GC4H868Mondo's NAT #303 - Maidu
Type: Traditional
| Size: Micro
| Difficulty:
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By: mondou2@
| Hide Date: 07/27/2013
| Status: Available
Country: United States
| State: Colorado Coordinates: N39° 30.349 W103° 58.377 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
Native American Tribe series.Maidu The first people who lived in Nevada County were the Maidu Indians. The Maidu are a group of Native Americans who live in Northern California. From the crest of the High Sierra, west to the Sacramento River and south to the Consumnes River, three groups of closely related people have inhabited the land for thousands of years. Collectively known as the Maidu, they are the Mountain Maidu of Plumas and Lassen counties, the Konkow of Butte and Yuba counties, and the Nisenan of Yuba, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, and El Dorado counties. In Maiduan languages, Maidu means "person". They gathered acorns and wild plants and caught fish and game. The women were skilled basket weavers. They were migratory, traveling down to the Sacramento Valley and up to the High Sierras. Because of this frequent wandering to search for food, it prevented the development of a complex social structure. grinding_rock The Maidu Death Ritual consisted of burning the bodies of the dead along with their brush houses and belongings. On the anniversaries of the deaths, the mourners exchanged shell money and burned exquisite baskets. Maidu myths tell of a kindly creator god. The Kuksu Society, through which the Maidu men worshiped spirits, held initiation dances with masked participants in elaborate feather costumes. What we call the soul, the Maidu named heart. The northern valley people believe that a dead person's heart lingers near the body for several days. It then journeys to every spot which the living person had visited, retracing each of his steps and reenacting every deed performed in life. This accomplished, the spirit seeks a mysterious cavern in the Marysville Buttes, where for the first time it eats spirit food and is washed. From the Marysville Buttes the spirit ascends to the sky land, flower land, or spirit land, as it is variously called. The hill residents tell of the same journey traveled by the dead. But these reach the abounding sky land - "valley above" - by going east along the path of the sun, instead of to the Marysville Buttes. The Milky Way is also pointed out as the road of the spirits. The earth was believed to be round and surrounded by water. In fact it floated on this sea, held by ropes that had been stretched by the Creator. A shaking of these ropes made earthquakes. 4 ropes hold the earth for the valley and foothill groups,east, west, north, and south. The mountain Maidu tell of 5 ropes, our cardinal directions and to the northwest, an influence from their northern neighbors.
Its been a long hot summer in Texas, I've been trying to get out and do a caching trip a couple of times this summer, but it never worked out. Finally managed to get a week off, and am so happy to be out here in Colorado. The weather if perfect, and there is a load of caches that need my name on Thanks so much for the hide mondou2, I really enjoyed finiding this cache!
07/13/2018 By uppabrow Thanks for the quick on and off cache grab. Signed the log and headed on down the road.
07/11/2018 By coralhart Out with my granddaughter on a hot summer day working on the hidden creature event! Thanks for the hide!
07/06/2018 By Oilbear125 We have done the Denver Public Library series, the Across the Divide Geotour and the Colorado South Park Geotour this week. We are just picking up other caches in the area as we work our way home. Caching with Wall77, Ghostiegal. and KSGator. Stamped log as WOGG. TFTC
07/06/2018 By wall77 Found and stamped log as team WOGG (Wall77, Oilbear125, Ghostiegal, ksgator), good hide.
Mondo's NAT #303 - Maidu
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Thanks so much for the hide mondou2, I really enjoyed finiding this cache!