The history of agriculture in California began with California's indigenous peoples and was radically altered by colonization and statehood. Throughout its history agriculture has formed an important part of the state's economy. California has led the nation in farm production sales since 1948.
Pre-1850
Indigenous Californian Land Management Peake & Fleure 1927 propose that many crop wild relatives and a climate with both a rainy season and a dry season are necessary for an area to become a center of agriculture. Before human arrival a wide variety of crop wild relatives were already found there – and although most of the land has a monotonously desert or near-desert rain supply – some areas have a climate type called Mediterranean. Archaeologists have uncovered seeds from sunflowers and marsh elder that have been altered by the domestication process. Since initial contact between Europeans and Indigenous American peoples, the topic of Native American agriculture has been debated. While agriculture in pre-contact California certainly did not fit into the Western definition of agriculture, the keen stewardship of California's natural ecosystem by Indigenous Californians to achieve the best possible output of resources is "agricultural," with California's ecosystems acting as a large, unbounded agricultural site. Because of this difference in ideology, agricultural practices in pre-contact California often took a different form than those of Europe. However, the concept of Indigenous Californians as hunter-gatherers has shifted over time. While Native Californians did not have domesticated crops or animals, their knowledge and methods of land stewardship and cultivation allowed them to thrive successfully on the California land. Thus, Indigenous Californians are now considered proto-agriculturists.
Some California hunter-gatherer tribes, including the Owens Valley Paiute, developed irrigation. In addition, the Kumeyaay created water and erosion management systems where rocks, boulders, and plants were placed on slopes to create a drainage system that would keep the soil wet for planting. Plants alongside the system served as food and for medicinal purposes; thus, the system would often be maintained and repaired when needed. Native Californians were skilled at gathering materials from plants at all times of the year, allowing the consistent gathering of materials from any and all local plants. Depending on when various plants—including succulents, flowers, and trees—bloomed or became ripe, different aspects of the plant could be accessed or harvested by Native California peoples. Native Californians also developed strategies when it came to competing with animals for resources. The Kashaya Pomo, for example, timed their harvest of dogwood to be before insects and worms would be able to access the inner parts of the plant. Indigenous Californians also developed strategies for acquiring black oak acorns directly from tree branches using a long pole, increasing harvest yields that would otherwise have been disturbed by animals. Black oak acorn harvests were further increased by cultural burning, which stimulated acorn growth and increased biodiversity in the area. Cultural burning was commonly practiced throughout California to maintain a healthy landscape that produced quality resources, as the Karuk, Yurok, and Hupa peoples all regularly burned areas of bear grass and California hazelnut and to encourage the growth of stronger stems that could be used for basketry. The Pomo indigenous peoples of California utilized intentional cutting of Carex rhizomes. When cut, the rhizomes regrew straight, which the Pomo utilized extensively in the weaving of baskets. Some researchers have suggested that the oak trees are going through a population collapse. Citing the lack of Native American silviculture as a large factor to the decline in Oak, Walnut, and possibly even redwoods. Opponents of this theory have argued that the change in climate due to global warming and modern human industrial behavior as the culprit behind the decline. Native Californians practiced cultural burning and practiced pruning, coppicing, sowing, and weeding to maintain the land. These management methods mimicked the natural disturbances plants often experienced such as annual flooding and lightning fires. These practices kept the shrubs that were used for basketry from re-entering the adult stage; therefore, keeping the branches of the shrubs pliable for basketry and free from insects, mosses, and lichens. Evidence of agricultural tools is sparse, however the Yuma of the lower Colorado River were documented utilizing various wooden tools to manage the plants. These tools may have been made out of stone or other materials but none have been found. The tools found were constructed from wood and each tool served a specific purpose. For example, a special planting stick was used only to plant teparies. Other types of sticks such as side-scraper hoes and regular planting sticks were used for weeding, pruning, digging and planting. These methods of management also created many Indigenous foodways. Indigenous Californians gathered and processed a variety of resources, such as nuts and seed from gray pin and sugar pine trees. After collecting these resources, Indigenous Northern Californians would then process the nuts by either grinding or steaming the nuts. Various foods such as flour and butter were created from these processing methods.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
