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+ Image File history File links Ohlone_villages. ...
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 500 AD, spanning south into the Salinas Valley. They spoke diverse dialects of the Penutian (Utian) language and lived in over 50 distinct villages and groups. Before Spanish colonization, they did not view themselves as one unified group of people. 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. USGS Satellite photo of the San Francisco Bay Area. ... The Santa Clara Valley is a valley just south of the San Francisco Bay in northern California in the United States. ... A satellite image of the East Bay The East Bay is a subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States and is comprised of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. ... The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central California, United States. ... A view of Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, on the coast of California, south of San Francisco. ... The Salinas Valley in the Central Coast region of California lies along the Salinas River between the Gabilan Mountains and the Santa Lucia Range. ... Utian (also Miwok-Costanoan) is language family consisting of Miwokan languages and Costanoan languages. ... The Awaswas people (also known as Santa Cruz) are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone (Coastanoan) Native Americans of Northern California. ... The Chalon (also known as Soledad) are one of eight Ohlone people groups of Native Americans who lived in Northern California. ... The Chochenyo (also called Chocheño, Chocenyo) are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone (Coastanoan) people of Native Americans who lived in Northern California. ... Karkin was a Costanoan language that was spoken in northern California by Costanoans. ... Area where the Mutsun language was spoken The Mutsun (or San Juan Bautista) language is an extinct Costanoan language of the U.S. state of California. ... The Ramaytush were one of eight major divisions of the Ohlone Indians, also known as San Francisco, who lived between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific in the area which is now San Francisco and San Mateo County Categories: ‪Ethnic group stubs‬ | ‪Native American tribes‬ ... The Rumsen (also known as the Rumsien, San Carlos or Carmel) are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone (Coastanoan) Native American people of Northern California. ... The Tamyen (also known as Tamien) are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone (Coastanoan) people groups of Native Americans who lived in Northern California. ... A shaman doctor of Kyzyl. ... Kuksu, also called the Kuksu Cult, was a shamanistic religion in Northern California practiced in different degrees by many Native American people before and during contact with the arriving European settlers. ... Map of the Costanoan languages and major villages. ... Ohlone College is a community college located in Fremont, California. ... Binomial name Freitag & Cavanaugh, 1993 The Ohlone tiger beetle, Cicindela ohlone was first discovered by Isaac Field in March of 1987 and was named and described in 1993 by Richard Freitag and David H. Kavanaugh. ... Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. ... San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and the Golden Gate San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean. ... A view of Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, on the coast of California, south of San Francisco. ... The Salinas Valley in the Central Coast region of California lies along the Salinas River between the Gabilan Mountains and the Santa Lucia Range. ... Penutian is a proposed grouping of language families that includes many Native American languages of western North America, predominantly spoken at one time in Washington, Oregon, and California. ... Map of the Costanoan languages and major villages. ... The Spanish colonization of the Americas began with the arrival in the Western Hemisphere of Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón) in 1492. ... The Spanish missions in California (more simply referred to as the California Missions) comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Catholic faith among the local Native Americans. ...

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. USGS satellite photo of the San Francisco Bay Area. ...

Culture

Ohlone dancers at Mission San José.

The Ohlone inhabited fixed village locations, moving temporarily to gather seasonal foodstuffs like acorns and berries. 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. 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. 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.^[1] Image File history File links Mission_San_Jose_natives. ... Image File history File links Mission_San_Jose_natives. ... Mission San José was founded on Trinity Sunday (June 11), 1797 on a site located in the Mission San Jose District of Fremont, California (formerly an independent town, a spot that the natives called Oroysom or Orisom) in the Valley of San José. The pueblo (town) of San Jose had... For other uses, see Acorn (disambiguation). ... Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. ... USGS Satellite photo of the San Francisco Bay Area. ... Map of Big Sur Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the central California coast where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. ... The Diablo Range is a large group of mountain chains and ranges in western California. ... USGS Satellite photo of the San Francisco Bay Area. ... The Santa Clara Valley is a valley just south of the San Francisco Bay in northern California in the United States. ... The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central California, United States. ... A view of Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, on the coast of California, south of San Francisco. ... Official website: http://www. ... Contra Costa County is a suburban county in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. ... The Salinas Valley in the Central Coast region of California lies along the Salinas River between the Gabilan Mountains and the Santa Lucia Range. ... Map of the Costanoan languages and major villages. ... A basket being woven. ... For other uses, see Tattoo (disambiguation). ...

