Celebrating Native California food gathering and preparation across the seasons, Kathleen Rose Smith reveals the practices handed down through generations of her Bodega Miwuk and Pomo ancestors, and shares how these traditions have evolved into the contemporary ways her family still enjoys wild foods. Her knowledge and personal reflections are expressed through recipes, stories, and artwork, recording not only the technical aspects of food gathering, but also the social and spiritual—inextricable elements of traditional California Indian food preparation. She explores relationships between people and nature, and the deep cultural knowledge—respect, thankfulness, joy, and sacrifice—that gives meaning and grace to these most ordinary aspects of daily life.
Complete with family stories and photos, this elegant memoir illuminates a world of sustainable bounty—full of abalone, salmon, seaweed, and strawberries. It is at once a pleasure to read and a lesson in survival: the survival of the foods and of the people themselves.
About the author
Kathleen Smith (Bodega Miwuk/Dry Creek Pomo, a member of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria) grew up in the Healdsburg area. An artist from early childhood, she graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1977. Over the years she has held such diverse jobs as park naturalist, art instructor, archaeology field technician, and foods columnist for the magazine News from Native California.
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