Plant Name:  Oak Tree

Common Name:  Three varieties of oak are known to exist in our oak grove:  California Black Oak, Coast Live Oak, and Canyon/Maul Live Oak.

Botanical Name:  Quercus kellogii (California Black Oak); Quercus agrifolia (Coast Live Oak) and Quercus chrysolepis (Canyon/Maul Live Oak)

Native Name:  Qwinyily (California Black Oak), Wi’asily (Coast Live Oak), and Wi’at (Canyon/Maul Live Oak)

Height/Physical Description:  California Black Oak:  deciduous tree that grows 30 to 80 feet in height and width.  Coast Live Oak:  Evergreen tree 20 to 70 feet in height and width.  Canyon/Maul Live Oak:  Evergreen tree 20 to 60 feet in height and width.

Use:  Food and construction materials.  Acorns are produced by oak trees and were one of the most important food staples of the Cahuillan people.

Harvesting:  There were primarily four oak species where acorns were collected:  Black Oak, Coast Live Oak, Scrub Oak, and Canyon/Maul Oak.  The harvest took place in October and November.  This was a great occasion.  Families camped by the oak groves for weeks during this harvest. The men would climb the trees and knock the acorns down so they could be collected.  Large sticks or poles could also be used to knock them down.

Preparation:  
• Crack the shells and remove soft meats.
• Allow meats to dry.
• Crush meats on rock mortars to flour.
• Acorns have a high amount of bitter tannic acid.  To leach out this acidity from the flour, holes were dug in sandy ground and lined with leaves or the use of a basket lined with leaves.  Flour was placed and water poured slowly through the flour.
• Acorn flour was used to make bread (sawish) and porridge (wiwish).It is said that Black Oak acorns were the tastiest.