Tule ‘fun days’ continue at Cache Creek Nature Preserve
Around 25 people participated in the most recent "hands-on learning with Tlaka" at the Cache Creek Nature Preserve. Held the third Sunday of each month through September, last Saturday's event focused on creating dolls from Tule grass at the Prese…
Around 25 people participated in the most recent "hands-on learning with Tlaka" at the Cache Creek Nature Preserve.
Held the third Sunday of each month through September, last Saturday's event focused on creating dolls from Tule grass at the Preserve's Tending and Gathering Garden.
Tlaka is considered fundamental to watershed health and all kinds of wildlife.
Led by Christina Almendariz, the group received an education on the use of Tule—known in the Wintun tongue as Tlaka—before actually sitting down to create their dolls.
Almendariz shared her knowledge of gathering practices for Tlaka, along with how to care for the environment. She has long shared traditional First Nation knowledge at the Nature Preserve.
Sponsored by the YoloSol Collective, TGG Steering Committee and Cache Creek Conservancy, the free class is meant to educate people on how Tule water grass was used by First Nation people for not only playthings, but also for creating baskets for storage and fishing, housing and even boats.
YoloSol Collective is an arts and ecology collective dedicated to re-storying the web of life in the Yolo bioregion with granting funding from the California Creative Corps.
Future workshops are scheduled for June 16, when people will be making skirts; July 21, when the focus will be on mats; Aug. 18, when people will create baskets; and Sept. 15, when Almendariz and Ootil Maxine will show how to build boats. Each of the workshops is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Christina Almendariz leads a group of people into the wetlands are of the Cache Creek Nature Preserve as part of a hands-on learning program about 'Tlaka,' or Tule grass. (Jim Smith/Courtesy)
People interested in participating should note that they are an "immersion into California Native lifestyle."
People will sometimes be going into the brush to gather the plants for creating their work and may need wading boots or gloves. Participants are also asked to be aware of the weather so they can wear appropriate clothing, including hats, and as well as using bug or tick repellants, along with sunscreen.
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