hope you enjoy learning more about the useful and culturally significant plants all around us.

Photo of quercus agrifolia. Photo credit Ron Vanderhoff. Retrieved from Calflora.org

Mutsun Name: arkeh

English Common Name: coast live oak

Botanical Name: quercus agrifolia

The coast live oak is a beautiful evergreen oak that grows 30-80 ft tall, has a broad, dense crown and widely spreading branches. Trees can grow to be as old as 250 years, with very mature tree trunk diameters up to 13 ft. The coast live oak is one of the only California native oaks that thrives in the coastal environment. This tree grows as far north as Mendocino County and as far south as northern Baja California in Mexico.

Indigenous peoples used the acorn as a staple food, generally ground into a fine flour and made into items such as pancakes, bread, mush or soup. Acorn meal was exchanged for other foods such as pinyon nuts, mesquite beans or palm tree fruit. Tribes like the Mahuna Tribe would use the acorn plant for infants with bleeding navels. For many Indigenous peoples including the Mutsun peoples, Fall was an important time for harvesting acorns to sustain them through the winter.

The acorn is a sacred food for the Amah Mutsun and is considered a gift from Creator. Whenever winters were long and harsh, or summers were not very productive, acorns consistently provided reliable and nourishing food for Mutsun peoples.

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