Ohlone (Costanoan) People
Map of the Costanoan languages and major villages.
Total population
1770: 10,000-20,000 1800: 3000   • 1852: 864-1000   • 2000: 1500-2000+
Regions with significant populations
California: San Francisco Peninsula, Santa Clara Valley, East Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains, Monterey Bay, Salinas Valley
Languages
Utian: Ohlone (Costanoan): Awaswas, Chalon, Chochenyo, Karkin, Mutsun, Ramaytush, Rumsen, Tamyen
Religions
Shamanism  • Kuksu
Related ethnic groups
Ohlone Tribes & Villages

The Ohlone people, also known as the Costanoan and as the Muwekma, are the indigenous people of Northern California who have lived in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas since the sixth century, spanning south into the Salinas Valley. Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States Northern California is the northern portion of the US state of California. San Francisco Bay is a shallow productive Estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento This article is about the bay near Monterey CA For other uses see Monterey Bay Aquarium, California State University Monterey Bay The Salinas Valley in the Central Coast region of California, USA that lies along the Salinas River between the Gabilan Range and They spoke diverse dialects of the Penutian (Utian) language and lived in over 50 distinct villages and groups. Penutian is a proposed grouping of language families that includes many Native American languages of western North America, predominantly spoken at one Over 50 villages and tribes of the Ohlone (also known as Costanoan Native American people have been identified as existing in Northern California circa 1769 Before Spanish colonization, they did not view themselves as one unified group of people. The Spanish colonization of the Americas was Spain 's conquest settlement and rule over much of the Western hemisphere. The Ohlone once lived by hunting, fishing and gathering and their world view included shamanism. From 1769 to 1833, Spanish policies, including the Spanish missions in California, brought tremendous upheaval, hardship and decimation to the Ohlone people. The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of Religious outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between

The Ohlone living today include members of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as Rumsen and Mutsun Tribes, currently petitioning the federal government for tribal recognition. The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, or the Bay, is a geographically and ethnically diverse metropolitan region that surrounds the The Rumsen (also known as the Rumsien) are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone (Coastanoan Native American people of Northern California Mutsun is a name of one sub-group of the indigenous Ohlone people of California, as well as the name of the language they spoke Federally recognized tribes are those Indian tribes recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs for certain federal government

Contents 1 Culture 1.1 Religion 1.2 Narratives and mythology 2 History 2.1 Mission Era (1769 – 1833) 2.1.1 Land and property disputes 2.2 Secularization 2.3 Survival 3 Etymology 4 Divisions 5 Present day 5.1 Federal recognition 6 Population 7 Language 7.1 Native names 7.2 Spelling and pronunciation 7.3 Native words 8 Salvaging records 9 Notable Ohlone people 10 Notes 11 References 12 Further reading 13 External links

Culture

The Ohlone inhabited fixed village locations, moving temporarily to gather seasonal foodstuffs like acorns and berries. The acorn is the nut of the Oak tree (genera Quercus, Lithocarpus and Cyclobalanopsis, in the The Ohlone people lived in Northern California from the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in the north down to Big Sur in the south, and from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Diablo Range in the east. The San Francisco Peninsula in California separates the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the central California, United States, coast where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions The Diablo Ranges is a Mountain range in western California, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges. Their vast region included the San Francisco Peninsula, Santa Clara Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains, Monterey Bay area, as well as present-day Alameda County, Contra Costa County and Salinas Valley. See Silicon Valley for a discussion of the technological aspects of the Santa Clara Valley The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a Mountain range in central California, United States. This article is about the bay near Monterey CA For other uses see Monterey Bay Aquarium, California State University Monterey Bay Alameda County is a county in the US state of California. It occupies most of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Contra Costa County ( Spanish for "opposite coast" is a suburban county in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U The Salinas Valley in the Central Coast region of California, USA that lies along the Salinas River between the Gabilan Range and Prior to Spanish contact, the Ohlone formed a complex association of approximately 50 different "nations or tribes" with about 50 to 500 members each, with an average of 200. Over 50 specific Ohlone tribes and villages have been recorded. The Ohlone villages interacted through trade, intermarriage and ceremonial events, as well as some internecine conflict. Cultural arts included basket-weaving skills, seasonal ceremonial dancing events, female tattoos, ear and nose piercings, and other ornamentation. Basket weaving (also basketry, basket making, or basketmaking) is the process of Weaving unspun Vegetable Fibers into A tattoo is a permanent marking made by inserting ink into the layers of Skin to change the pigment for decorative or other reasons ^[1]

The Ohlone subsisted mainly as hunter-gatherers and in some ways harvesters. A hunter-gatherer society is one whose primary subsistence method involves the direct procurement of edible plants and animals from the wild Foraging and Hunting In Agriculture, the harvest is the process of Gathering mature crops from the fields Reaping is the cutting of Grain "A rough husbandry of the land was practiced, mainly by annually setting of fires to burn-off the old growth in order to get a better yield of seeds – or so the Ohlone told early explorers in San Mateo County. San Mateo County ( "san muh-TAY-o") ( Spanish for: St " Their staple diet consisted of crushed acorns, nuts, grass seeds and berries, while other vegetation, hunted and trapped game, fish and seafood (including mussels and abalone from the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean), were also important to their diet. Corylus cornuta ( Beaked Hazel) is a Deciduous Shrubby Hazel found in most of North America, from southern Canada The common name mussel is used for members of several different families of Clams or Bivalve Molluscs, from both saltwater and freshwater habitats Abalone (from Spanish Abulón) are medium-sized to very large edible sea Snails marine Gastropod Mollusks in the San Francisco Bay is a shallow productive Estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento These food sources were abundant and maintained by careful work (and spiritual respect), and through some active management of all the natural resources at hand. ^[2]

