View source for Ohlone

{{short description|Native American people of the Northern California coast}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| image = Ohlone color map bands.svg
| caption = Map of the Ohlone peoples and their neighbors
| group = Ohlone (Costanoan) People
| population = 1770: ''10,000–20,000''<br />1800: ''3000''<br />1852: ''864–1000''<br />2000: ''1500–2000+''<br />2010: ''3,853''<ref name="2010 Census">{{cite web|title=2010 Census CPH-T-6. American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2010|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2010/cph-t/t-6tables/TABLE%20(1).pdf|website=www.census.gov|access-date=19 January 2015}}</ref><br/>2020: ''3,993''<ref name="2020 Census">{{cite web|title=2020 Census Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File A. American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2020|url=https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALDDHCA2020.T01001?t=2954&g=040XX00US06&d=DEC%20Detailed%20Demographic%20and%20Housing%20Characteristics%20File%20A|website=www.census.gov|access-date=13 March 2024}}</ref>
| popplace = <small>California: [[San Francisco]], [[Santa Clara Valley]], [[East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)|East Bay]], [[Santa Cruz Mountains]], [[Monterey Bay]], [[Salinas Valley]]</small>
| langs = [[Ohlone languages|Ohlone (Costanoan)]]: <br /> <small>[[Awaswas language|Awaswas]], [[Chalon language|Chalon]], [[Chochenyo language|Chochenyo]], [[Karkin language|Karkin]], [[Mutsun]], [[Ramaytush language|Ramaytush]], [[Rumsen language|Rumsen]], [[Tamyen language|Tamyen]]</small> <br /> [[English language|English]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]]
| rels = [[Kuksu (religion)|Kuksu]] (formerly), [[Christianity]]
| related = [[Indigenous peoples of California]]
| native_name = 
| native_name_lang = 
}}

The '''Ohlone''' ({{IPAc-en|ou|'|l|ou|n|i}} {{respell|oh|LOH|nee}}), formerly known as '''Costanoans''' (from Spanish {{lang|es|costeño}} meaning 'coast dweller'), are a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] people of the [[Northern California]] coast. The Ohlone are believed to have displaced an earlier population of Hokan-speaking residents of the area<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Severson |first=Alissa L. |last2=Byrd |first2=Brian F. |last3=Mallott |first3=Elizabeth K. |last4=Owings |first4=Amanda C. |last5=DeGiorgio |first5=Michael |last6=de Flamingh |first6=Alida |last7=Nijmeh |first7=Charlene |last8=Arellano |first8=Monica V. |last9=Leventhal |first9=Alan |last10=Rosenberg |first10=Noah A. |last11=Malhi |first11=Ripan S. |date=2022-03-29 |title=Ancient and modern genomics of the Ohlone Indigenous population of California |url=https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2111533119 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=119 |issue=13 |article-number=e2111533119 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2111533119 |pmc=9060455 |pmid=35312358}}</ref>.When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the area along the coast from [[San Francisco Bay]] through [[Monterey Bay]] to the lower [[Salinas Valley]]. At that time they spoke a variety of related languages. The [[Ohlone languages]] make up a sub-family of the [[Utian languages|Utian language]] family.<ref>Callaghan 1997</ref><ref>{{e25|cst|Ohlone, Northern}}</ref><ref>{{e25|css|Ohlone, Southern}}</ref> Older proposals place Utian within the [[Penutian language]] phylum, while newer proposals group it as [[Yok-Utian languages|Yok-Utian]].

In pre-[[Colonialism|colonial]] times, the Ohlone lived in more than 50 [[List of Ohlone villages|distinct landholding groups]], and did not view themselves as a single unified group. They lived by hunting, fishing, and gathering, in the typical ethnographic California pattern. The members of these various bands interacted freely with one another. The Ohlone people practiced the [[Kuksu (religion)|Kuksu]] religion. Prior to the [[California Gold Rush|Gold Rush]], the northern California region was one of the most densely populated regions north of Mexico.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Ohlone Way: Indian Life in the San Francisco-Monterey Bay Area|last = Margolin|first = Malcolm|publisher = Heyday Books|year = 1978|isbn = 978-0-930588-01-4|location = Berkeley, California|url = https://archive.org/details/ohlonewayindianl00marg_0}}</ref>