Replica of Ohlone Hut in the graveyard of Mission San Francisco de Asís, San Francisco.

The Ohlone subsisted mainly as hunter-gatherers, and in some ways harvesters. "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." 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. 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] Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (684x1040, 174 KB) Jesus Monroy Jr. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (684x1040, 174 KB) Jesus Monroy Jr. ... Mission San Francisco de Asís is the oldest surviving structure in San Franciso and the sixth religious settlement established as part of the California chain of missions. ... In anthropology, the hunter-gatherer way of life is that led by certain societies of the Neolithic Era based on the exploitation of wild plants and animals. ... Look up Harvest in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Official website: http://www. ... This article is about the seed; for other meanings of the word, especially ACORN community organization, see acorn (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Corylus cornuta Marshall The Beaked Hazel (Corylus cornuta) is a deciduous shrubby hazel found in most of North America, from southern Canada south to Georgia and California. ... Subclasses Pteriomorpha (marine mussels) Palaeoheterodonta (freshwater mussels) Heterodonta (zebra mussels) The term mussel is used for several families of bivalve molluscs inhabiting lakes, rivers, and creeks, as well as intertidal areas along coastlines worldwide. ... Species Many, see species section. ... San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and the Golden Gate San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean. ...

Animals in their mild climate included the grizzly bear, elk (cervus elaphus), antelope and deer. The streams held salmon, perch and stickleback. Birds included plentiful ducks, geese, quail, great horned owls, red-shafted flickers, downy woodpeckers, goldfinches, and yellow-billed magpies. Waterfowl were the most important birds in the people's diet, 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."^[3] For the Brooklyn-based indie rock band, see Grizzly Bear (band). ... Binomial name Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758 Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) is one of the largest species of deer in the world. ... Genera Aepyceros Alcelaphus Antidorcas Antilope Cephalophus Connochaetes Damaliscus Gazella Hippotragus Kobus Madoqua Neotragus Oreotragus Oryx Ourebia Pantholops Procapra Sylvicapra Taurotragus Tragelaphus and others Antelope are herbivorous mammals of the family Bovidae, often noted for their horns. ... This article is about the ruminant animal. ... Illustration of a male Coho Salmon The Chinook or King Salmon is the largest salmon in North America and can grow to 1. ... Species P. flavescens (Yellow perch) P. fluviatilis (European perch) P. schrenkii (Balkhash perch) For other meanings of the word perch, including fish not in the Perca genus, see Perch (disambiguation). ... Genera Apeltes Culaea Gasterosteus Pungitius Spinachia The Gasterosteidae are a family of fishes including the Sticklebacks. ... For other uses, see Mallard (disambiguation). ... “Geese” redirects here. ... Binomial name Callipepla californica (Shaw, 1798) The California Quail, Callipepla californica, is a small ground-dwelling bird in the New World quail family. ... Binomial name (Gmelin, 1788) Distribution Subspecies see text Synonyms Strix virginiana Gmelin, 1788 The Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus, is a very large owl native to North and South America. ... Binomial name Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus,, 1758) The Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus, is a medium-sized woodpecker. ... Binomial name Picoides pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) The Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens, is the smallest woodpecker in North America. ... Binomial name Carduelis tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) The Eastern or American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) is a typical North American seed-eating member of the finch (Fringillidae) family, averaging 11 cm in length. ... Binomial name Pica nuttalli (Audubon, 1837) The Yellow-billed Magpie, Pica nuttalli, is a large bird in the crow family found only in California. ... Juan Crespi (1721–1782), was a Spanish missionary and explorer in the Southwest, a Franciscan. ...

Along the ocean shore and bays, there were also otters, whales, and at one time thousands of sea lions. In fact, there were so many sea lions that to Crespi it "looked like a pavement" to the incoming Spanish.^[4] This article is about the carnivorous mammal. ... This article is about the animal. ... Binomial name (Lesson, 1828) The California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus) is a coastal sea lion of the northern Pacific Ocean. ...

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. 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. They built boats of tule to navigate on the bays propelled by double-bladed paddles.^[5] Binomial name Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endl. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ...