Animals in their mild climate included the grizzly bear, elk (cervus elaphus), antelope and deer. The Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis, also known as the Silvertip Bear, is a Subspecies of Brown bear (Ursus arctos that lives The Red Deer ( Cervus elaphus) is one of the largest Deer species Antelope are Ruminant hoofed Mammals of the family Bovidae in the order of Even-toed ungulates. A deer is a Ruminant Mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. The streams held salmon, perch and stickleback. Salmon is the common name for several species of Fish of the family Salmonidae. Perca is the genus of fish referred to as perch or sometimes yellow perch, a group of freshwater Fish belonging to the family Percidae The Gasterosteidae are a family of Fish including the sticklebacks. Birds included plentiful ducks, geese, quail, great horned owls, red-shafted flickers, downy woodpeckers, goldfinches, and yellow-billed magpies. The Mallard ( Anas platyrhynchos) probably the best-known and most recognizable of all ducks is a Dabbling duck which breeds throughout the Temperate Goose (plural geese) is the English name for a considerable number of Birds belonging to the family Anatidae. The California Quail, Callipepla californica, also known as the California Valley Quail or Valley Quail is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail The Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus, is a large owl native to North and South America The Northern Flicker ( Colaptes auratus) is a medium-sized member of the Woodpecker family The Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens, is the smallest Woodpecker in North America. The Yellow-billed Magpie, Pica nuttalli, is a large bird in the crow family found only in California. Waterfowl were the most important birds in the people's diet, which were captured with nets and decoys. The Chochenyo traditional narratives refer to ducks as food, and Juan Crespi observed in his journal that geese were stuffed and dried "to use as decoys in hunting others. Father Juan Crespí ( March 1, 1721 — January 1, 1782) was a Spanish missionary and explorer of Las Californias. "^[3]

Along the ocean shore and bays, there were also otters, whales, and at one time thousands of sea lions. Otters are semi- aquatic (or in one case aquatic) fish-eating Mammals The otter subfamily Lutrinae forms part of the family Whales are marine mammals which are neither Dolphins (ie members of the families Delphinidae or Platanistoidae) nor Porpoises Orcas The California Sea Lion ( Zalophus californianus) is a coastal Sea lion of the northern Pacific Ocean. In fact, there were so many sea lions that to Crespi it "looked like a pavement" to the incoming Spanish. ^[4]

In general, along the bayshore and valleys, the Ohlone constructed dome-shaped houses of woven or bundled mats of tule rushes, 6 to 20 feet in diameter. In hills and where Redwood trees were accessible, they built conical houses made from Redwood bark attached to a frame of wood. Sequoia sempervirens is the sole living Species of the Genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly Redwood houses were remembered in Monterey. One of the main village buildings, the sweat lodge was low into the ground, its walls made of earth and roof of earth and brush. The sweat lodge (also called sweat house, medicine lodge, or medicine house) is a ceremonial Sauna and an important ritual used by They built boats of tule to navigate on the bays propelled by double-bladed paddles. ^[5]

Generally, men did not wear clothing in warm weather. In cold weather, they might don animal skin capes or feather capes. Women commonly wore deerskin aprons, tule rush skirts or shredded bark skirts. The Tule ( Schoenoplectus acutus, syn Scirpus acutus Schoenoplectus lacustris Scirpus lacustris subsp On cool days, they also wore animal skin capes. Both wore ornamentation of necklaces, shell beads and abalone pendants, and bone wood earrings with shells and beads. The ornamentation often indicated status within their community. ^[6]

Religion

The pre-contact Ohlone world view included shamanism. They believed that spiritual doctors could heal and prevent illness, and they had a "probable belief in bear shamans. " Their spiritual beliefs were not recorded in detail by missionaries. However, some of the villages probably learned and practiced Kuksu, a form of shamanism shared by many tribes of Central and Northern California (although there is some question if the Ohlone people learned Kuksu from other tribes while at the missions). Kuksu, also called the Kuksu Cult, was a Shamanistic religion in Northern California practiced in different degrees by many Native American people Kuksu included elaborate acting and dancing ceremonies in traditional costume, an annual mourning ceremony, puberty rites of passage, shamanic intervention with the spirit world and an all-male society that met in subterranean dance rooms. A rite of passage is a Ritual that marks a change in a person's social or sexual status The English word " spirit " comes from the Latin " spiritus " (breath ^[7]

Kuksu was shared with other indigenous ethnic groups of Central California, such as their neighbors the Miwok and Esselen, also Maidu, Pomo, and northernmost Yokuts. Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) can refer to any one of four linguistically-related groups of Native Americans, who lived in what The Esselen were a Native American linguistic group in the hypothetical Hokan language family who resided in what is now known as Big Sur in the The Maidu are a group of Native Americans who live in Northern California. The Pomo people are a linguistic branch of Native American people of Northern California. The Yokuts (also known as Mariposans) are an Ethnic group of Native Americans that live in central and northern California. However Kroeber observed less "specialized cosmogony" in the Ohlone, which he termed one of the "southern Kuksu-dancing groups", in comparison to the Maidu and groups in the Sacramento Valley; He noted "if, as seems probable, the southerly Kuksu tribes (the Miwok, Costanoans, Esselen, and northernmost Yokuts) had no real society in connection with their Kuksu ceremonies. This article discusses scientific theories of creation (cosmogony The Maidu are a group of Native Americans who live in Northern California. The Sacramento Valley is the portion of the California Central Valley that lies to the north of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta in the U "^[8]

The Ohlone who joined the Spanish missions were persuaded to convert to Catholicism. As a Christian Ecclesiastical term Catholic —from the Greek adjective, meaning "general" or "universal"—is described The first baptisms and conversions to Catholicism were in 1777. However, Mission Era conversions to Catholicism were debatably incomplete and "external. " Many returned to shamanism when the Mission Era ended. ^[9]

