It has to be agave. I have been educated by reading Scott Calhoun that the history of the agave --- chockablock with passion, greed, lust, murder, mayhem --- is the history of the human being at its worst.
But the agave has another history --- human nature at its best. The Native peoples of the Cahuilla tribes of Southern California respected, loved, and honored the agave. In spring they harvested the agave "hearts" and roasted them on site, following an ancient and revered ritual. These delicious hearts were a great treat in the annual food cycle of the Cahuilla. At other times, the Cahuilla people tended to their wild gardens of agave --- planting the pups in the agave habitat, taking are of their wild crop. This gentle interface --- human and crops in the wild --- deeply moves me.
The gathering during traditional times was carried on by men and boys, accompanied by story-telling and the singing of religious songs associated with agave. Certain agave-gathering areas were associated with specific tribal lineages.
The Maki Museum in Banning carries on this tradition. One weekend in April people gather the agave; on another, the agave is roasted in traditional pits in the old way.
