Chaw-se Indian Grinding Rock, Amador County

Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park (IGR) is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills 12 miles east of Jackson. The park nestles in a little valley 2,400 feet above sea level with open meadows and large valley oaks that once provided the native Americans of this area with an ample supply of acorns. The park was created in 1968 and preserves a great outcropping of marbleized limestone with some 1,185 mortar holes -- the largest collection of bedrock mortars in North America.

For the Northern Sierra Miwok who settled in this area centuries ago, the roundhouse or hun'ge was the true center of ceremonial and social life. Chaw'se's roundhouse, one of the largest in California, was dedicated in 1974. It reflects the cooperative efforts of the State Department of Parks and Recreation and local Native Americans to make Chaw'se a "cultural and intellectual bridge between the past, present and future of Native Sierra people."

Some of the beauty and ingenuity involved in the round house ceremonies can still be enjoyed year-round when you visit the Chaw'se Regional Indian Museum. Exhibits of feather regalia, ceremonial dress, and musical instruments are displayed along with basketry, jewelry, arrowpoints and other tools.

Great Video on the what you will experience at the Chaw-se Indian Grinding Rock