HISTORY ALIVE!

History Alive! presented Rob Miranda - 

Surrounded by a display of his framed collection of obsidian arrowhead groups and basalt grinding bowls, Rod Miranda of Millville described the life of the early peoples of the Shingletown Ridge and foothills. These original native Americans, the Yana, established permanent villages near the various creeks flowing from the Cascades into the lower elevations. For nearly 3000 years, they lived harmoniously with nature, until the early 1800's when trappers, carrying diseases such as small pox and influenza, passed through their territory, infecting many.

In the mid-1800s, the gold seekers came upon this relatively calm tribe, usurping their lands, building homes, establishing livestock, and quickly gunning down the game which the Yana so slowly and carefully hunted with spears and arrows. When the Yana, deprived of their livelihood, retaliated, the massacres began. Three hundred people were slaughtered in one day near Millville.

Rob's vast display of expertly-shaped arrowheads gave proof of the patience, dexterity, hunting and crafting knowledge of the makers. These intricate weapons were shaped in specific differentiated shapes for particular game, large to small. The obsidian used was most likely acquired through trading with other nearby peoples, such as the Yahi and Shasta groups.

Besides the usual acorns, flour was also made from the seed of the Buckeye tree, after leaching the poison out. Rob also explained how rocks heated in a fire were dropped into a basket holding water and salmon pieces, thus cooking the fish.

One of the most “ancient” artifacts Rod displayed was a petrified 8000-year-old walrus-bone, which had been used as a counter-weight on a spear. One can only imagine the numerous people who used this tool for various reasons throughout its thousand-year existence.

Rod was a wealth of information about the early inhabitants of our area before audience members brought up their own “finds” to be identified.

History Alive! is presented free by the Shingletown Historical Society on the last Sunday of the month.