SAS Event
Indian Grinding Rock State Park
Saturday, September 28, 2024
12:00 noon – ?PM PT
SAS is pleased to feature an event at Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park during its “Big Time” Celebration. Each year local Miwok and other California tribes perform traditional dances in the May, Chaw’se Day Celebration and the September Big Time Celebration. This year the “Big Time” Celebration is being held on September 27 and 28th and we offer an SAS event on Saturday, September 28. It will not be a tour led by park staff but an informal get together of SAS members/friends.
This celebration will be held in the Roundhouse in the Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park. The park is located 8 miles east of Jackson, California, in the Sierra Nevada foothills. This 135-acre park, with its open meadows and large valley oaks is a living history of the Miwok populating the area. Chaw’se is the only State Park in Amador County. The park is named for its chaw’se, a “grinding rock” of marbleized limestone with 1,185 mortar holes, the largest collection of bedrock mortars anywhere in North America. The Miwok used the chaw’se for thousands of years to grind acorns for food. The chaw’se also features 363 petroglyphs (carved images), 2,000 to 3,000 years old.
Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park features a reconstructed Miwok village with bark houses (u’macha), a large ceremonial roundhouse (hun’ge), a reconstructed game field and the Chaw’se Regional Indian Museum. This museum which represents twenty different local tribes features a variety of exhibits, an outstanding collection of Native Californian cultural items, and a bookstore/gift shop.

Visitors to Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park can see how Native Californian people lived long before Europeans arrived. The structures at the park were built for use by the Miwok and other Native Californian people as part of their continuing cultural life. Chaw’se is not just an historic site, but a vital, ongoing part of Miwok tradition. The park’s bark houses, roundhouse, and other features are reminders of the Miwok culture, languages, and traditions that live on to this day.

Let’s assemble at the Chaw’se Regional Indian Museum at noon. Consider bringing a picnic lunch or purchasing lunch there. We can explore the museum and park on our own and be invited into the roundhouse for selected ceremonies.

This is an event for members but guests are encouraged to attend and become members.