Narratives and mythology

In Ohlone mythology and traditional legends, and folk tales, the Ohlone participated in the general cultural pattern of Central and Northern California. The Mythology of the Ohlone (Costanoan Native American people of Northern California can be defined as the creation stories as well as other Ohlone traditional narratives include myths legends tales and oral histories preserved by the Ohlone (Costanoan people of the central California coast Specifically, Kroeber noted that they "seem also to lean in their mythology toward the Yokuts more than to the Sacramento Valley tribes. The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" "^[10]

Ohlone folklore and legend centered around the Californian culture heroes of the Coyote trickster spirit, as well as Eagle and Hummingbird (and in the Chochenyo region, a falcon-like being named Kaknu). A culture hero is a Mythological Hero specific to some group ( cultural, ethnic, racial, religious, etc Coyote is a Mythological character common to many Native American cultures based on the Coyote ( Canis latrans) animal Coyote spirit was clever, wily, lustful, greedy, and irresponsible. He often competed with Hummingbird, who despite his small size regularly got the better of him. ^[11]

Ohlone mythology creation stories mention the world was covered entirely in water, apart from a single peak Pico Blanco near Big Sur (or Mount Diablo in the northern Ohlone's version) on which Coyote, Hummingbird, and Eagle stood. Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the central California, United States, coast where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Mount Diablo is a mountain in Contra Costa County California in the San Francisco Bay Area, located south of the town of Clayton and northeast of Humans were the descendants of Coyote. ^[11]

History

Some archeologists and linguists hypothesize that these people migrated from the San Joaquin-Sacramento River system and arrived into the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas in about the 6th century AD]], displacing or assimilating earlier Hokan-speaking populations of which the Esselen in the south represent a survival. The Hokan language family is a hypothetical grouping of a dozen small language families spoken in California and Mexico. The Esselen were a Native American linguistic group in the hypothetical Hokan language family who resided in what is now known as Big Sur in the Datings of ancient shell mounds in Newark and Emeryville suggest the villages at those locations were established about 4000 BC. The Emeryville Shellmound, in Emeryville California, is a once-massive archaeological shell Midden deposit (dark highly organic Soil containing Newark is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. The Emeryville Shellmound, in Emeryville California, is a once-massive archaeological shell Midden deposit (dark highly organic Soil containing ^[12]

Through shell mound dating, scholars noted three periods of ancient Bay Area history, as described by F. M. Stanger in La Peninsula: "Careful study of artifacts found in central California mounds has resulted in the discovery of three distinguishable epochs or cultural 'horizons' in their history. In terms of our time-counting system, the first or 'Early Horizon' extends from about 4000 BC to 1000 BC in the Bay Area and to about 2000 BC in the Central Valley. The second or Middle Horizon was from these dates to 700 AD, while the third or Late Horizon was from 700 AD to the coming of the Spaniards in the 1770s. "^[13]

Mission Era (1769 – 1833)

The Ohlone people lived a relatively constant life until 1769, when the first Spanish soldiers and missionaries arrived from Southern California with the double-purpose of Christianizing the Native Americans by building a series of missions and of facilitating Spanish colonization. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Southern California, or So Cal, is defined as the southern portion of the U The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of Religious outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between The Rumsen were the first Ohlone people to be encountered and documented in Spanish records, by Sebastian Vizcaíno who was surveying the Northern California coastline for Spain, and reached Monterey in December 1602. Sebastián Vizcaíno (1548-1624 was a Spanish soldier entrepreneur explorer and diplomat whose varied roles took him to New Spain, the Philippines, the Baja Spain claimed present-day California as its own and began to build a network of religious outposts, arriving in Ohlone territory in 1769. The Franciscan mission chain was founded under the leadership and vision of Father Junípero Serra and the military control was led by Gaspar de Portolà. The term Franciscan is commonly used to refer to members of Catholic Fra Junípero Serra ( November 24, 1713 &ndash August 28, 1784) was a Spanish Franciscan Friar who founded The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of Religious outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between Gaspar de Portolà i Rovira (1716 1784 was a soldier Governor of Baja and Alta California (1767&ndash1770 Explorer and founder of ^[14]

This Spanish encroachment into the region disrupted and undermined the Ohlone social structures and way of life. Under Father Serra's leadership, the Spanish Franciscans erected seven missions inside the Ohlone region and brought most of the Ohlone into these missions to live and work. The missions erected within the Ohlone region were: Mission San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo (founded in 1770), Mission San Francisco de Asís (founded in 1776), Mission Santa Clara de Asís (founded in 1777), Mission Santa Cruz (founded in 1791), Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad (founded in 1791), Mission San José (founded in 1797), and Mission San Juan Bautista (founded in 1797). Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, also known as the Carmel Mission, is a historic Roman Catholic mission church in Carmel-by-the-Sea California Mission San Francisco de Asís is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco and the sixth religious settlement established as part of the California chain of missions Mission Santa Clara de Asís was founded on January 12, 1777 and named for Clare of Assisi, the founder of the order of the Poor Clares. Other missions bearing the name Santa Cruz include the Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá and the Mission San Lorenzo de la Santa Cruz in Texas Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad was founded on October 9, 1791 to minister and take in the Indians of the Salinas Valley. This article refers to the Spanish Mission For the neighborhood and historical town see Mission San Jose in the article on Fremont CA. Other missions bearing the name San Juan Bautista include the Misión San Juan Bautista Malibat (Misión Liguí in Baja California Sur and the The Ohlone that went to live at the missions were called Mission Indians, and also neophytes. Mission Indians, predominantly from present-day California (although members of the Shoshone also joined were groups of Native Americans who were brought They were blended with other Native American ethnicities such as the Coast Miwok transported from the North Bay into the Mission San Francisco and Mission San José. The Coast Miwok were the second largest group of Miwok Native American people ^[15]