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. 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] Binomial name Schoenoplectus acutus (Muhl. ...

Religion

The pre-contact Ohlone world view included shamanism. They believed that spiritual doctors could heal and prevent illness, and 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 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.^[7] The shaman is an intellectual and spiritual figure who is regarded as possessing power and influence on other peoples in the tribe and performs several functions, primarily that of a healer ( medicine man). The shaman provides medical care, and serves other community needs during crisis times, via supernatural means (means... Kuksu, also called the Kuksu Cult, was a shamanistic religion in Northern California practiced in different degrees by many Native American people before and during contact with the arriving European settlers. ... A rite of passage is a ritual that marks a change in a persons social or sexual status. ... Specifically, Shaman (saman) is a term in Evenk, Manchu and other Manchu-Tungus languages for an intellectual and spiritual figure; who usually possess power and influence on other peoples in the tribe and performs several functions, one of which is analogous to the function of a healer in other cultures. ... The English word spirit comes from the Latin spiritus (breath). // The English word spirit comes from the Latin spiritus, meaning breath (compare spiritus asper), but also soul, courage, vigor, ultimately from a PIE root *(s)peis- (to blow). In the Vulgate, the Latin word translates Greek (πνευμα), pneuma (Hebrew (רוח) ruah), as...

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. 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."^[8] Miwok—also spelled Miwuk or Me-Wuk—refers to native Californians who lived in what is now Northern California. ... Esselen The Esselen were the Native American inhabitants of what is now known as Big Sur on the Central Coast of California. ... The Maidu are a group of Native Americans who lived in Northern California. ... The Pomo people are a linguistic branch of Native American people of Northern California. ... Yokutsan (also Yokuts) is a family of languages spoken in the interior of southern California in and around the San Joaquin valley. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Maidu are a group of Native Americans who lived 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. ...

The Ohlone who joined the Spanish missions were persuaded to convert to Catholicism (see Mission Era). 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 Missions Era ended.^[9] Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      As a Christian ecclesiastical...

Narratives and mythology

Main article: Ohlone mythology

In Ohlone mythology and traditional legends, and folk tales, the Ohlone participated in the general cultural pattern of Central and Northern California. Specifically, Kroeber noted that they "seem also to lean in their mythology toward the Yokuts more than to the Sacramento Valley tribes."^[10] The mythology of the Ohlone (Coastanoan) Native American people of North California can be defined as the creation stories as well as other narratives that contain elements of their spiritual, philosophical belief systems and their conception of the world order. ... The mythology of the Ohlone (Coastanoan) Native American people of North California can be defined as the creation stories as well as other narratives that contain elements of their spiritual, philosophical belief systems and their conception of the world order. ... Ohlone traditional narratives include myths, legends, tales, and oral histories preserved by the Ohlone (Costanoan) people of the central California coast. ... The word mythology (from the Greek μυολογία mythología, from mythologein to relate myths, from mythos, meaning a narrative, and logos, meaning speech or argument) literally means the (oral) retelling of myths – stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use the supernatural to interpret natural events and...

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). 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] A culture hero is a historical or mythological hero who changes the world through invention or discovery. ... Coyote is a mythological character common to many Native American cultures, based on the coyote (Canis latrans) animal. ... The trickster figure Reynard the Fox as depicted in an 1869 childrens book by Michel Rodange. ...

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. People were the descendants of the Coyote.^[11] Map of Big Sur Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the central California coast where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. ... Mount Diablo State Park is a state park in California, USA. View of Mt. ...

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 about 500 AD, displacing or assimilating earlier Hokan-speaking populations of which the Esselen in the south represent a survival. Datings of ancient shell mounds in Newark and Emeryville suggest the villages at those locations were established about 4000 BC.^[12] Europe in 450 The 5th century is the period from 401 to 500 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... The Hokan languages are a group of languages spoken in North America by Native Americans. ... Esselen The Esselen were the Native American inhabitants of what is now known as Big Sur on the Central Coast of California. ... The Emeryville Shellmound, in Emeryville, California, is a massive archaeological shell midden deposit (dark, highly organic soil containing a high concentration of human food waste remains, including shellfish). ... The city of Newark highlighted within Alameda County Newark is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. ... The Emeryville Shellmound, in Emeryville, California, is a massive archaeological shell midden deposit (dark, highly organic soil containing a high concentration of human food waste remains, including shellfish). ... The 4th millennium BC saw major changes in human culture. ...

