Native American Occupation - Ohlone

An Ohlone village.

When the Spaniards arrived at the Central California Coast in 1769, it was inhabited by over forty different groups of indigenous people whom we now know collectively as the Ohlone. For over 4,000 years, these neighboring tribal groups had intermarried, formed trade relations, and developed a highly complex social structure known as ranked chiefdoms (Cambra et al. 2003). From Point Sur to the San Francisco Bay, about 10,000 people lived out their lives – literally upon the bones of their ancestors – hunting, fishing, and gathering from the bountiful coastal region.

These societies, having developed in a relatively small region over thousands of years, were extremely complex. This complexity was evident in the elaborate burial rituals, extensive trade network, intricate social structure, and craftsmanship including tule boats, specialized tools, and stylized personal and ritual ornaments. Within the region, eight separate ethnic groups – defined by differences in dialect, language, dress, ornamentation, religious practices, kinship patterns, and even diet – were further divided into forty tribelets, which averaged about 250 members each (Cartier et al. 1991; Margolin 1978). Although they shared borders, traded, intermarried with neighbors, and may have spoken similar dialects, each tribelet was an autonomous entity. That so many independent groups could dwell in such close proximity with so many different languages greatly confused the Spaniards, so they simply referred to all of the coastal people as "Costenos," or coastal people. The name was eventually changed to Costanoans by English speaking immigrants, lumping all of the Native Americans from Monterey to the San Francisco Bay area into one large tribe, even though no confederation or alliance of area tribes had previously existed (Cartier et al. 1991). Each tribelet, however, had a name for their own group and descendants of the original inhabitants dislike the name Costanoans, preferring to be called Ohlone. The origin of the name is unclear; scholars disagree about whether any of the tribelets actually used the name Ohlone (Margolin 1978).

black and white illustration of California Native women processing acorns

California Native women processing acorns, a staple food.

Photographed by B. F. White, 15-9598; courtesy of the Phoebe Apperson Hearst Museum and the Regents of the University of California.

The Central California Coast was very rich in resources and the Ohlone developed highly efficient ways to provide a balanced diet for themselves with relatively little hard labor. Because the region is so ecologically diverse (see the Riparian Habitat and Upland Plant Communities sections) and productive, over the centuries each tribelet identified itself with its own unique territory, usually less than 100 square miles (Margolin 1978). Within just that small area, the people were able selectively to hunt and gather seasonal food in a migration pattern that would have required much longer travel elsewhere in North America. Tribelets might be only a few miles apart, but they hunted different animals, gathered different plants, and over time developed completely different food preferences and customs. For example, one tribelet might eat skunk much to the disgust of their neighbors, who ate internal organs of deer that the skunk eaters would not think to consume (Margolin 1978). In spite of this variability in food preferences, there were several universal foods, which included acorn, shellfish, salmon, deer, waterfowl, seeds, roots, and greens (Ryan 1980). To increase their food supply, Ohlone regularly used fire to alter their environment to favor desired game and plant materials. The use of fire created a grassland matrix interspersed with patches of scrub that would later support Spanish, Mexican, and American ranching and farming efforts.

black and white illustration of a deer hunt

The deer hunt.

The Ohlone followed a semi-nomadic life style by moving to different camps within their territory to make use of seasonally available food in coastal and inland areas. They fished constantly, using nets, harpoons, basket traps, hooks, and even fish poisons. Salmon (Oncorhynchus sp.) were seasonally abundant and were a major food item to Ohlone living on the coast or near rivers and streams. To draw the salmon close, fishermen performed rituals in a reenactment of the Sacred Time, during which Coyote taught the first Ohlone to fish. To hunt deer, skilled Ohlone hunters disguised themselves as deer and mimicked the movement of deer so well that they could blend into the middle of a deer herd without being noticed (Margolin 1978). Each hunt was preceded by several days of fasting, praying, and cleansing in the village sweat lodge. Many aspects of the Ohlone life involved the combination of the spiritual world (for example, praying and fasting) with the material world (for example, hunting). They regularly burned large patches of land to produce seed and open space, dammed streams to catch fish, cultivated and pruned food plants, and even regulated fishing seasons (Slater 2002; Hynding 1982).

Anything that the area lacked, they traded for. The Ohlone were a part of an intricate trade network that connected the eastern Sierra Nevada, Sonoma County, and Santa Barbara. In what is now known as the New Almaden area of Santa Clara County, there was a rich cinnabar deposit. Competing tribelets in Santa Cruz and Santa Clara Counties battled over the deposit and defended it against infringement by others. Trading expeditions came from as far away as Walla Walla, Washington to trade or fight for the prized pigment (Ryan 1980; Davis 1974). Other outgoing trade goods included coastal shell, salt, and dried abalone meat. Items obtained included obsidian, pinyon nuts, dogs, tobacco, and soapstone (Cartier et al. 1991).

The arrival of the Spanish on the California Coast abruptly ended the Ohlone way of life (go to the section on Spanish Colonization). Missionization followed the first European explorers on the coast and the Native Americans began a descent to disease, indenture, and extermination. Even today, their troubles are not over. Although their lineage and presence in the region has been proven (Muwekma Ohlone 2003), present day Ohlone are currently unrecognized by the United States Government as a Native American Tribe (US EPA 2003).

References

Cambra, R., M.V. Arellano, H. Alvarez, G.E. Arellano, C.M. Sullivan, K. Thompson, C. Rodriguez, and A. Leventhal. 2003. The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area [Web page]. Muwekma Ohlone Tribe [cited October 17, 2003]. View on-line source.

Cartier, R., L. Crane, C. James, J. Reddington, and A. Ruby. 1991. An Overview of the Ohlone Culture [Web page]. Santa Cruz Public Library [cited October 15, 2003]. View on-line source.

Davis, J.T. 1974. Trade Routes and Economic Exchange Among the Indians of California. Vol. 3, California Publications of Archaeology, Ethnography, and History. Ramona: Ballena Press.

Hynding, A. 1982. From Frontier to Suburb: The Story of the San Mateo Peninsula. Belmont, CA: Star Publishing Company.

Margolin, M. 1978. The Ohlone Way Indian Life in the San Francisco - Monterey Bay Area. Berkeley, CA: Heyday Books.

Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. 2003. The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe: A Brief History and the Recognition Process [Web page]. Muwekma Ohlone Tribe [cited October 15, 2003]. View on-line source.

Ryan, M.E. 1980. "A Well looking, Affable People..." [Web page]. Santa Cruz Public Library [cited October 15, 2003]. View on-line source.

Slater, D. 2002. Margolin's way. Sierra Magazine. November / December.

US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). 2003. National Map of Federally Recognized Tribes and EPA Regions [Web page] [cited October 22, 2003]. View on-line source.