Spanish military presence was established at two Presidios, the Presidio of Monterey, and the Presidio of San Francisco, and mission outposts, such as San Pedro y San Pablo Asistencia founded in 1786. The Presidio of Monterey, located in Monterey California, is an active US Army installation The Presidio of San Francisco (originally El Presidio Real de San Francisco or Royal Presidio of San Francisco) is a park on the northern tip of the San Other missions bearing the name San Pedro y San Pablo include Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer near Yuma Arizona and Mission San Pedro The Spanish soldiers traditionally escorted the Franciscans on missionary outreach daytrips but declined to camp overnight. So for the first 20 years the missions accepted a few converts at a time, slowly gaining population. Then in November 1794 through May 1795, a large wave of Bay Area Native Americans were baptized and moved into Mission Santa Clara and Mission San Francisco, including 360 people to Mission Santa Clara and the entire Huichun village populations of the East Bay to Mission San Francisco. In Christianity, baptism ( Greek, "immersing" "performing Ablutions " is the ritual act with the use of water by which one is admitted This migration was followed almost immediately by the worst epidemic to date in March 1795 and food shortages, that resulted in alarmingly high death and runaway statistics all in the same year. When fleeing the missions, the Franciscans sent neophytes first and (as a last resort) soldiers to go round up the runaway "Christians" from their relatives, and bring them back to the missions. Thus illness spread inside and outside of the missions. ^[16]

For 60 years in the missions, the Ohlone population suffered greatly from cultural shock and disease; they were vulnerable to foreign diseases to which they had little resistance, in the restricted and crowded living conditions inside the mission compounds. Almost all moved to the missions. The practice of "monjeria", which was "isolating unmarried women in a separate locked room at night," was strictly enforced. In the poor and crowded conditions the women picked up illnesses; their pregnancies ended in many stillborns and infant deaths. Syphilis has been identified, and it causes women who have it to miscarry fifty percent of the time, along with high infant mortality rates. Syphilis is a Sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochetal Bacterium Treponema pallidum pallidum. One of the "worst epidemic(s) of the Spanish Era in California" was known to be the measles epidemic of 1806: "One quarter of the mission Indian population of the San Francisco Bay Area died of the measles or related complications between March and May of 1806. Measles (rubeola is a Disease caused by a virus specifically a Paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. "^[17]

Land and property disputes

Under Spanish rule, the intent for the future of the mission properties is difficult to ascertain. Property disputes arose over who owned the mission (and adjacent) lands, between the Spanish crown, the Catholic Church, the Natives and the Spanish settlers of San Jose: There were "heated debates" between "the Spanish State and ecclestiastical bureaucracies" over the government authority of the missions. Setting the precedent, an interesting petition to the Governor in 1782, the Franciscan priests claimed the "Missions Indians" owned both land and cattle, and they represented the Natives in a petition against the San Jose settlers. The fathers mentioned the "Indians' crops" were being damaged by the San Jose settlers' livestock and also mentioned settlers "getting mixed up with the livestock belonging to the Indians from the mission. " They also stated the Mission Indians had property and rights to defend it: "Indians are at liberty to slaughter such (San Jose pueblo) livestock as trespass unto their lands. " "By law," the mission property was to pass to the Mission Indians after a period of about ten years, when they would become Spanish citizens. In the interim period, the Franciscans were mission administrators who held the land in trust for the Natives. ^[18]

Secularization

In 1834, the Mexican Government ordered all Californian missions to be secularized and all mission land and property (administered by the Franciscans) turned over to the government for redistribution. At this point, the Ohlone were supposed to receive land grants and property rights, but few did and most of the mission lands went to the secular administrators. In the end, even attempts by mission leaders to restore native lands were in vain. Before this time, 73 Spanish land grants had already been deeded in all of Alta California, but with the new régime most lands were turned into Mexican-owned rancherias. Alta California (Upper California was formed in 1804 when the Province of the Californias, then a part of the Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas in the The Ohlone became the laborers and vaqueros (cowboys) of Mexican-owned rancherias. ^[19]

Survival

The Ohlone eventually regathered in multi-ethnic rancherias, along with other Mission Indians such as the Coast Miwok, and northwest Yokuts and Patwin. The Coast Miwok were the second largest group of Miwok Native American people The Yokuts (also known as Mariposans) are an Ethnic group of Native Americans that live in central and northern California. The Patwin (also Patween, Southern Wintu) are a Wintun people native to the area of Northern California. Many of the remaining Ohlone went to work at Alisal Rancheria in Pleasanton, and El Molino in Niles. Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California, incorporated in 1894 Fremont (ˈfriːmɒnt is a city in California, USA that was incorporated on January 23, 1956, from the merger of five smaller communities Centerville Communities also formed in Sunol, Monterey and San Juan Bautista. Sunol is an unincorporated Census-designated place (CDP in Alameda County, California, United States. San Juan Bautista ( Spanish: Saint John the Baptist) is a city in San Benito County, California, United States. In the 1840s a wave of U.S. settlers encroached into the area, and California became annexed to the United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The new settlers brought in new diseases to the Ohlone. ^[20]

The Ohlone lost the vast majority of their population between 1780 and 1850, because of an abysmal birth rate, high infant mortality rate, diseases and social upheaval associated with European immigration into California. By all estimates, the Ohlone were decimated to less than ten percent of their original pre-mission era population. By 1852 the Ohlone population had diminished down to about 864-1,000 and continued to decline. By the early 1880s, the northern Ohlone were virtually extinct, and the southern Ohlone people severely impacted and largely displaced from their communal land grant in the Carmel Valley. To call attention to the plight of the California Indians, Indian Agent, reformer, and popular novelist Helen Hunt Jackson published accounts of her travels among the Mission Indians of California in 1883. Helen Maria Hunt Jackson ( October 18, 1830 - August 12, 1885) was an American Writer best known as the author of ^[21]

Considered the last fluent speaker of an Ohlone language, Rumsien-speaker Isabel Meadows died in 1939. The Rumsen (also known as the Rumsien) are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone (Coastanoan Native American people of Northern California Some of the people are attempting to revive Rumsen, Mutsun, and Chochenyo. ^[22]