By 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)

Misión San Francisco de Asís, also known as "Mission Dolores."

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. 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. 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.^[14] Image File history File links CHS.J2289. ... Image File history File links CHS.J2289. ... Mission San Francisco de Asís is the oldest surviving structure in San Franciso and the sixth religious settlement established as part of the California chain of missions. ... The Spanish missions in California (more simply referred to as the California Missions) comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Catholic faith among the local Native Americans. ... Sebastián Vizcaíno was a Spanish captain and ambassador to Japan. ... For other uses, see Monterey (disambiguation). ... The Order of Friars Minor and other Franciscan movements are disciples of Saint Francis of Assisi. ... Blessed Junípero Serra (November 24, 1713 – August 28, 1784) was a Majorcan (Spain) Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California. ... The Spanish missions in California (more simply referred to as the California Missions) comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Catholic faith among the local Native Americans. ... Gaspar de Portolà i Rovira (1716 – 1784), a soldier, governor of Baja and Alta California (1767–1770), explorer and founder of San Diego and Monterey. ...

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. In date order, 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). The Ohlone that went to live at the missions were called Mission Indians, and also neophytes. 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.^[15] The Order of Friars Minor and other Franciscan movements are disciples of Saint Francis of Assisi. ... The Spanish missions in California (more simply referred to as the California Missions) comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Catholic faith among the local Native Americans. ... Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo was first established on June 3, 1770 in Monterey, California, and was named for an Archbishop of Milan, Italy. ... For the village in Queensland, see 1770, Queensland. ... Mission San Francisco de Asís is the oldest surviving structure in San Franciso and the sixth religious settlement established as part of the California chain of missions. ... Year 1776 (MDCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... Mission Santa Clara de Asís circa 1910. ... Year 1777 (MDCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... Mission Santa Cruz was founded on September 25, 1791 by Father Fermin Lasuen, the twelfth mission in the California mission chain. ... 1791 (MDCCXCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Looking toward the rebuilt chapel at Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad in December 2004. ... 1791 (MDCCXCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Mission San José was founded on Trinity Sunday (June 11), 1797 on a site located in the Mission San Jose District of Fremont, California (formerly an independent town, a spot that the natives called Oroysom or Orisom) in the Valley of San José. The pueblo (town) of San Jose had... 1797 (MDCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Mission San Juan Bautista was founded on June 24, 1797. ... 1797 (MDCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Mission Indians, predominantly from present-day California (although members of the Shoshoni also joined), were groups of Native Americans who lived with the Catholic Order of Franciscan Fathers as early as 1769 when the Mission of San Diego was established. ... Bodega Bay as viewed from present-day Dillon Beach, was ancient homeland of the Coastal Miwok. ...

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 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 a 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. 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] The Presidio of Monterey, located in Monterey, California, is an active US Army installation. ... The Parade Grounds at the Presidio of San Francisco. ... The San Pedro y San Pablo Asistencia was established in 1786, as a sub-mission to Mission San Francisco de Asís in the San Pedro Valley at the Ohlone village of Pruristac, within what was the Fourth Military District. ... 1786 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

For 60 years in the missions, the Ohlone population suffered greatly due to cultural shock and disease, 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, and high infant mortality rates. 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."^[17] Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema pallidum. ...

Land and property disputes

Under Spanish rule, there seems to be a grey area over the future of the mission properties. 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 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] For other uses, see San José. Nickname: Location of San Jose within Santa Clara County, California. ...

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. The Ohlone became the laborers and vaqueros (cowboys) of Mexican-owned rancherias.^[19] Year 1834 (MDCCCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Alta California (Upper California) was formed in 1804 when the province of California, then a part of the Spanish colony of New Spain, was divided in two along the line separating the Franciscan missions in the north from the Dominican missions in the south. ...

Survival

A mural juxtaposing an Ohlone hunter with a modern day gas station in Richmond, California.

