NPNPRevisedOutline.pdf

8/14/2019 NPNPRevisedOutline.pdf

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Youth Education Programof San Francisco Botanical Garden Society

Native People, Native Plants

Walk Outline

The goals of the Native People, Native Plants (NPNP) walk are to help children think

about the many ways that humans rely on plants to meet their needs, and to develop an

appreciation for the kind of skills and knowledge that are necessary to make use of

plants. To reach these goals, we explore how the Ohlone, one of the native peoples of

the Bay Area, have traditionally used native plants and how their dependence on the land

led them to become early ecologists. The Ohlone developed an extensive knowledge of

how to collect, store, and use the plants in their environment. They were able to support a

large population by combining this knowledge with many resource management

techniques that are still in use today. Through their rich oral tradition, they passed their

knowledge of plants on from generation to generation, knowledge which is still sharedamong the Ohlone today.

The Native People, Native Plants walk is not meant to teach children how to usenativeplants, but rather how to thinkabout native plants, or any plants at all. City children needopportunities to learn about different features of plants that might make them useful, how

to recognize specific plants by focusing on plant parts and life cycles, and how plants

change in the course of their life cycles. By focusing on a few key plants, we can help

students begin to develop the kinds of skills and awareness that would be second nature

to children growing up in traditional cultures.

Rather than overwhelming children with specific facts about a plant, focus on an

underlying concept that the plant helps illustrate, or engage the children in a hands-on

activity with the plant. Another good strategy is to chose one plant that is found in

abundance throughout the garden (manzanita, ceanothus, wild currant for example) and

help children learn to recognize the identifying features of the plant, just as Ohlone

children would have learned to recognize the plants around them.

Plants can be presented in any order youll find what works best for you as you share

the garden along with two or three other guides and their students. An effective walk may

cover as few as five plants.

Materials available in the office): tule and cattail samples; buckeye seed; acorns;elderberry clapper sticks and twigs; bay leaves; manzanita (additional materials may

include soaproot brush, tule doll or decoy, cattail cordage and other artifacts)


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Native People, Native PlantsWalk Outline

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INTRODUCTIONThink about all the ways we use plants in our daily lives (food, shelter, clothing, medicine,

transportation, tools, fuel, art). The plants you will see today were used by the Ohlone tofill all these same needs. The Ohlone are the native people who lived in the Bay Area

hundreds of years ago. What is a native? Natives are those who have lived in one place

for so long that the populations have adapted to the unique environment.The Ohlone lived in this area long before the Europeans came to America. They lived in

peace and stability for thousands of years. They carefully observed and experimented

with each plant they found, to learn how it could be used. Through stories and legends

they passed this information on from one generation to the next.

The spiritual beliefs of the Ohlone grew out of their relationship with the land, so plantswere always harvested with care and respect. The Ohlone were natural ecologists they

took only what they could use and used all parts of whatever they harvested. They

managed the land carefully so that they never depleted their precious resources.

Techniques like weeding, burning, pruning, sowing seeds, and selective harvesting

allowed them to maintain the health and diversity of plant life.

As you walk along the trail to the native plant garden, consider some of the plants you

see along the way. Stop at the English walnut, or bamboo, or banana, or perhaps some

other plant of interest and discuss how humans might or in fact *do* make use of the

plant. Help children think about their needs and how plants help them meet them

introduce them to their own ethnobotany.

Stop by a pond and let children slow down, observe, comment. Ask them to imagine that

they are hungry, but that there are no stores, no refrigerators, no kitchens is there

anything in or around a pond they could eat? If there is, what would it take to get a

meal?

As you enter the native garden, imagine that you are stepping back in time 200 years.

The land around you is rich in natural resources and can supply you with everything you

need to survive. Vast oak forests, grasslands, and marshes provide you with a great

variety of plant life. Animals like deer, bear, fish, and seals provide good hunting. Like

the native people who lived here then and whose descendants live among us today, we

will walk slowly, carefully, watching where we go, observing everything around us and

treating all we see with respect.


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OAKAcorns were the Ohlones most important food source, a staple food rich in protein and

fat. The Ohlones large populationand high standard of living were a result of their

ability to collect and store this staple food. Each tribe had claim to certain oak groves and

gathering acorns was the years most important event. Acorns were gathered in the fall

and carefully stored in granaries. Women prepared acorns every day, pounding the nuts

and making them into mush, soup, or bread. Acorns were also traded with neighboring

tribes and sometimes made into toys.