Etymology

Costanoan is an externally applied name (exonym). An exonym (from Greek el ἔξω exo = out el ὄνομα onoma = name is a name for a place that is not used within that place by the local The Spanish explorers and settlers referred to the native groups of this region collectively as the Costeños (the "coastal people") circa 1769. Over time, the English-speaking settlers arriving later Anglicized the word Costeños into the name of Costanoans. Anglicisation or anglicization (see -ise vs -ize) is a process of conversion of verbal or written elements of any other language into a more comprehensible English (The suffix "-an" is English). For many years, the people were called the Costanoans in English language and records. ^[23]

Since the 1960s, the name of Ohlone has been used by some of the members and the popular media to replace the name Costanoan. Ohlone might have originally derived from a Spanish rancho called Oljon, and referred to a single band who inhabited the Pacific Coast near Pescadero Creek. Pescadero is an unincorporated community in San Mateo County California two miles (3 km east of State Route 1 and Pescadero State Beach. The name Ohlone was traced by Teixeira through the mission records of Mission San Francisco, Bancroft's Native Races, and Frederick Beechey's Journal regarding a visit to the Bay Area in 1826-27. Oljone, Olchones and Alchones are spelling variations of Ohlone found in Mission San Francisco records. However, because of its tribal origin, Ohlone is not universally accepted by the native people, and some members prefer to either to continue to use the name Costanoan or to revitalize and be known as the Muwekma. Teixeira maintains Ohlone is the common usage since 1960, which has been traced back to the Rancho Oljon on the Pescadero Creek. Teixeira states in part: "A tribe that once existed along the San Mateo County coast. " Milliken states the name came from: "A tribe on the lower drainages of San Gregario Creek and Pescadero Creek on the Pacific Coast". ^[24]

The popularity of the name Ohlone is largely because of the book, The History of San Jose and Surroundings by Frederic Hall (1871), he noted that: "The tribe of Indians which roamed over this great [Santa Clara] valley, from San Francisco to near San Juan Bautista Mission. . . were the Olhones or (Costanes). "^[25]

Two other names are growing in popularity and use by the tribes instead of Costanoan and Ohlone, notably Muwekma in the north, and Amah by the Mutsun. Muwekma is the native people's word for the people in the language of Chochenyo and Tamyen. Amah is the native people's word for the people in Mutsun. ^[26]

Divisions

See also: List of Ohlone villages

Linguists identified eight regional, linguistic divisions or subgroups of the Ohlone, listed below from north to south:^[27]

• Karkin (also called Carquin) - The Karkin resided on the south side of the Carquinez Strait. Over 50 villages and tribes of the Ohlone (also known as Costanoan Native American people have been identified as existing in Northern California circa 1769 Karkin (also called Los Carquines in Spanish is a name of one sub-group of the indigenous Ohlone people of California, as well as the name of the The Carquinez Strait is a narrow tidal Strait in northern California. The name of the Carquinez Strait derives from their name. The Carquinez Strait is a narrow tidal Strait in northern California. Karkin was a dialect quite divergent from the rest of the family. ^[28]

• Chochenyo (also called Chocheño, Chocenyo and East Bay Costanoan) - The Chochenyo speaking tribal groups resided in the East Bay, primarily in the western portion of what is now Alameda County and Contra Costa County. The Chochenyo (also called Chocheño Chocenyo are one of the divisions of the indigenous Ohlone (Coastanoan people of Northern California. Alameda County is a county in the US state of California. It occupies most of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area.

• Ramaytush (also called San Francisco Costanoan) - The Ramaytush resided between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific in the area which is now San Francisco and San Mateo Counties. The Ramaytush were one of the major divisions of the Ohlone Native Americans of Northern California who inhabited the San Francisco Peninsula The Yelamu grouping of the Ramaytush included the villages surrounding Mission Dolores, Sitlintac and Chutchui on Mission Creek, Amuctac and Tubsinte in Visitation Valley, Petlenuc from near the Presidio, and to the southwest, the villages of Timigtac on Calera Creek and Pruristac on San Pedro Creek in modern day Pacifica. The Yelamu were a tribe of Native Americans of Northern California in the Ohlone (Coastanoan language group

• Tamyen (also called Tamien, Thamien, and Santa Clara Costanoan) - The Tamyen resided on Coyote Creek and Calaveras Creek, and the language was spoken in the Santa Clara Valley. The Tamyen (also spelled as Tamien, Thamien) are one of eight linguistic divisions of the Ohlone (Coastanoan people groups of Native Americans Calaveras Reservoir is a Lake located primarily in Santa Clara County California with a small portion and its dam in Alameda County California. (Linguistically, Chochenyo, Tamyen and Ramaytush were very close, perhaps to the point of being dialects of a single language. ) The Tamyen village was near the original site of the first Mission Santa Clara located on the Guadalupe River; Father Pena mentioned in a letter to Junípero Serra that the area around the mission was called Thamien by the Ohlone. ^[29]

• Awaswas (also called Santa Cruz Costanoan) - The Awaswas resided on the Santa Cruz coast between Pescadero and the Pajaro Rivers (Davenport and Aptos). The Awaswas people (also known as Santa Cruz) are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone (Coastanoan Native Americans of Northern California The Pajaro River ( pájaro is bird in Spanish) is a River in Northern California, forming part of the border between Santa Cruz County

• Mutsun (also called Mutsen, San Juan Bautista Costanoan) - The Mutsun resided along San Benito River and San Felipe Creek. Mutsun is a name of one sub-group of the indigenous Ohlone people of California, as well as the name of the language they spoke The San Benito River is a River on the Central Coast of California.

• Rumsen (also called Rumsien, Carmel or Carmeleno) - The Rumsen resided from the Pajaro River to Point Sur, and the lower courses of the Pajaro, as well as the lower Salinas, Sur and Carmel Rivers (San Carlos, Carmel, and Monterey Counties). The Rumsen (also known as the Rumsien) are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone (Coastanoan Native American people of Northern California The Pajaro River ( pájaro is bird in Spanish) is a River in Northern California, forming part of the border between Santa Cruz County The Carmel River is a River, 36 miles long on the central coast of Monterey County California.

