Join us for Part 2 of our celebration of Indigenous People’s Month, with a two hour naturalist-led walk in the park. Indigenous coastal Miwok people have lived and thrived in the China Camp area for over 5000 years. Before Spanish settlers forced the native population off their land and into missions, the Miwok people flourished due to an abundance of food and natural materials from the oak woodland forest and coastal bay shoreline. It is estimated that there were over several thousand Coastal Miwok in the North Bay at the time of the Spanish arrival in 1769. Most of this population was dispersed within 100 years. Many died of European diseases. Miwok people still live in the Bay Area today, with the largest group at Graton Rancheria in Sonoma County.

Join naturalist Jerry Coe for an educational walk as he discusses the pre-colonial settlements of the coastal Miwok people at China Camp. He will cover how they lived, what they wore and ate, what they used for medicine, and some of their common cultural traditions and folklore.