However, the arrival of Spanish colonizers to the area in 1769 vastly changed tribal life forever. The Spanish constructed [[Spanish missions in California|missions]] along the California coast with the objective of [[Christianizing]] the native people and culture. Between the years 1769 and 1834, the number of Indigenous Californians dropped from 300,000 to 250,000. After California entered into the Union in 1850, the Ohlone were subject to the larger [[California genocide]].  Recent years have seen a renewed push for cultural and historical recognition of their tribe and what they have gone through and had taken from them.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/11/ohlone-san-francisco-cultural-center/ | title=The Ohlone people were forced out of San Francisco. Now they want part of their land back|work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]|first=PRASHANTH |last=KAMALAKANTHAN |date=November 22, 2014|access-date=2 December 2018}}</ref>

The Ohlone living today belong to various geographically distinct groups, most of which are still in their original home territory, though not all; none are currently [[federally recognized tribes]]. Members of the [[Tamien people|Tamien Nation]] are direct lineal descendants from Tamien speaking villages of the Santa Clara Valley. The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is composed of documented descendants of the historic [[Verona Band of Alameda County]], an intertribal Ohlone-Miwok-Yokuts community. The Ohlone/Costanoan Esselen Nation, consisting of descendants of intermarried [[Rumsen tribe|Rumsen]] Costanoan and [[Esselen]] speakers of Mission San Carlos Borromeo, are centered at Monterey. The {{ill|Amah Mutsun|qid=Q111585476}} tribe are descendants of [[Mutsun tribe|Mutsun]] Costanoan speakers of Mission San Juan Bautista, inland from Monterey Bay. Most members of another group of Rumsien language, descendants from Mission San Carlos, the Costanoan Rumsien Carmel Tribe of Pomona/Chino, now live in southern California. These groups and others with smaller memberships (''See groups listed under "[[#Present day|Present day]]" below'') are separately petitioning the federal government for tribal recognition.

==Name==
British ethnologist [[Robert Gordon Latham]] originally used the term "Costanoan" to refer to the linguistically similar but ethnically diverse Native American tribes in the San Francisco Bay Area.<ref>{{cite journal |title=On the Languages of Northern, Western and Central America |author=Latham, R. G. |year=1856 |journal=Transactions of the Philological Society |pages=82–84}}</ref> The term was based on the name of a group of Ramaytush speakers in the area of [[Mission Dolores]] first mentioned in 1850 as "''Olhones'' or ''Costanos''". Based on the former, American anthropologist [[Clinton Hart Merriam]] referred to the Costanoan groups as "Olhonean" in the early 20th century in his posthumously published field notes,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Ethnographic Notes on California Indian Tribes, III: Central California Indian Tribes |author=Merriam, C. Hart |year=1967 |editor=Robert F. Heizer |journal=University of California Archaeological Survey Reports |volume=68 |number=3 |url=https://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/anthpubs/ucb/text/ucas068-003.pdf}}</ref> and eventually, the term "Ohlone" has been adopted by most ethnographers, historians, and writers of popular literature.<ref>{{cite book |last=Golla |first=Victor |year=2011 |title=California Indian Languages |publisher=University of California Press |jstor=10.1525/j.ctt1ppmrt|isbn=978-0-520-26667-4 |page=168}}</ref>

==Culture==
[[File:Choris Ohlone.jpg|thumb|Ohlone people painted by [[Louis Choris]]]]

=== Pre-contact lifestyle ===
The Ohlone inhabited fixed village locations, moving temporarily to gather seasonal foodstuffs like [[acorn]]s and berries. The Ohlone people lived in Northern California from the northern tip of the [[San Francisco Peninsula]] down to northern region of [[Big Sur]], 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, California|Alameda County]], [[Contra Costa County, California|Contra Costa County]] and the 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 distinct Ohlone tribes and villages have been recorded. The Ohlone villages interacted through trade, intermarriage and ceremonial events, as well as some [[wiktionary:internecine|internecine]] conflict. Cultural arts included [[basket-weaving]] skills, seasonal ceremonial dancing events, female [[tattoo]]s, ear and nose piercings, and other ornamentation.<ref>For habitation region, Kroeber, 1925:462. For population and village count, Levy, 1978:485; also cited by Teixeira, 1997:1. Names of villages, Milliken, 1995:231–261, Appendix 1, "Encyclopedia of Tribal Groups". Intermarriages, internecine conflict and tribal trade, Milliken, 1995:23–24. Basket-weaving, body ornamentation and trade, Teixeira, 1997:2–3; also Milliken, 1995:18. Seasonal dancing ceremonies, Milliken, 1995:24.</ref>

