Hello Families,
This week we welcomed guest educator, Keith Gutierrez, to teach us about aspects of the Ohlone culture. He spoke to the kids about what men and women looked like and how they might dress on a daily basis. Women had tattoos on their chins to indicate which family they came from, wore dried tule skirt aprons with a buckskin to cover their rears. They wore shell necklaces and furs on special occasions and when the weather got colder. Men would have a buckskin tied around their waist and perhaps a headdress of an animal on special occasions. The coyote, eagle, and hummingbird are part of their creation story and the Ohlone people may have worn elements of these animals for ceremonies.

The Ohlone people were hunter gatherers. Females, as life givers, couldn’t take life so they gathered acorns, roots, nuts, and berries. They wove many types of baskets for different purposes.  Large baskets were carried by a strap on their foreheads so both hands would be free to gather. Here, a Temescalian is demonstrating gathering buckeyes. She needed to balance the basket, kneel down to pick up the buckeyes off of the ground, and toss them into the basket. This was harder than we originally thought!

Acorns were a staple of the Ohlone diet. They needed to gather acorns, crack and grind them into a fine powder, leech the tannins out, then cook it into a hot cereal. Women would gather together to pound the acorns and chant and tell stories while grinding the acorns into a fine powder.

Stone mortar and pestle were used to crack open the acorns and grind the nut into a fine powder.

They used a soap root brush to brush the powder into a basket.

Soap roots had many purposes. They could fashion it into a brush, use a boiled up root as the glue to create the handle of the brush, lather and use it to wash their bodies, use the lather to cut off oxygen to the fish and catch fish in that way, and roast them to eat them.

The Ohlone people were very resourceful!

Using baskets to winnow the larger pieces of acorn out and then leeching the tannins out was part of the process of preparing a hot acorn mush.

Baskets are not fireproof so the Ohlone heated up rocks and used two large sticks to take the rocks out of the fire.

They would dip and wash the ash off of the hot rocks before putting them into a tightly woven cooking basket that could hold water.

They used a stick fashioned into a loop to get the used hot rock out of the cooking basket. They would continue this process until the acorn mush was prepared.

There were many tools that the Ohlone men used to hunt and trap food. They initially used spears and nets before being introduced to using bows and arrows. A spear could only go so far so they would use an atl atl to increase the distance the spear could be thrown. They used baskets to catch birds that were wider at one end and narrower at the other end. Similar baskets were used to catch fish. Nets were used to catch fish and ducks. Duck decoys were fashioned out of tule to attract other ducks to a body of water. The head of the decoy was attached to a longer piece that would move with the current of the water, making the decoy more realistic. Men prepared themselves for hunt by going to the sweat house to get their human smell off, then after bathing in the nearby body of water, they would scrape off the sweat and rub leaves on their bodies to mask their own smell.

Ohlone people used spears to hunt

An atl atl was used to increase the distance a spear could be thrown

A basket that was wider on one end and narrower on the other end were used to catch birds.

A duck decoy was used to attract ducks to a body of water.

An animal skin was often used as a quiver for bows.

Yew wood was used to make the bow. Ohlone men would cover their bodies in a deer skin.

They walked by bending at the waist and moving like a deer to try to get closer to the deer.

We played a Hoop and Stick game that little boys would play to hone their skills at hunting. If you threw the stick through the hoop, you’d get two points. If you hit the hoop, you’d get one point.

Keith showed us how the Ohlone people may have used a bow drill to create fire.

He also talked about how the Ohlone people used shells to trade for obsidian. Pump drills were used to make holes in shells that could then be strung together and traded for more value.

We had the chance to go through three stations: using pump drills to make holes in pieces of wood, play Staves (a game of chance where you throw 6 sticks.  Each stick has a decorated side. You get points depending on how many of the patterned sides face up.) , or try to make “paint” by rubbing wet rocks together and using that mineral as a pigment to create designs on our skin.

We reflected on our time with Keith Gutierrez and what we have learned about the Ohlone people thus far.

We started a writing project about things that we are thankful for. This brainstorm will become a 3 part essay with an introduction and conclusion.

Building on the Blast Off to Space game that we introduced in class, a Temescalian shared her interest in probability and found the numbers that would show up the most often in that game. (Click here for the link to the online version of the game: https://student-activities.mathlearningcenter.org/?412bb949 ) She also looked into the probability of which numbers came up most when rolling two six-sided dice.

We love connecting with TBS kids in different levels, and when 8th graders were tasked with volunteering around campus to do some community service, five them reached out to see how they could help out in the class. Our library has been in need of updating so they have been working on leveling the library! I taught one of them as a third grader and interacted with the other 8th graders when they joined TBS in their 4th grade year. They kept saying that they were having happy flashbacks when they went back into the library and perused the books. I always say that once a Temescalian, always a Temescalian. It is wonderful having them come back and having a chance to catch up with them as older people!

Here are a few other views from the week including sharing our Rocket Writes, moments from Choice Time, and a Temescalian with her birthday appreciations paper garland.

Upcoming events are all listed together below, but here are more details about events this coming week.
– Please bring a medium sized pumpkin to school by Monday, 10/24.
– We have Spirit Week so you can school colors on Monday, sports gear on Tuesday, an accessory or article of clothing from your favorite decade on Wednesday, pajamas on Thursday, and your Halloween costume on Friday.
– We’ll be carving pumpkins on Wednesday, 10/26 from 10:15 – 11:05 with our 7th grade buddies so if you’re free, we’d love for you to help with this carving process. I have already heard from 3 parents who are able to help out. If you can stay longer to help roast pumpkin seeds, that would also be greatly appreciated. If you have any pumpkin carving tools, please label them and send them in as well! We have a few sets, but they may not be enough for carving 13 pumpkins all at once!
– Picture Day is also on Wednesday, 10/26. Our slot is first thing in the morning so try to come on time, and have a change of clothing if you don’t want your clothing to end up with pumpkin on it.
– Halloween Parade will be on Friday, 10/28 from 8:45 – 9:45am. We’ll go from on campus to Strawberry Creek Park. Street parking as available, but so is parking at the lot just north of Ledger’s Liquors on Acton St. and behind The Way’s parking lot on Berkeley Way.
– If you’re available to help out with Halloween festivities in the classroom, please let me know!

Whew! I am looking forward to this busy week with you and your Temescalians!

Warmly,
Lisa

October
24-28: Spirit Week
24 – School Spirit: Wear School Colors/Gear
24 – Bring a medium sized pumpkin for carving on Wednesday
25 – Sports Fanatic: Wear Favorite Sports Team Colors/Gear
26 – Decades: Wear clothes from your favorite decade
26: Picture Day
26: Pumpkin Carving (bring a carvable pumpkin to the class by 10/24. Parent volunteers welcome!)
27 – Pajamas Day: Wear pajamas to school
28: Halloween Parade (8:45 – 9:45am)

November
4: Assembly
11: Veterans’ Day (no school, no childcare)
18: VIP Day
21 – 25: Thanksgiving Break (no school, no childcare)

December
2: Report Writing Day (no school, no childcare)
9: Assembly
16: Family Reading Friday
19 – Jan 3: Winter Break