Greetings,



We hope you have been enjoying the cooler fall temperatures, the changing colors, and the sprinkling of leaves and rain that we’ve gotten over the last couple of weeks following some brief heat to close out the summer. November is Native American Heritage month, so this month’s newsletter is dedicated to the present-day Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and Confeterated Villages of Lisjan, who have lived on the land now known as the San Francisco Bay Area and the East Bay for thousands of years. 

If you inhabit this unceded land as we do with our nursery here in the East Bay, we’d like to offer some resources to learn about the history of this place as well as the people who have belonged to it and cultivated reciprocal relationships with the plants and animals that have shared this place for hundreds of generations. We’d also like to highlight some local indigenous-owned businesses and organizations that we encourage you to learn about and support this Native American Heritage Month and beyond.

Lastly, this month we are featuring some of the many California native plants that have a variety of traditional uses by various Ohlone tribes and bands. We hope this newsletter leaves you with reverence and appreciation for California native plants and the people who have been in community with them long before colonization. 

[Note: information about the ethnobotanical uses of these California native plants for this newsletter came from the Native American Ethnobotany Database, which refers to Ohlone and Lisjan people exclusively as “Costanoan” meaning “people of the coast,” which is the name that the Spanish ignorantly called all of the diverse tribes and bands throughout the area when they invaded in the late 1700s. In the 1960s and 70s, these indigenous peoples organized and renamed themselves “Ohlone”.]

• Muwekma Ohlone tribal publications
• Lisjan (Ohlone) History and Territory
• Tribal History of the Lisjan people

• Cafe Ohlone: A love song to Ohlone culture, at UC Berkeley
• Wahpepah’s Kitchen -Crystal Wahpepah founded this award winning restaurant in the Fruitvale district

• The Sogorea Te’ Land Trust is an indigenous, women-led org that works for cultural revitalization, education, and land rematriation. They ask that non-Indigenous people living on the Confederated Villages of Lisjan’s territory donate Shuumi Land Tax, a voluntary annual contribution that supports their critical work. (https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/shuumi-land-tax/). 

• Kanyon Konsulting is a cultural strategist/liaison, whose work “focuses on offering Indigenous perspectives on the importance of indigenous protocol, acknowledging the land we now occupy, land stewardship and ecology.”

• Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits (BAAITS) is a “community-based volunteer organization offering culturally relevant activities for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Native Americans, their families, and friends.”

• Intertribal Friendship House (IFH) is one of the first urban American Indian community centers in the nation. “For urban Native people, IFH has served as the Urban Reservation and Homeland. In many cases it is one of the few places that keeps them connected to their culture and traditions through pow wow dance, drumming, beading classes, and the many social gatherings, cultural events, and ceremonies that are held there. Intertribal Friendship House is more than an organization. It is the heart of a vibrant tribal community.”

• American Indian Child Resource Center (AICRC) “is an American Indian led, American Indian serving, 501(c)3 non-profit community service organization focusing on American Indian foster care, mental health, education & cultural protective factors. AICRC was founded in 1974 and is an established leading organization in American Indian youth services and delivering best practice programs for positive cultural identity and belonging.”

• The Cultural Conservancy is a Native-led nonprofit organization “Founded in 1985…based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with our headquarters on unceded Ohlone land and our land base in the sovereign territories of Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo peoples. We work with Indigenous communities throughout Turtle Island and Abya Yala (the Americas) and Moananuiākea (the Pacific). Our Mission is to protect and restore Indigenous cultures, empowering them in the direct application of traditional knowledge and practices on their ancestral lands.” 

• Save West Berkeley Shellmound and Village Site “is a coalition of Ohlone tribes, indigenous organizations, and individuals who advocate for historic preservation, indigenous sovereignty and environmental justice.”

• Amah Mutsun Land Trust “is the vehicle by which the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is returning to the lands, knowledge, and practices of our ancestors. With wise leadership, an active board of directors, devoted advisors, and inspired supporters, we are involved in a broad range of initiatives to protect and steward our lands and stand ready to accept the challenges and responsibilities of tribal land tenure. We are reaffirming our role as stewards of Mother Earth.” They are currently standing against the proposed mining project in Juristac (Huris-tak), which lies at the heart of the ancestral lands of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band near Gilroy, California. (https://www.protectjuristac.org/)

Yerba Mansa

Anemopsis californica

Available in 4″ pots for $7.15 each!

Yerba mansa is a deciduous marsh plant that grows to about 1 ft. tall with beautiful white compound flowers in spring and early summer. It requires a warm position with full sun to part shade and either shallow water or a wet muddy humus-rich soil, although it performs best when allowed to experience seasonal dryness. This species is mat-forming, spreading via red runners.