[[Image:Ohlone hut(replica).jpg|thumb|upright|Replica of Ohlone Hut in the graveyard of [[Mission San Francisco de Asís]], San Francisco|alt=]]

The Ohlone subsisted mainly as [[hunter-gatherer]]s and in some ways [[harvest]]ers. "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, California|San Mateo County]]."{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}} Their staple diet consisted of crushed acorns, [[beaked hazel|nuts]], grass seeds, and berries, although other vegetation, hunted and trapped game, fish and seafood (including [[mussel]]s and [[abalone]] from the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean), were also important to their diet. These food sources were abundant in earlier times and maintained by careful work, and through active management of all the natural resources at hand.<ref>Controlled burning as harvesting, Brown 1973:3,4,25; Levy 1978:491; Stanger, 1969:94; Bean and Lawton, 1973:11,30,39 (Lewis). Quotation, "A rough husbandry of the land", Brown 1973:4. Seafood, nuts and seeds, Levy 1978:491–492. Trapped small animals, Milliken, 1995:18. Food maintenance and natural resource management, Teixeira, 1997:2.</ref> Animals in their mild climate included the [[grizzly bear]], [[red deer|elk]] (''Cervus elaphus''), [[pronghorn]], and [[deer]]. The streams held [[salmon]], trout, steelhead, [[perch]], and [[stickleback]]. Birds included plentiful [[mallard|ducks]], [[goose|geese]], [[California quail|quail]], [[great horned owl]]s, [[red-shafted flicker]]s, [[downy woodpecker]]s, [[American goldfinch|goldfinch]]es, and [[yellow-billed magpie]]s. 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 Crespí]] observed in his journal that geese were stuffed and dried "to use as decoys in hunting others".<ref>All the animals, except waterfowl and quail, Teixeira, 1997:2. Waterfowl and quail, Levy 1978:291. Quotation from Crespi, Bean, 1994:15–16. Ducks in Chochenyo lore, Bean, 1994:106 & 119.</ref>

Along the ocean shore and bays, there were also [[otter]]s, [[whale]]s, and at one time thousands of [[California sea lion|sea lions]]. In fact, there were so many sea lions that according to Crespi it "looked like a pavement" to the incoming Spanish.<ref>Quotation from Crespi, "sea lion pavement" Teixeira, 1997:2.</ref>

In general, along the bayshore and valleys, the Ohlone constructed dome-shaped houses of woven or bundled mats of tules, 6 to 20 feet (1.8 to 6 m) in diameter. In hills where [[Sequoia sempervirens|redwood]] trees were accessible, they built conical houses from redwood bark attached to a frame of wood. Residents of Monterey recall Redwood houses.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}} 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 [[Balsa (ship)|boats]] of [[Schoenoplectus acutus|tule]] to navigate on the bays propelled by double-bladed paddles.<ref>Tule rush houses, redwood houses and sweat lodges, Teixeira, 1997:2. Redwood houses in Monterey, Kroeber, 1925:468. Tule boats, Kroeber, 1925:468.</ref>

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]] 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.<ref>Clothing and ornamentation, Teixeira, 1997:2.</ref>

===Ethnobotany===
[[File:Ohlone.jpg|thumb|Ohlone dancers drawn by [[Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau]]]]
[[File:Ohlone_Dancers_monument_in_Alameda.jpg|thumb|Ohlone dancers monument in [[Alameda, California|Alameda]].]]
A full list of their [[ethnobotany]] can be found in the Native American Ethnobiology Database<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://naeb.brit.org/uses/tribes/50/ | title=Tribe: Costanoan (430 documented plant uses) | access-date=2024-05-30 | website=naeb.brit.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://naeb.brit.org/uses/tribes/51/ | title=Tribe: Costanoan (Olhonean) (6 documented plant uses) |access-date=2024-05-30 | website=naeb.brit.org}}</ref> 

They used the roots of many species of [[Carex]] for basketry.<ref>Bocek, Barbara R., 1984, Ethnobotany of Costanoan Indians, California, Based on Collections by John P. Harrington, Economic Botany 38(2):240–255, page 255</ref>