• Chalon (also called Soledad) - The Chalon resided on the middle course of the Salinas River. The Chalon (also known as Soledad) are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone (Coastanoan people groups of Native Americans who lived in Northern

"Language group designations are spelled as commonly found in English language publications. . . however many tribal, village and personal names which are not commonly found in literature present a problem. They were written by Spanish settlers who were trying to capture the sounds of languages foreign to them. "^[30]

Within the regions listed above, there were over 50 Ohlone tribes and villages who spoke the Ohlone-Costanoan languages in 1769, before being absorbed into the Spanish Missions by 1800. ^[31]

Present day

The Mutsun (of Hollister and Watsonville) and the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe (of the San Francisco Bay Area) are among the surviving groups of Ohlone today petitioning for tribal recognition. The Esselen Nation also describes itself as Ohlone/Costanoan, although they historically spoke both the southern Costanoan (Rumsen) and an entirely different Hokan language Esselen. The Esselen were a Native American linguistic group in the hypothetical Hokan language family who resided in what is now known as Big Sur in the The Hokan language family is a hypothetical grouping of a dozen small language families spoken in California and Mexico.

Federal recognition

Ohlone tribes with petitions for Federal Recognition pending with the Bureau of Indian Affairs are:^[32]

• Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, San Francisco Bay Area:

With 397 enrolled members in 2000, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe comprises "all of the known surviving Native American lineages aboriginal to the San Francisco Bay region who trace their ancestry through the Missions Dolores, Santa Clara and San Jose" and who descend from members of the historic Federally Recognized Verona Band of Alameda County. Federally recognized tribes are those Indian tribes recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs for certain federal government History Although the bureau which was called the Office of Indian Affairs was formed in 1824 similar agencies had existed in the U On September 21, 2006, they received a favorable opinion from the U. Events 1217 - The Estonian tribal leader Lembitu of Lehola was killed in a battle against Teutonic Knights. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. S. District in Washington, D.C., of their court case to expedite the reaffirmation of the tribe as a federally recognized tribe. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D ^[33] The Advisory Council on California Indian Policy has assisted in their case. The Advisory Council on California Indian Policy (ACCIP was created by an act of the United States Congress and signed by President George H

• Amah-Mutsun Band of Ohlone/Costanoan Indians, Woodside:

The Amah-Mutsun Band has over 500 enrolled members and comprises "various surviving lineages who spoke the Hoomontwash or Mutsun Ohlone language. " The majority descend from the native people baptized at Mission San Juan Bautista. ^[34]

• Ohlone/Costanoan Esselen Nation, Monterey and San Benito Counties:

The Ohlone/Costanoan Esselen Nation has approximately 500 enrolled members. Their tribal council claims enrolled membership is currently at approximately 500 people from thirteen core lineages that trace direct descendancy to the Missions San Carlos and Soledad. The tribe was formerly federally recognized as the "Monterey Band of Monterey County" (1906-1908). Approximately 60% reside in Monterey and San Benito Counties. ^[35]

• Costanoan Band of Carmel Mission Indians, Monrovia.

• Costanoan Ohlone Rumsen-Mutsen Tribe, Watsonville.

• Costanoan-Rumsen Carmel Tribe, Chino.

• Indian Canyon Band of Costanoan, Mutsun Indians, near Hollister.

Population

Ohlone Population in year 1769: Various Expert Opinions
Population	According to:
7,000	Alfred Kroeber (1925)[36]
10,000 or more	Richard Levy (1978)[37]
26,000 including Salinans "Northern Mission Area"	Sherburne Cook (1976)[38]

Published estimates of the pre-contact Ohlone population in 1769 range between 7,000 and 20,000. The historians differ widely in their opinions, as they do with the entire population of Native California. Estimates of the Native Californian population have varied substantially both with respect to California's pre-contact count and for changes during subsequent periods However, modern researchers think that American anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber's projection of 7,000 Ohlone "Costanoans" was much too low. Alfred Louis Kroeber (June 11 1876&ndashOctober 5 1960 was one of the most influential figures in American Anthropology in the first half of the twentieth Later researchers like Richard Levy estimated "10,000 or more" Ohlone.

The highest estimate comes from Sherburne F. Cook, who in later life concluded there were 26,000 Ohlone and Salinans in the "Northern Mission Area". Sherburne Friend Cook was a physiologist by training and served as professor and chairman of the department of physiology at the University of California Berkeley. Per Cook, the "Northern Mission Area" means "the region inhabited by the Costanoans and Salinans between San Francisco Bay and the headwaters of the Salinas River. To this may be added for convenience the local area under the jurisdiction of the San Luis Obispo even though there is an infringement of the Chumash. " In this model, the Ohlone people's territory was one half of the "Northern Mission Area". It was however known to be more densely populated than the southern Salinan territory, per Cook: "The Costanoan density was nearly 1. 8 persons per square mile with the maximum in the Bay region. The Esselen was approximately 1. 3, the Salinan must have been still lower. " We can estimate that Cook meant about 18,200 Ohlone based on his own statements (70% of "Northern Mission Area"), plus or minus a few thousand margin for error, but he does not give an exact number. ^[39]

The Ohlone population after contact in 1769 with the Spaniards spiralled downwards. Cook describes rapidly declining indigenous populations in California between 1769 and 1900, in his posthumously published book, The Population of the California Indians, 1769-1970. Cook states in part: "Not until the population figures are examined does the extent of the havoc become evident. " In fact, the population had dropped to about 10% of its original numbers by 1848. ^[40]

The population after 1900 finally stabilized. There are at least 1,400 on tribal membership rolls by year 2005.