The Ohlone eventually regathered in multi-ethnic rancherias, along with other Mission Indians such as the Coast Miwok, and northwest Yokuts and Patwin. Many of the remaining Ohlone went to work at Alisal Rancheria in Pleasanton, and El Molino in Niles. Communities also formed in Sunol, Monterey and San Juan Bautista. In the 1840s a wave of U.S. settlers encroached into the area and California became annexed to the United States. The new settlers brought in new diseases to the Ohlone.^[20] Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Nickname: Coordinates: , Country United States State California County Contra Costa Government  - Mayor Gayle McLaughlin (G) Area  - City  52. ... Bodega Bay as viewed from present-day Dillon Beach, was ancient homeland of the Coastal Miwok. ... Yokutsan (also Yokuts) is a family of languages spoken in the interior of southern California in and around the San Joaquin valley. ... The Patwin (also Patween, Southern Wintu) are a Wintun people native to the area in Northern California. ... Location of Pleasanton within Alameda County, California. ... In 1912, Niles was chosen as the home of one of the first West Coast motion picture companies, Essanay Studios. ... The city of Sunol highlighted within Alameda County Sunol is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) in Alameda County, California, United States. ... For other uses, see Monterey (disambiguation). ... San Juan Bautista is a city located in San Benito County, California. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from...

In summary, the Ohlone lost the vast majority of their population between 1780 and 1850, due to 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 864-1000 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.^[21] The Carmel Valley is located about east of the City of Carmel in Monterey County, California. ... Helen Maria Hunt Jackson (October 18, 1831-August 12, 1885) was an American writer. ...

Considered the last fluent speaker of an Ohlone language, Rumsien-speaker Isabel Meadows died in 1939. Some of the people are attempting to revive Rumsen, Mutsun, and Chochenyo.^[22] The Rumsen (also known as the Rumsien, San Carlos or Carmel) are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone (Coastanoan) Native American people of Northern California. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Etymology

Costanoan is an externally applied name (exonym). 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. (The suffix "-an" is English). For many years, the people were called the Costanoans in English language and records.^[23] An exonym is a name for a place or people that is created by people outside of that place and is different from the name used in the native language. ... Anglicized refers to foreign words, often surnames, that are changed from a foreign language into English. ...

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. 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, due to 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, and 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] USGS Satellite photo of the San Francisco Bay Area. ... Pescadero is a coastal community on the Pacific Ocean in the US state of California. ...

The popularity of the name Ohlone is largely due to 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] Map of the Costanoan languages and major villages. ...

• Karkin (also called Carquin) - The Karkin resided on the south side of the Carquinez Strait. The name of the Carquinez Strait derives from their name. 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.

• 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 Yelamu grouping of the Ramaytush included the villages surrounding Mission Doloras, 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.

• 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. (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).

• Mutsun (also called Mutsen, San Juan Bautista Costanoan) - The Mutsun resided along San Benito River and San Felipe Creek.

• 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).

• Chalon (also called Soledad) - The Chalon resided on the middle course of the Salinas River.

Note that "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] Karkin was a Costanoan language that was spoken in northern California by Costanoans. ... Carquinez Strait The Carquinez Strait is a narrow tidal strait in northern California. ... Carquinez Strait The Carquinez Strait is a narrow tidal strait in northern California. ... The Chochenyo (also called Chocheño, Chocenyo) are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone (Coastanoan) people of Native Americans who lived in Northern California. ... Official website: http://www. ... The Ramaytush were one of eight major divisions of the Ohlone Indians, also known as San Francisco, who lived between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific in the area which is now San Francisco and San Mateo County Categories: ‪Ethnic group stubs‬ | ‪Native American tribes‬ ... San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and the Golden Gate San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean. ... “Pacific” redirects here. ... This article is about the city in California. ... Official website: http://www. ... Yelamu is the name of the tribal group of Ohlone Indians that lived in the region comprising the City and County of San Francisco before the arrival of Europeans. ... The Tamyen (also known as Tamien) are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone (Coastanoan) people groups of Native Americans who lived in Northern California. ... Calaveras Reservoir is a lake located primarily in Santa Clara County, California with a small portion and its dam in Alameda County, California. ... 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 is a river in Northern California, forming part of the border between Santa Cruz County and Monterey County and between San Benito County and Santa Clara County. ... Area where the Mutsun language was spoken The Mutsun (or San Juan Bautista) language is an extinct Costanoan language of the U.S. state of California. ... The San Benito River is a river on the Central Coast of California. ... The Rumsen (also known as the Rumsien, San Carlos or Carmel) are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone (Coastanoan) Native American people of Northern California. ... The Pajaro River is a river in Northern California, forming part of the border between Santa Cruz County and Monterey County and between San Benito County and Santa Clara County. ... The Salinas River may refer to: The Salinas River in California in the United States. ... The Carmel River is a river on the central coast of Monterey County, California. ... The Chalon (also known as Soledad) are one of eight Ohlone people groups of Native Americans who lived in Northern California. ... The Salinas River may refer to: The Salinas River in California in the United States. ...