Activity: Talk about acorn gathering and preparation, and have children think through

all the individual steps required to get a meal of acorns. Pound acorns and use a soap

root brush to brush acorn meal out of the stone.

Concept: Time Consuming Work: Talk about staple foods - why are staple foods

important? (cost, nutritional value, availability, etc.). Give examples of staple foods from

various cultures, like potato, rice, taro, corn. Does your family have a staple food? What

kind of work does your family do to make sure you have that food? Discuss what life

might have been like for the Ohlone and how much time they spent working to provide

the basics of food, shelter, clothing, and tools. Compare it to the way we spend our time.

Folder: Acorn shell, flour, oak leaf collected from the ground

TULETule was one of the Ohlones most important resources, and it shaped their culture in

many ways. Tule was used to make shelter, clothing, baskets, rope, mats, decoys, and

canoes. Tule also provided shelter and food for many animals the Ohlone hunted, like

elk and ducks. The unusual stems of the plant are full of air channels making it light and

buoyant, and the outside has a waxy coating making it waterproof.

Activity: Cut open a piece of tule to show the air channels inside (show tule artifact)

Concept: Characteristics of plants: The particular adaptations of tule to an aquatic

environment (outer waxy coating, interior airspaces) are the very characteristics that make

the plant so useful. The Ohlone recognized that the combination of being light and water

resistant made the plant useful for making things that float, for insulating, and for

protecting from rain.

Folder: Tule sample from office


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CATTAILSBecause the Ohlone understood the need to conserve their resources, they looked for

ways to use every part of a plant. Cattail was like a mini-supermarket for the Ohlone

each part of the plant had an important use. Roots, tender shoots, flowers, and seeds

were eaten. Roots and pollen were also made into flour. Seed fluff was used for stuffing

and lining baby baskets. Leaves were used for cordage.

Activity: Compare cattail sample with tule how are they alike and different?

Concept: Utilizing All Parts of Plants: The Ohlone made use of everything they found

around them. They considered the resources around them to be a gift from nature that

they could not afford to waste. They usually found a use for every part of a plant they

harvested. What are some other plants we use like this today? (bamboo in Asia, agave in

Latin America, etc.)

Folder: Cattail sample from office

SOAP ROOTThe Ohlone had to know exactly when and where to collect each plant, like the soap

root. While the plant grows and flowers vigorously each spring, it dies back and almost

disappears through the long hot summer, beginning to reappear from its bulb soon after

the rains soak the ground in the late fall. The brown outer fibers were used to make rope

and small brushes. The bulbs were baked and eaten or mashed up to make shampoo or

a paste for skin irritations. Crushed bulbs could also be thrown into streams to paralyze

fish. A sticky substance that oozed out of baking bulbs was used to make glue for brush

handles and for gluing feathers to arrows.

Activity: Show children a soap root brush; let them feel the fibers.

Concept: Plant Life Cycles/Seasonal Cycles: Many of the plants used by the Ohlone grew

only during certain times of the year. The Ohlone had to know exactly when to harvest

each plant. Their lives were tied to the seasons, and they sometimes traveled away from

camp to harvest plants as they came into season. How would you know when this bulb

was ready to harvest?

Folder: record in words or pictures what is visible of plant, note time of year


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MANZANITAWhile there are many types of manzanitas, they have distinctive features which help us

recognize them throughout the landscape. Manzanita berries were eaten fresh, cooked,

or dried, or they were mixed with water and made into a tart cider.

Activity: Early in your walk, take a close look at a manzanita bush. Ask children for

observations about the plant, then share your own the reddish, peeling bark; the

gnarled, multiple trunks and twigs; the vertically-oriented, tough leaves, adaptations to

heat and sun; in season, white urn-shaped flowers and/or fruit resembling miniature

apples. As you continue to explore the gardens, stop at various plants including various

manzanitas and other plants that share just one or two traits with manzanita and ask the

children for observations is this plant a manzanita? Why do you think so, or why not?

Concept: Recognizing Plants In order to use plants, we first need to be able to recognize

them! Plants have a variety of features which can help us recognize them, even though

individual plants may vary. Making multiple observations of plants can help us get to

recognize them just like we recognize our friends and family. Flowers and fruit are

especially important parts to help us recognize specific plants.

Folder: Manzanita sample from office, record features of plant with words or pictures.

BUCKEYEMany plants had unique properties that the Ohlone used to help them improve their lives.

For example, when the seeds of this buckeye were crushed and thrown into dammed-up

streams they released a chemical that could stun and paralyze fish. The Ohlone also

learned how to leach out this chemical so that the seeds could be mashed and cooked

for food when the acorn harvest was poor.

