Summer Seasonal Settlement Patterns of the Takelma

During the summer, the Takelma traveled the farthest, moving steadily up into higher, cooler elevations to collect bulbs, plants, and other items as they became available. As summer continued on into fall, fruits, berries, nuts, and other plant products ripened and were harvested. Some of the foods collected included wild plums and serviceberries. A simple structure made of boughs and brush served as a temporary shelter as they traveled. In order to efficiently complete their tasks, the Takelma would divide into smaller task groups - typically women, youngsters, and a few older men for plant gathering, and men for hunting deer and elk. Because the work was rigorous and involved more travel, the elderly, sick, or pregnant would stay in the permanent villages in the valleys (LaLande: 1991).

Mountainscape View	Shooting Star Food source	Mountain mahogany Wood used to make tools
Red Bell Food source	Yarrow Medicinal plant	Manzanita Edible berries

The summer was also an important time of year for individuals or small task groups to meet and trade. If staying away for extended periods of time, the Takelma would dismantle their plank houses, allowing the sun, wind, and rain to clean out the house before the people returned in the fall (LaLande: 2004).

Tarweed and grasshopper burns were lit in the lower valleys during the late summer. The tarweed fields were burned at dusk, leaving the seedpods roasted and ready for harvest by the Takelma women. Areas known to have large grasshopper populations were burned, toasting grasshoppers. The grasshoppers were then collected for consumption (LaLande: 2004).

Tarweed burns

Grasshopper Burns

Roasted grasshopper Important food source

Roasted tarweed seeds Important food source