About Native SpringsSumeg Village Days ProgramSumeg Village, a recreated Yurok village at Patrick's Point State Park, includes family houses, a sweathouse, a brush dance pit, and tribal dressing and preparation areas all built in the traditional Yurok style. Sumeg Village was built by Yurok people using modern tools but with traditional materials in the traditional style of a permanent village. The primary building material is split redwood planks, which are what the Yurok people have used for centuries. The Yurok were the original inhabitants of the area and once used the site of the park as a seasonal fishing village. The village was created in 1990 to preserve and carry on the traditions of the Yurok tribe, to provide education for future generations, and to share their culture with the public. Today Sumeg Village is actively used by the Yurok people and neighboring tribes and as a place for visitors to experience Native American history and culture. Adjacent to Sumeg Village is a native plant garden where visitors will find native plants that were used for baskets, food, and medicine. In 1973, the Patrick’s Point Garden Club established what has become a native plant repository, comprised of as many plants as possible that grow in the unique environment of our coastal fog belt and the humid transition zone between the ocean and mountain slopes. In 1997 this garden was reestablished as a Native American plant garden, which now has plants that were used by the local Yuroks. The plantings in the reestablished garden are representative of the plants used for medicinal, basketry, subsistence, and ceremonial purposes. The Native American Plant Garden is located just east of and adjacent to the Yurok Indian Village. Project Overview: The project will celebrate and educate the public about the rich cultures of local Native American tribes, and seek solutions to environmental issues that impact the tribes. Participants will gain a full day of cultural and environmental immersion, have the opportunity to openly participate in traditional activities such as basketweaving and identifying medicinal plants to gain an appreciation for local native cultures and environmental preservation, and gain the tools to protect their natural resources. The Native Springs Foundation will work closely with California State Parks, the California Interpretive Society, and local tribal representatives. Sumeg Village Days has been an annual event, which, with the exception of last year, has taken place for the last fifteen years. However, it has historically been planned and implemented by a Yurok tribal elder who has told the Native Springs Foundation that she can no longer take on this work. Native Springs Foundation has offered to not only plan and implement the program now and in future years, but to expand the scope of the program to further enhance environmental education and stewardship among tribal and non-tribal people in our remote corner of northern California. We believe this program, which typically averages more than 400 participants (impressive for our rural region) is a critical outreach and organizing tool, and we want to ensure that it is carried on. The activity is a prime opportunity for Native Springs Foundation to bring people together in an effort to promote and improve relations between Native and non-Native persons and organizations with special emphasis on environmental stewardship and the environmental education. Participants will have a full day of cultural immersion and be given the opportunity to openly participate in traditional activities in order to gain a respect and appreciation for local Native Cultures and environmental preservation. The event is a high-quality demonstration and community celebration of a “Living Culture.” Environmental and Cultural Activities:
Yurok Botany Walk:
Participants will take a two-mile walk through Sumeg Village accompanied by a Traditional Botanist. The Botanist will clearly identify native plants that were used for Traditional Salmon Luncheon and Salmon Habitat Education:
Participants will be served a traditional Yurok salmon luncheon/dinner. During their meal participants will get the opportunity to discuss the day’s activities and socialize with tribal members, tribal elders, singers, language speakers, Other Cultural Activities - Language Immersion: The Yurok language is spoken in northwestern California, as it has been spoken for centuries, along the Klamath River and along the Pacific coast. At the time of white contact in the nineteenth century, the Yurok language had several thousand speakers; today there are about a dozen fluent native speakers, all elderly. Our mission through this activity is to expose participants to the spoken language of the Yurok people. Participants will work directly one-on-one with master speakers to learn conversational Yurok. Through public exposure to spoken Yurok we are optimistic that we can plant the seed that will one day grow to ensure the increased interest and eventual full-scale revitalization of the Yurok language. Traditional Brush Dance Demonstration: Brush Dance is a ceremony held to heal a sick child or to pray for a long, healthy life for the child, and is a social dance where families and villages come together. Today the dances take place at specific villages where dance pits Traditional Yurok Stick Games: For centuries local tribes have been gathering to celebrate and perform ceremonies. Along with such gatherings comes the opportunity to participate in collegial athletic competitions. The Yurok version of the “stick game” is a combination of lacrosse, wrestling, and rugby. Participants who wish to learn more about the stick game receive instruction from Yurok tribal members. It is our vision that by providing an athletic component to the Village Days Program we are able to draw in a younger demographic that is athletically inclined and by doing so we can expose them to a culturally sensitive environment where then can not only participate in an athletic activity but also learn a great deal about Yurok and other tribes as well as current environmental concerns impacting the local indigenous tribes of Northern California. |
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Basket Weaving Presentation:
Weaving the traditions and culture from the past with the present will be the focus of this activity. Participants will get the opportunity to sit and learn basket weaving from traditional-local basketweavers. This activity will provide hands on instruction and promote the concept of participants to pursue the study of traditional basket weaving techniques and forms. This activity also gives master basketweavers the opportunity to display and share their tradition, teachings, and master skills with the public and the next generation of basketweavers:
baskets, food, and medicine. Participants will also receive instruction from State Park officials and representatives from neighboring environmental agencies on how they can assist in the protection and preservation of the very fragile ecosystems in which these native plants flourish. Participants will also receive instruction on how to properly use many of the native plants in daily life situations and to assist with common ailments and remedies for the common cold and flu. Additionally, participants will dialogue with Yurok, Hupa, Wiyot, Karuk, and neighboring tribal elders to hear and learn firsthand why the plants, berries, roots and other native botanicals are so important to Native Peoples and why it is important that we become more and more proactive in our efforts to identify, protect, and preserve the ecosystems where these resources are found. 
botanist, park personnel, and environmental activists. Additionally, directly following their meal participants will hear several short stories from Yurok storytellers from the local tribes. Stories will focus on community building as well as social and environmental ethics and justice. Those participants who wish to learn how to prepare the salmon in the traditional fashion will be given the opportunity to work side-by-side with Yurok male and female cooks. Participants will not only learn how to prep and cook salmon but will also learn to prepare other traditional delicacies such as acorn soup (pronounced Chuck-Chum in Yurok). The chuck-chum has the same consistency as the Hawaiian poi and is extremely rich in antioxidants and has been used for centuries by Yurok people to heal the sick and aid in day to day ailments. 
still remain. More and more families are participating in dances, thus more dances are taking place throughout the summer. At Sumeg Village Days, tribal elders and regalia holders will be on site to conduct a Brush Dance demonstration. Participants will be encouraged to ask questions and will be given the opportunity to view and inspect regalia. Elders and regalia holders will take the time to walk the public through the process of preparing for a Brush Dance as well as give a careful and deliberate presentation clearly explaining the literal as well as spiritual significance of the dance. Additionally, elders will review the materials, pelts, hides, etc., that are used in the making of the regalia used in the Brush Dance. 