Yosemite at a Glance:
The First People

The Ahwahnichi gathered roots, seeds, berries, nuts, greens, mushrooms, and basketry materials. They hunted deer, birds, small animals, and fish and gathered black oak acorns from which the women made acorn mush and bread.

Geology
Waterfalls

Lifestyle

During the winter, the Ahwahnichi primarily depended on stored food. They manipulated the environment by setting fires that improved acorn germination, made acorn gathering easier, and opened up habitat, making it easier to hunt.


In their villages and encampments they used brush-covered lean-tos as temporary shelter during the hot summers. When more protection was needed from the elements they built conical bark-covered structures or dome-shaped thatched homes.

After Euro-Americans began lumber operations in Yosemite Valley in the 1850s, the local Indians found that cedar bark was more abundant and easier to obtain. They began building more permanent conical structures on a framework of pine poles, lashed with grapevines, and covered with overlapping layers of incense cedar bark.