===Kuksu Religion===
Researchers are sensitive to limitations in historical knowledge, and careful not to place the spiritual and religious beliefs of all Ohlone people into a single unified worldview.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Scolari|first=P.|title=Photographs Link Ohlone Past and Present|journal=News from Native California|date=2005|volume=18|issue=4|pages=20–21}}</ref> Due to the displacement of Indian people in the Missions between 1769 and 1833, cultural groups are working as ethnographers to discover for themselves their ancestral history, and what that information tells about them as a cultural group. Their religion is different depending on the band referred to, although they share components of their worldview.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Field|first=L.W.|title="What it Must Have Been Like!": Critical Considerations of Pre-Contact Ohlone Cosmology as Interpreted through Central California Ethnohistory|journal=Wíčazo Ša Review|date=2003|volume=18|issue=2|pages=95–126|doi=10.1353/wic.2003.0013|s2cid=161232627}}</ref>

The pre-contact spiritual beliefs of the Ohlone were not recorded in detail by missionaries. The Ohlone probably practiced ''[[Kuksu (religion)|Kuksu]]'', a form of [[shamanism]] shared by many Central and Northern California tribes. Although, it is also possible that 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]], intervention with the spirit world and an all-male society that met in subterranean dance rooms.<ref>Bear Shamanism, Kroeber, 1925:472. Observation that Kuksu may have been learned at missions, Kroeber, 1925:470. Kuksu description and ceremony types, Kroeber, 1907b, online as ''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/ca/ric The Religion of the Indians of California]''; See also: ''[http://www.maidu.com/maidu/maiduculture/kuksu.html The Kuksu Cult - paraphrased from Kroeber]''. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311094423/http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/ca/ric |date=March 11, 2007 }}</ref>

Kuksu was shared with other indigenous ethnic groups of Central California, such as the [[Miwok]] and [[Esselen]], also [[Maidu]], [[Pomo people|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."<ref>Kroeber, 1925:445.</ref>

The conditions upon which the Ohlone joined the Spanish missions are subject to debate. Some have argued that they were forced to convert to [[Catholicism]], while others have insisted that forced baptism was not recognized by the Catholic Church. All who have looked into the matter agree, however, that baptized Indians who tried to leave mission communities were forced to return. The first conversions to Catholicism were at Mission San Carlos Borromeo, alias Carmel, in 1771. In the San Francisco Bay area the first baptisms occurred at Mission San Francisco in 1777. Many first-generation Mission Era conversions to Catholicism were debatably incomplete and "external".<ref>Costo & Costo, 1987, develop the argument for forced conversion; Sandos, 2004, emphasizes conversion through the attractions of modern technology and music; Milliken, 1995:67, discusses first baptisms and conversions to Catholicism at Mission San Francisco; Bean, 1994:279–281 discusses first-generation conversions to Catholicism as incomplete and external.</ref>
[[File:Coiffures_du_danse_Choris.jpg|thumb|Watercolor of traditional Ohlone headdresses by [[Louis Choris]]]]

It is apparent that the pre-contact Ohlone had distinguished medicine persons among their tribe. Some of these people healed through the use of herbs, and some were shamans who were believed to heal through their ability to contact the spirit world.<ref name="Smith 2002 144–155">{{cite journal|last=Smith|first=C.R.|title=Ohlone Medicinal Uses of Plants|journal=Gathering of Voices: The Native Peoples of the California Central Coast|date=2002|pages=144–155}}</ref> Some shamans typically engaged in more ritualistic healing in the form of dancing, ceremony, and singing.<ref name="Teixiera 1991">{{cite journal|last=Teixiera|first=Lauren|title=Access to information on the Costanoan/Ohlone Indians of the San Francisco and Monterey Bay area: a descriptive guide to research.|journal=Master's Thesis|date=1991}}</ref> Some shamans were also believed to be able to tell and influence the future, therefore they were equally able to bring about fortune and misfortune among the community.<ref name="Smith 2002 144–155"/>

