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Title
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A Thanksgiving Instagram post featuring Maggie Tabuce Howard
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Date
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November 18, 2019
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Description
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Caption reads:
"Happy Thanksgiving from Yosemite!
Thanksgiving is not the only celebration of gratitude and plentiful harvest in the fall. Many California tribes hold acorn festivals each autumn, celebrating the acorn and thanking the Creator for providing an abundant harvest.
The original people of Yosemite depended on the acorn for much of their diet, and the California black oak came to symbolize life. This staple was collected in the autumn and stored in large granaries, to be used throughout the year. The versatile acorn could be turned into a wide variety of dishes, from acorn mush, to soup, bread, or cakes.
Tabuce (“Maggie”) Howard (1870-1947) was a Paiute woman who was born at Mono Lake but moved to Yosemite Valley at a young age. At first, she made her livelihood working in park hotels, and later by making baskets to sell to tourists. Most importantly, she also gave public presentations where she demonstrated traditional crafts and cooking techniques. Photos show her processing and pounding acorns, then cooking acorn cakes on a heated stone.
November is National Native American Heritage Month, and Yosemite is the ancestral home of seven traditionally associated tribes: the American Indian Council of Mariposa County, Inc. (aka Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation), Bishop Paiute Tribe, Bridgeport Indian Colony, Mono Lake Kutzadikaa, North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California, Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, and the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians. Learn more about Yosemite's original people on the park website (link in our profile.) #NAHeritage #Yosemite #nationalpark"
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Publisher
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Yosemite National Park: @yosemitenps Instagram page
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Rights Holder
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Public domain
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Subject
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Tabuce "Maggie" Howard
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NPS Region
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Pacific-West
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Traditional Indigenous Landholders
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Ahwahneechee, Miwok/Miwuk, or Mono Lake Paiute people (refer to the region as Ahwahnee)
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National Park Location
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Yosemite National Park
