Malki Museum Events

The Agave Harvest and Roast

The Agave Harvest and Roast is also an annual event sponsored by the Malki Museum. It is held on two consecutive Saturdays in mid- to late-April, around the time when the Agave plants were traditionally gathered. The Agave or amul was a basic food staple for Southern California Indians.

The first Saturday is a hands-on learning expedition and ethnobotany walk led by Daniel McCarthy, who is an archaeologist with the U.S.D.A. Forest Service in Idyllwild and Tribal Relations Manager, as well as a long time member of the Malki Museum. He has been learning about Cahuilla culture for over 20 years, and has been involved in archaeological field work for even longer. For this event, Mr. McCarthy takes a group on a tour through some of the old Cahuilla Territory (Cahuilla Tewénet), near Sugarloaf, in the San Jacinto Mountains. The group is then shown how the Agave was harvested with a Cahuilla digging stick.

The following Saturday, all of the harvested Agave is brought back to the museum for the Agave Roast, in which the Agave hearts are roasted in a traditional roasting pit and attendees are invited to taste these and other customary Native foods. There are often several demonstrations throughout the day, and a lecture on the Cahuilla people is given by the museum President, Katherine Saubel. The dates for these events depend upon the ripening of the Agave. For more information and current dates, please contact the museum.