Language

The Ohlone had no known written language. Their language family is commonly called "Costanoan", sometimes "Ohlone". Costanoan is a member of the Penutian language group, and the Utian subgroup, and is comprised of eight dialects per Milliken, or (maybe) separate languages per Levy: Awaswas, Chalon, Chochenyo (aka Chocheño), Karkin, Mutsun, Ramaytush, Rumsen, and Tamyen. Penutian is a proposed grouping of language families that includes many Native American languages of western North America, predominantly spoken at one Utian (also Miwok-Costanoan, Mutsun) is a family of indigenous languages spoken in the central and north portion of California, United These are roughly equivalent to the way languages of the Romance family have the same roots. The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all Neighboring divisions however could understand and speak to each other, only having colloquial differences. ^[41]

The missions influenced the language divisions named above. The northern dialects, Ramaytush, Tamyen, Chochenyo and Karkin might have emerged as "distinctive linguistic Costanoan sub-groups within the Bay Area" from amalgamation of certain tribes within the missions. ^[42]

The Costanoan language family is considered extinct, although today Mutsun, Chochenyo and Rumsen are being "revitalized" (relearned from saved records).

Native names

The native people belonged to one or more tribes, bands or villages, and/or to one of the eight linguistic group regions (as assigned by ethnolinguists). Ethnolinguistics is a field of linguistic anthropology which studies the language of a particular Ethnic group. Native names listed in the mission records were, in some cases, clearly principal village names, in others the name assigned to the region of a "multifamily landholding group" (per Milliken). Although many native names have been written in historical records, the exact spelling and pronunciations were not entirely captured and standardized in modern English. Ethnohistorians have resorted to approximating their indigenous regional boundaries as well. For a very good source on Ohlone village and tribe and landholding group names, see Milliken. (The word that Kroeber coined to designate California tribes, bands and villages, tribelet, has been published in many records but is advisably offensive and incorrect, per the Ohlone people. )^[43]

Many of the known tribal and village names were recorded in the California mission records of baptism, marriage and death. NOTICE TO WOULD-BE ROMEOS ************** Death is the termination of the biological functions that define living Organisms It refers both to a specific Some names have come from Spanish and Mexican settlers, some from early Anglo-European travelers, and some from the memories of Native American "informants". "Informants" were natives still alive that could remember their group's native language and details. ^[44]

Some of the former tribe and village names were gleaned from the land maps ("diseños de terreno") submitted by grantees in applying for Spanish and Mexican land grants or designs ("diseños") that were drawn up in Alta California prior to the Mexican-American War. Alta California (Upper California was formed in 1804 when the Province of the Californias, then a part of the Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas in the ^[45]

In this regard, a large untranscribed trove of material is available for research in the records of Clinton H. Merriam housed at the Bancroft Library, and more material continues to be published by local historical societies and associations. Clinton Hart Merriam ( December 5 1855 - March 19 1942) was an American zoologist ornithologist entomologist and ethnographer The Bancroft Library is a library at the University of California Berkeley. ^[46]

Spelling and pronunciation

Correct pronunciations of native words are tenuous at best. Many of the original sounds were first heard and copied down by Spanish missionaries using Spanish as a reference language, subject to human error, later translated into English and Anglicized over time. Spelling errors crept in as different missionaries kept separate records over a long period of time, under various administrators. In spite of this, we have some clues. Ethnohistorians Kroeber, Merriam, and others interviewed Ohlone "informants" and were able to define some pronunciations on word lists. Ethnolinguists have used this to some advantage to create phonetic tables giving some semblance of languages, notably the Selected Costanoan Words by Merriam. ^[47]

Native words

Selected Costanoan Words by Merriam[48]
English Word	Schedule #56	Schedule #57	Word #
Salmon[49]	Oo'-rahk	Hoo"-rah-ka	247
Abalone	Oo==ch[50]	Hah-shan	254
Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)	-	Ho-o-pe	280
Valley Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia or Quercus lobata)[51]	Yū'Ks	You-kish	296
Big Round Tule[52]	Rōks	Ró-kus	409
Legend: Schedule # – record number of one more interviews, with one or more persons. Oncorhynchus is a Genus of in the family Salmonidae; it contains the Pacific Salmons and Pacific Trouts Abalone (from Spanish Abulón) are medium-sized to very large edible sea Snails marine Gastropod Mollusks in the Sequoia sempervirens is the sole living Species of the Genus Sequoia in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly The Coast Live Oak ( Quercus agrifolia) is an Evergreen Oak, highly variable and often shrubby native to the California Floristic Province The Valley oak (Quercus lobata is the largest of North American oaks The plant Genus Scirpus consists of a large number of aquatic grass-like species in the family Cyperaceae (the sedges many with the common names Word # – Merriam numbers his words for easy reference.

A partial table of words comes from Indian Names for Plants and Animals Among California and other Western North American Tribes by Clinton Merriam. This published list covers 400 Ohlone-Costanoan words. The interview for these words were accompanied by a picture to help ensure accuracy, although his curator Robert F. Heizer noted the system of interview was error-proned. The Ohlone words listed are by "phonetic English" pronunciations. Some special marks do not translate; they may require additional treatment by ethnolinguists. ^[53]

Salvaging records

The chroniclers, ethnohistorians and linguists of the Ohlone population began with: Alfred L. Kroeber who researched the California natives and authored a few publications on the Ohlone from 1904 to 1910, and C. Hart Merriam who researched the Ohlone in detail from 1902 to 1929. Generally a chronicle (chronica from Greek (from) is a historical account of facts and events in chronological order Ethnohistory is the study of ethnographic cultures and indigenous customs by examining historical records. Ethnolinguistics is a field of linguistic anthropology which studies the language of a particular Ethnic group. Alfred Louis Kroeber (June 11 1876&ndashOctober 5 1960 was one of the most influential figures in American Anthropology in the first half of the twentieth Clinton Hart Merriam ( December 5 1855 - March 19 1942) was an American zoologist ornithologist entomologist and ethnographer This was followed by John P. Harrington who researched the Ohlone languages from 1921 to 1939, and other aspects of Ohlone culture, leaving volumes of field notes at his death. John Peabody Harrington (1884-1961 was an American linguist and Ethnologist and a specialist in the native peoples of California. Other research was added by Robert Cartier, Madison S. Beeler, and Sherburne F. Cook, to name a few. Sherburne Friend Cook was a physiologist by training and served as professor and chairman of the department of physiology at the University of California Berkeley. In many cases, the Ohlone names they used vary in spelling, translation and tribal boundaries, depending on the source. Each tried to chronicle and interpret this complex society and language(s) before the pieces vanished. Generally a chronicle (chronica from Greek (from) is a historical account of facts and events in chronological order ^[54]

