The Chaw'se Regional Indian Museum features a variety of exhibits and an outstanding collection of Sierra Nevada Indian artifacts. A Miwok village complete with roundhouse has been reconstructed in the middle of the valley. Big Time Several times each year ceremonies are held in the hun'ge by local Native Americans. Indian families gather at the park in September for the annual acorn harvest thanksgiving ceremonies. Dancing, hand games, singing and storytelling are traditional at this event.
Spectators are welcome, but there is no fixed schedule of events.
Native Americans crafts and foods are available Check here for the time and date of the event . . The cycle of native life that annually revolved around the little meadow within Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park was dramatically altered by James Marshall's discovery of gold in Jan. 1848 at Coloma. They were successful at first and attempted to stay on their claim through the winter, but several of them died of exposure before warm weather returned. More miners poured into the area in 1849, and the Miwok found profitable employment with them for a time. Eventually, however, amicable relations broke down and the Miwok were forced out of their traditional patterns of residence and subsistence, Prospectors and both hydraulic and quartz mining operations eventually surrounded the area.