Location: County: Sacramento. Nearest City: Sacramento.
Campsites, facilities: No campsites. Point of interest
to visit while on tour.
Reservations, fees: Admission fees are $3.00 for people
13 years and older, $1.50 for ages 6-12, and under 6 years-old
are free.
Contact: Phone the park at 1-916-324-0971.
Operating hours, seasons: The Museum is open daily,
except Christmas, New Years, and Thanksgiving holidays. The hours
are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Directions: The park is located in downtown Sacramento
at 26th and K streets in downtown Sacramento - adjacent to Sutter's
Fort State Historic Park.
Weather, clothing: Summer and spring are warm; fall
and winter can be cool. Layered clothing is advised.
Trip notes: On the grounds of Sutter's Fort in downtown
Sacramento, Native American structures have been built in an
outdoor demonstration area. In the adjacent museum, exhibits
and artifacts illustrate the culture of the state's earliest
inhabitants. As many as 300,000 to 1,000,000 Native Americans
lived in California before the arrival of the first Europeans.
There were more than 150 distinct tribal groups. The artifacts
in the museum include basketry, beadwork, clothing and exhibits
about the ongoing traditions of various California Native American
groups. There is a display about Ishi, the last of the Yahi Indians.
Ishi managed to remain hidden from western civilization until
1911 when he was discovered in northern California. The museum
has a number of special events throughout the year.
The California State Indian Museum reflects this rich heritage
with a fine collection of native California cultural artifacts,
including basketry and clothing. Descendants of the first Californians,
tens of thousands of them, still live in California and still
cherish and carry on their unique cultural heritage. Indigenous
people have donated many photographs of family, friends and memorable
times for use in the museum. A section of the museum features
a hands-on area, where visitors can try their hand at using Native
American tools, such as the pump drill, used for making holes
in shell beads and other material; the mortar and pestle, used
for grinding acorns; and the soap root brush, derived from the
soap plant.
The museum features native American basketry. The baskets
served as pots, pans and dishes for processing, cooking and serving.
There were also burden baskets, baskets for water, milling and
mortar baskets, woven seed beaters, parching baskets and gift
baskets. Basket making is taught by observation rather than by
instruction. The process is a long one, of trial, error and patience.
Also on display is traditional dance regalia, such as feather
headbands, plume sticks, dance capes and headdresses; as well
as musical instruments, such as the foot drum, clapper stick,
wood and bone whistles, dance rattles and musical bow. The Central
Valley Regional Indian Room focuses on the Indigenous Peoples
of the Central Valley, with information about native American
fishing, hunting, tools, trade routes and the gift of Tule, which
carpeted the valley's wetlands.
© 2001, Miwok Lodge 439, Order of the
Arrow, Santa Clara County Council Inc., BSA
Revision 1.2