There was noticeable competition and some disagreement between the first scholars: Both Merriam and Harrington produced much in-depth Ohlone research in the shadow of the highly published Kroeber and competed in print with him. In the Editor's Introduction to Merriam (1979), Robert F. Heizer (as the protege of Kroeber and also the curator of Merriam's work) states "both men disliked A. L. Kroeber. " Harrington, independently working for the Smithsonian Institution cornered most of the Ohlone research as his own specialty, was "not willing to share his findings with Kroeber. . . Kroeber and his students neglected the Chumash and Costanoans, but this was done because Harrington made it quite clear that he would resent Kroeber's 'muscling in. '"^[55]

Recent Ohlone historians that have published new research are Lauren Teixeira, Randall Milliken and Lowell J. Bean. They all note the availability of mission records allow for continual research and understanding. ^[56]

Notable Ohlone people

• 1777 – Chamis of the village Chutchui. On June 24, 1777 at age 20, he became the first neophyte to join the Mission San Francisco. Events 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces takes place Year 1777 ( MDCCLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common ^[57]
• 1777 – Xigmacse, A Yelamu chief, at the time of the establishment of the Mission San Francisco. ^[58]
• 1779 – Charquín, given the baptismal name of Francisco in the same year, appears to have been the leader of the first band of runaways in 1789. Exiled to San Diego, he was mistakenly taken to Mexico City; final whereabouts are unknown. Mexico City (in Spanish: Ciudad de México, México DF, México or simply Méjico) is the Capital city of Mexico ^[59]
• 1783 – Mossués, captain of the village Pruristac, baptized in 1783^[60]
• 1807 – Hilarion and George (their baptismal names) were two Ohlone men from the village Pruristac who served as alcaldes (mayors) of the Mission San Francisco in 1807. The Sánchez Adobe Park, home to the Sánchez Adobe is located in Pacifica California at 1000 Linda Mar Boulevard on the north bank of San Pedro Creek approximately Pacifica is a city in San Mateo County California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Half Moon Bay. As such, they were at the beginning of a long line of Mayors of San Francisco. See also Mayor of San Francisco ^[61]
• 1823 – Pomponío was a famous "outlaw" leader, who, along with his band, raided the missions. Evading authorities, he was eventually captured in Marin County, before being executed in Monterey in 1823. March 11, 1889 | A creek, road, and state beach on the San Mateo County coast are named after him. ^[62]
• 1893 – Pedro Evencio is believed to be the last (Ramaytush) Native American of San Mateo. His son José Evencio lived at Coyote Point until World War II; final whereabouts are unknown. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including ^[63]
• 1913 – Barbara Solorsano died 1913, Mutsun linguistic consultant to C. Hart Merriam 1902-04, from San Juan Bautista. ^[64]
• 1930 – Ascencion Solorsano de Cervantes, died 1930, renowned Mutsun doctor, principal linguistic and cultural informant to J. P. Harrington. ^[65]
• 1934 – Jose Guzman died 1934, he was one of the principal Chochenyo linguistic and cultural consultants to J. P. Harrington. ^[66]
• 1939 – Isabel Meadows, died 1939, the last fluent speaker of Rumsen. The Rumsen (also known as the Rumsien) are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone (Coastanoan Native American people of Northern California On Isabel's BIA application of 1930, she listed her tribal origin as: "Mission Indian, Carmel Mission, Monterey County, California. "^[67]
• 1950s – Andrés Osorio, of Half Moon Bay, said to be the area's last "Indian", possibly Tulare or Mexican. Half Moon Bay is a Coastal city in San Mateo County, California, USA. ^[68]

Notes

References

Further reading

• The Ohlone, Past and Present: Native Americans of the San Francisco Bay Region, Compiled and edited by Lowell John Bean. Menlo Park, CA: Ballena Press Publication, 1994. ISBN 0-87919-129-5
• The Missions of California: A Legacy of Genocide, Editors Rupert Costo and Jeannette Henry Costo. Indian Historian Press, San Francisco, 1978.
• Costanoan. Pp. 485-495 in Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 8. Robert F. Heizer, editor. Washington D. C. : Smithsonian Institution, 1978.
• The Costanoans. Chapter 31. Pp. 462-473 in Handbook of Indians of California. Kroeber, Alfred L. Editor. Also available as - Washington, D. C: Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78, 1925.

External links

Tribal websites:

• Amah-Mutsun Tribe Website
• Ohlone/Costanoan Esselen Nation Website
• Costanoan-Ohlone Indian Canyon Resource
• Muwekma Ohlone Tribe Website

Language:

• Chochenyo revitalization - language at UCB "News" 2004
• Chochenyo revitalization - language at UCB "Faith in Words" 2004
• Chochenyo revitalization - language
• Mutsun revitalization - language
• Grammar of Mutsun by Arroyo de la Cuesta, Felipe (1842) (in Spanish)

Other:

• Costanoan Online Site Directory by Four Directions Institute
• Access Genealogy Costanoan Indian Tribe
• An Overview of Ohlone Culture
• Overview of Yelamu Ohlone
• Historic Background
• Muwekma request for federal tribal recognition court opinion 9/21/06
• A Day in the Ohlone Life

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