As far as we know the first people to live in the Nevada County area were the .
They were known for their unique eating habits and their migration .
patterns between the Sacramento valley and the Sierra Nevada mountains. They had .
society divisions that were fairly standard, but somewhat unique. Their society structure .
was not complex because of constant moving from place to place. Also the Maidu had .
many rituals to their society which included ones of death and celebrating life. Also their .
society also included some aspects of religion. I plan to tell of how they managed to .
communicate even though there was no form of written language used by any group of the .
Maidu. Finally I am going to explain some of the aspects of Maidu food production.
The migration patters of the Maidu were fairly easy to understand. They had .
only a few things to consider when choosing the next habitat that their tribe would make .
their new home. The first factor was temperature. In the Winter when it was freezing and.
cold in .
the Sierra Nevada mountains they migrated down to the Loomis basin. In the Summer .
when it was extremely hot in the basin, they migrated to the mild climate of the Sierra .
Nevada mountains. The second reason for migration was the search for food. In the areas .
where acorns were plentiful, the tribes would stay until the supply ran out. When they .
did run out of acorns they would simply pack up their belongings and move to a new site .
where there was a plentiful amount of acorns. The third and final reason was the water .
supply of the area. In the spring, this was not much of a problem, because there was an .
enormous amount of water runoff from the winter snow in the Sierras, but in the Fall .
after a long dry Summer, the tribe would have to search far and wide for a location with .
both a reasonable food and sufficient water supply. Overall the selection of a worthy site .
for a Maidu tribe was an important task.
The Maidu originally consisted of three groups: the Mountain Maidu, Concow, and Nissenan. ... The Creator wanted people to live easy lives and were given the means for eternal life. ... The Maidu viewed the bear as a symbol of life (Potts, 30). ... The Maidu way of life was not affected by contact with the white man until gold was discovered in Coloma in 1848. ... Thirty-two died or were killed on the way. ...
