Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Native Americans

I recently visited Indian Grinding Rock State Park in Pine Volcano, several miles east of Jackson. The park features a reconstructed (Native American) Miwok village ...
... as well as a ceremonial house:

The park also had some limestone beds that the tribe used as mortars that were then used to grind acorns, hence the name Grinding Rock:

Here's some interesting trivia: the park spells it "Miwok" while the casino owned by the same tribe in nearby Jackson spell it "Miwuk". Another bit of trivia: nearby Jackson is named after Colonel Alden Jackson, no relation to former US President Andrew Jackson.

Speaking of Native Americans and guys named Jackson, I happened to watch The History Channel's episode on Andrew Jackson, who was president during the 1800s. The interesting part of that show was when they discussed Andrew Jackson's relationship with the Native Americans. They're apparently not fans of each other. Jackson forcibly removed them through the Indian Removal Act. The forced migration west came to be known as the Trail of Tears. Many tribes like the Cree and Cherokee view Jackson as a traitor and consider him a war criminal. Many refuse to use the $20 bill and have even considered banning the $20 bill at their casinos because Jackson is on that bill. If you get the chance, try to catch the episode if they air it again on The History Channel.

Technorati tags: Indian Grinding Rock

15 comments:

Kayni said...

This is cool stuff. By the way, do they use the $20 bill at the Miwuk casino?

D@phneL@ur@ said...

Interesting trivia. But what if their change is US$20? Would they simply say 'keep the change'? :D

witsandnuts said...

Very interesting. I remember one quiz that I took in Facebook, it says I'm a Native American in my past life. Haha.

TruBlue said...

Hahaha! I'm sure there's small genre of First Americans who are fanatics and maybe don't accept the 20 dollar bill.

Just like this African-American I came to know whose deep-seated animous towards whites is quite extreme; when he eats a loaf of bread, he removes the "white" part of the bread. It's true!

Wil said...

Kayni, it was only a suggestion by Judge Patrick Moore of the Cree Nation to refuse $20 in the casinos, but I don't think they actually agreed to ban it. Also, I don't know if the Miwuks feel as strongly about Jackson as the the Cree, Cherokee, etc., who were directly affected by Jackson's policies.

Daphne, in the episode, Prof. Donna Akers of the Univ. of Nebraska says that many Native Americans insist on using $10 bills instead of $20 bills. So in your example, they'll just get two $10 bills instead of one $20 bill. ;-)

witsandnuts, LOL. People love those quizzes. ;-)

TB, like the character Nat X from Saturday Night Live. hehe

The white part of the bread? hmmm .... wheat bread is better anyway. hehe

fortuitous faery said...

the limestone bed-cum-mortars is amazing! equally interesting is their hatred for the $20 bill.

Photo Cache said...

Galing ka sa casino ano?

I would love to check that out when opportunity for a road trip comes.

Anonymous said...

Very interesting trivia. I love reading about Native Americans. They're a very proud race.

Wil said...

Fortuitous Faery, yes, Donna Akers commented that Jackson being adulated on the US currency and in textbooks is "absurd and unfortunate".

Photo Cache, oh, no, I'm not much of a gambler. I just saw the spelling on their website. but visiting an Indian casino one day might be interesting. =)

They are indeed, Tani. :)

bw said...

interesting. I always wondered why casinos are always built in native owned lands - even here in Canada.

bing said...

why do they need to grind acorns?

tin-tin said...

hala! what if what you have are just $20 bills? lagot ka. hehe ;p

Wil said...

bw, my understanding is that Native American lands are not subject to some American laws like gambling laws.

bing, they grind acorns to make flour which they then use to make bread or porridge. That's what I read anyway. hehe

Tin, siguro they make exceptions, db? hehe

haze said...

Really a nice place to visit. It reminds me of our Bahay Kubo :D !

Wil said...

Haze, yes, visit the Native American sites if you ever get the chance to visit the states. :D