Activity: Carry a buckeye seed with you (available in the office) and let the children

examine it. How do you think they discovered that these seeds could paralyze fish? Tell

children that buckeyes often grow on hillsides, with streams flowing in the valleys below

Concept: Collecting Botanical Knowledge: How did the Ohlone figure out how to use

each plant? Among the Ohlone, the women were mostly in charge of testing, collecting

and preparing plants. This knowledge was essential for their survival, so facts and

legends about plants were carefully passed down to new generations. This was an oral

tradition no books, computers or iPhones.


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Folder: With enough tape, even a buckeye can stick! If the tree is in leaf, take a close

look at the shape of the compound leaf note that the leaflets radiate out from a central

point, like fingers from a palm. Record the leaf shape in folder.

ELDERBERRYThe Ohlone sometimes called this plant the music tree because the wood was used to

make flutes, whistles, and rhythm clappers. Small branches were also used to make

arrows and gambling sticks. The small blue berries were eaten raw, made into a drink,

or dried for a winter snack.

Activity: Examine a twig (available in office) and feel the pith inside. What do you think

you could do with a stick like this? Let children handle clapper sticks and develop a

simple rhythm game using the clapper sticks.

Concept: Recreation/Life Skills: Ohlone adults and children loved games andcelebrations. They cleverly used the plants they found around them to make instruments,

toys, and sports equipment. Though games provided entertainment and exercise, some

also taught important skills like the ability to throw spears. What materials are your toys

made of, and what skills do they teach you? What kinds of toys could you make from the

plants you see here?

Folder: Twig sample from office. If the tree is in leaf, take a close look at the shape of the

compound leaf note that the leaflets stick out on either side of a long, central stalk, like

the barbs of a feather. Record the leaf shape in the folder.

CEANOTHUSThe fragrant flowers and seeds were crushed and rubbed in water to make soap and

shampoo.

Activity: At the drinking fountain by the nursery, have the children wash their hands with

flowers or seeds of ceanothus. Please inquire at the office about which plants can be

used for collecting, or samples may be provided.

Concept: Hygiene: While the Ohlone may not have had sinks or showers like we do, they

still had ways to get clean. Plants were sometimes used to bathe hunters to hide their

human scent, to help remove poison ivy oils, or to clean the hair or skin in preparation

for special events and rituals. Do we still use plants to help us get clean today?

Folder: Small sample of ceanothus flower or seed.


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CALIFORNA BAYThese leaves of this bay tree are important for their very strong smell. How could such

strong smelling leaves be used? The leaves were used in houses to get rid of fleas, and in

granaries to keep insects out of the stored acorns. Bundles of leaves were tied to the

forehead to relieve headaches.

Activity: Let children smell the crushed leaves and made guesses about how the Ohlone

could have used such pungent smelling leaves.

Concept: Pest Control/Natural Chemicals: The only chemicals the Ohlone used were

natural substances found in plants. They used plants to kill mold, wash clothing, and tan

hides. They also used plants like this bay for controlling pests like fleas. How do these

natural chemicals compare to some of the products we use today for cleaning or

controlling pests? Which do you think is better for the environment?

Folder: bay leaf samples available in the office or dried leaves found on the ground

CALIFORNIA POPPYThis plant was a welcome sight to an Ohlone with a toothache. The root contains a

chemical that deadens pain, so it was mashed and applied to an aching tooth. Tooth

decay was common among the Ohlone. The decay may have been caused by small

pieces of rock that were left in acorn meal when acorns were ground in a grinding stone.

These small rocks could crack and break teeth, leaving them open to decay.

Concept: Medicinal Plants: Where did the Ohlone get their medicines? Do we still use

any of their remedies today? (rose hips for vitamin C, salicylic acid from willow in aspirin,

etc.) Many of our medicines are man-made versions of chemicals originally discovered in

plants, and scientists are still exploring plants around the world to find new kinds of

medicines

.

Activity: Look at a plant and make some guesses about how it might be used by people.

How could you learn all the uses for that plant? What kinds of clues would you look for?

How could you test your ideas?

Folder: if available, fallen petals from poppy.


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CONCLUSION Gather the students and review the samples collected in their folder toensure that they retain key concepts about the plants. Pay close attention to what *they*

find most memorable and use it to inform your future walks. Remind children that

gardens like this one help to preserve many of the native plants that were so important to

the Ohlone, and help to keep alive the knowledge of how these plants were used.

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