Session 2: Native American Foods

Nancy Cohee

Nancy Cohee moved to the Coachella Valley 20 years ago from the Los Angeles area. Nancy expanded her love of the region. She hiked the mountains, biked across the valley and four-wheeled the back roads. In 1996, she became a professional tour guide. College classes and self-study enhanced her knowledge of the environment, ecology, botany and history of the Coachella Valley including the geology of the Sonoran and Mohave Desert. Nancy has studied the Agua Caliente Cahuilla Indians for years and brings a wealth of knowledge to this presentation. The Agua Caliente Cahuilla have been known to use the Washingtonia filifera or Desert Fan Palm, a native palm tree, in the areas where these groups have traditionally lived for many centuries. The use of these palms includes basketry, food in the form of a mush type gravy, utensils and shelters. In a land of varied climates, the tribal members became sophisticated ecologists, developing complex agricultural and irrigation systems, understanding climate and star patterns, and using hundreds of native plants and seeds for food and medicines. Crops of melons, squash, beans and corn were also grown and animals were hunted for food. Nancy will provide a brief history of the Indians, plant usage and how they lived prior to contact with the Spanish.