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] Map of the Costanoan languages and major villages. ...

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. Esselen The Esselen were the Native American inhabitants of what is now known as Big Sur on the Central Coast of California. ... 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] Federally recognized tribes are those Indian tribes recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs for certain federal government purposes. ... The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the Department of the Interior charged with the administration and management of 55. ...

• Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, San Francisco Bay Area:

397 enrolled members in year 2000, are comprised of "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. On September 21, 2006, they received a favorable opinion from the U.S. District in Washington, D.C. of their court case to expedite the reaffirmation of the tribe as a Federally Recognized tribe.^[33]

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

Over 500 enrolled members are comprised of "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:

500 enrolled members, approximately: 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% now 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

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. However, modern researchers think that American anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber's projection of 7,000 Ohlone "Costanoans" was much too low. Later researchers like Richard Levy estimated "10,000 or more" Ohlone. Image File history File links OhlonePopulation5. ... Native California Population, according to Cook 1978. ... Alfred Louis Kroeber Alfred Louis Kroeber (June 11, 1876–October 5, 1960) was one of the most influential figures in American anthropology in the first half of the twentieth century. ...

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". 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 himself does not give an exact number.^[39] 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. ...

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 percent of its original numbers by the year 1848.^[40]

The population after 1900 finally stabilized. There are at least 1400 on tribal membership rolls by year 2005.

Language

The Ohlone had no written language that we know of. 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. These are roughly equivalent to the way languages of the Romance family have the same roots. For example, at the extreme ends of the region, it might be as if French was spoken in Berkeley, and Spanish in Monterey. Neighboring divisions however could understand and speak to each other, only having colloquial differences.^[41] The Penutian is a phylum (or stock) of language families that include many Native American languages of western North America, predominantly spoken at one time in Washington, Oregon, and California. ... Utian (also Miwok-Costanoan) is language family consisting of Miwokan languages and Costanoan languages. ... The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, comprising all the languages that descend from Latin, the language of the Roman Empire. ...

Not to be underestimated, 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" due to amalgamating certain tribes together within the missions.^[42]

The Costanoan language family is for all practical purposes considered extinct, although today Mutsun, Chochenyo and Rumsen are being "revitalized" (relearned from saved records). In biology and ecology, extinction is the ceasing of existence of a species or group of species. ...

Native names

The native people belonged to one or more tribes, bands or villages, and/or to one the eight linguistic group regions (as assigned by ethnolinguists). 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 never 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, Appendix 1. (Note that 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] Map of the Costanoan languages and major villages. ... Ethnolinguistics is a field of linguistic anthropology which studies the language of a particular ethnic group. ...

Many of the known tribal and village names were recorded in the California mission records of baptism, marriages and death. 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] The Spanish missions in California (more simply referred to as the California Missions) comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Catholic faith among the local Native Americans. ... Baptism in early Christian art. ... This article is about the marriage ceremony. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

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.^[45] Alta California (Upper California) was formed in 1804 when the province of California, then a part of the Spanish colony of New Spain, was divided in two along the line separating the Franciscan missions in the north from the Dominican missions in the south. ... Combatants United States Mexico Commanders Zachary Taylor Winfield Scott Stephen W. Kearney Antonio López de Santa Anna Mariano Arista Pedro de Ampudia José Mariá Flores Strength 78,790 soldiers 25,000–40,000 soldiers Casualties KIA: 1733 Total dead: 13,271 Wounded: 4,152 AWOL: 9,200+ 25,000...

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.^[46] Clinton Hart Merriam (December 5, 1855-March 19, 1942) was an American zoologist and ornithologist. ...

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. (See Selected Costanoan Words by Merriam.)^[47]

Native words