Yerba Mansa is held in high regard by California Native peoples from the coastal Chumash to the desert Shoshone, who have used Yerba Mansa as an anesthetic and antiseptic for a very long time. A decoction of its roots is used as a general pain remedy, including for menstrual cramps and sore throats. An infusion of the plant as well as its dried roots ground into powder are applied as a wash and disinfectant for sores and wounds.

The roots have a strong smell containing notes of camphor and eucalyptus, and contain methyl eugenol among its chemical constituents, which is commonly used to impart a clove-like flavor to processed foods. This chemical acts as an antispasmodic and anesthetic, which may in part explain Yerba Mansa’s popularity as an herbal medicine.

White Alder

Alnus rhombifolia

Available in D-40 pots for $9.90, TB4 pots for $14.30, and TB4’s 25% off for $10.73 each!

This fast growing deciduous tree grows up to 50 ft. tall and 30 ft. wide (space at least 40 ft. apart). White Alder is an excellent choice for a quick growing shade tree and is notably heat tolerant. This species is particularly great for bird and butterfly gardens or creek-side erosion control, where it can be planted right next to the water. White Alder roots have nitrogen-fixing bacteria that replenish bioavailable nitrogen into the soil. 

There are a variety of traditional uses of White Alder, including the use of juice as dye and inner bark for food in Ohlone culture. The Karuk tribe along the Klamath River channel farther north use the inner bark dried, ground, and mixed with flour and water as a dye, the roots for basketry, and the wood for smoking salmon, eels, and deer meat to preserve them. Several tribes of Mendocino county use this plant medicinally, with a decoction of dried bark taken as a blood purifier and emetic, as well as for stomach aches and to facilitate childbirth. They apply a poultice of dried White Alder wood to burns as well. They also use the fresh bark as a dye to color basket materials and deerskins, and make arrows using young shoots. Pomo peoples use a decoction of the bark to soothe skin ailments particularly for babies, such as sores, diaper rash, and peeling or itching skin.

California Everlasting

Pseudognaphalium californicum

Available in D-16 pots for $6.60 each!

California Everlasting is a biennial or short-lived perennial herb that grows about 2 ft. tall. This species is a pioneer plant that helps to prepare a site and aid in the establishment of longer-lived plants in the native landscape. It is well suited for full sun areas with dry, light, or moderate water availability and is tolerant of clay, sandy, or rocky soils. The green foliage has a cumin-like fragrance, and beautifully complement the creamy-white pearlescent flowers from summer to fall. California everlasting is an attractive plant for use in dried and fresh flower arrangements, and pairs beautifully with California Sagebrush, Coyote Brush, and Buckwheats in the garden. It’s also a larval host plant for the American Painted Lady butterfly. 

Ohlone peoples primarily use California Everlasting to treat stomach pain and colds by ingesting an infusion of the plant. The Karuk tribe also uses a cold infusion of the plant as a wash for sore eyes. With the widespread distribution of this species throughout Turtle Island, there are several other tribes throughout the midwest that use this plant for a variety of medicinal and ceremonial purposes.

Sticky Monkey Flower

Diplacus auranitacus

Available in D16 pots for $7.70, D40’s for $9.90, and 1-Gals for $15.70 each!

Sticky Monkey Flower is a hardy, deer-resistant sub-shrub that grow 3 – 4 ft. tall. It blooms prolifically from April to October with one-inch apricot orange flowers that attract hummingbirds. This species is happiest in a well-drained soil with full sun or part shade and very little water once established (too much water can cause root rot). Cut back spent flowers to provide a longer bloom period. It is a larval host plant for the Variable Checkerspot, Common Checkerspot, and Sara Orange-Tip butterflies and is a rich nectar and pollen source for bees.

Ohlone peoples use a decoction of this plant medicinally to treat liver and bladder ailments. The Kashaya Pomo people also use an infusion of this plant as an eyewash.

Black Sage

Salvia mellifera

Available in D40 pots for $9.90 each!

Black sage is a spring-flowering evergreen shrub with a fresh, spicy sage scent. It reaches 3 – 6 ft. tall and 6 – 8 ft. wide. Like other sages, this species is very drought tolerant once established, and needs no summer water in most areas, although it may look better and have a lower fire hazard if watered once a month. Black sage is an excellent choice for quickly covering dry sunny slopes and providing erosion control. Many small birds (especially quail) like to eat the seeds, and the light blue to lavender flowers provide nectar that attracts hummingbirds, butterflies, and native bees. It is said to be one of the best nectar sources for honeybees according to bee keepers!

Black sage has many traditional medicinal uses in Ohlone culture, such as the chewing of green leaves for gas pains, an infusion of the green leaves taken for heart disorders, a decoction of the plant taken for coughs and used as a bath for paralysis, and a poultice of heated leaves applied to the ear for earache pain and applied to the neck for sore throats.

Stay Safe, ‘Bee’ Well, and Go Natives!

Happy Native American Heritage Month and happy planting from all of us at The Watershed Nursery <3