====Indian Canyon: village houses / sweat lodges for ceremony and purification====
Additionally, some Ohlone bands built prayer houses, also called [[sweat lodge]]s, for ceremonial and spiritual purification purposes. These lodges were built near stream banks because water was believed to be capable of great healing. Men and women would gather in the sweat lodges to "cleanse, purify, and empower themselves" for a task like hunting and spirit dancing.<ref name="Teixiera 1991"/> Today, there is a place located in Hollister called [[Indian Canyon, California|Indian Canyon]], where a traditional sweat lodge, or Tupentak, has been built for the same ceremonial purposes. Along with the development of the sweat lodge in the early 1990s, the construction of an upen- tah-ruk, or round house/assembly house, was underway as well. These areas are meant to provide a gathering place for tribal meetings, traditional dances and ceremonies, and education activities.<ref name="Sayers 1994 350–355">{{cite book|last=Sayers|first=Anne|title=In Breath So It Is in Spirit:The Story of Indian Canyon|date=1994|publisher=Ballena|pages=350–355}}</ref> Indian Canyon is an important place because it is open to all Native American groups in the United States and around the world as a place to hold traditional native practices without federal restrictions. Indian Canyon is also home to many Ohlone people, specifically of the Mutsun band, and serves as an educational, cultural, and spiritual environment for all visitors. Indian Canyon allows Natives to reclaim their heritage and implement their ancestral beliefs and practices into their lives.<ref name="Sayers 1994 350–355"/>

===Sacred narratives and mythology===
[[File:Charles Christian Nahl - Indian Family on San Francisco Bay.jpg|thumb|left|Depiction of an Ohlone family in a wooden boat on the [[San Francisco Bay]]. (c. 1870's; [[Charles Christian Nahl]])]]
The storytelling of sacred narratives has been an important component of Ohlone indigenous culture for thousands of years, and continues to be of importance today. The narratives often teach specific moral or spiritual lessons, and are illustrative of the cultural, spiritual, and religious beliefs of the tribe. Because not all the Ohlone bands shared a unified identity, and therefore have varying religious and spiritual beliefs, the stories are unique to the tribe. Today, sacred narratives are still an important part of the Ohlone culture. Only a minimal number of sacred stories have survived Spanish colonization during the 1700s and 1800s due to ethnographic efforts in the Missions. Many Ohlone bands refer to anthropologic records to reconstruct their sacred narratives because some Ohlone people living in the missions acted as "professional consultants" for anthropologic research, and therefore told their past stories.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ramirez|first=Louise|title=The Ohlone/Costanoan-Esselen Nation of Monterey, California: Dispossession, Federal Neglect, and the Bitter Irony of the Federal Acknowledgment Process|journal=Wíčazo Ša Review|volume=18|issue=2|pages=47–71|doi=10.1353/wic.2003.0015|year=2003|s2cid=153762399}}</ref> The problem with this type of recording is that the stories are not always complete due to translation differences where meaning can be easily misunderstood.

Therefore, many Ohlone bands today feel responsible for re-adopting these narratives and discussing them with cultural representatives and other Ohlone people to decide what their meanings are. This process is important because the Ohlone can further piece together a cultural identity of their past ancestors, and ultimately for themselves as well. Additionally, through knowing sacred narratives and sharing them with the public through live performances or storytelling, the Ohlone people are able to create an awareness that their cultural group is not extinct, but actually surviving and wanting recognition.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ramirez|first=Louise|title=The Ohlone/Costanoan-Esselen Nation of Monterey, California:Dispossession, Federal Neglect, and the Bitter Irony of the Federal Acknowledgment Process|journal=Wíčazo Ša Review|volume=18|issue=2|pages=41–77|doi=10.1353/wic.2003.0015|year=2003|s2cid=153762399}}</ref>

Ohlone folklore and legend centered around the Californian [[culture hero]]es of the [[Coyote (mythology)|Coyote]] trickster spirit, as well as Eagle and Hummingbird (and in the Chochenyo region, a falcon-like being named Kaknu). The 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.<ref name="tales">Coyote, Eagle, and Hummingbird tales, Kroeber, 1907a:199–202, ''Costanoan Rumsien'', online as ''[http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/ca/scc Indian Myths of South Central California]''; also Kroeber, 1925:472–473. Chochenyo Kaknu tales, Bean (Harrington), 1994:106.</ref> Ohlone [[Creation myth|creation stories]] mention that 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. Humans were the descendants of Coyote.<ref name="tales"/>

===Burial practices===
[[File:Homenaje a la Mujer Ohlone.jpg|thumb|right|Bronze sculpture of an Ohlone woman in a [[tule reed]] canoe, in [[San Jose, California|San Jose]].]]
====Sacred sites and importance====
The arrival of the Spanish in the 1776 decelerated the culture, sovereignty, religion, and language of the Ohlone. Before the Spanish invasion, the Ohlone had an estimated 500 shellmounds lining the sea and shores of the San Francisco Bay. Shellmounds are essentially Ohlone habitation sites where people lived and died and often buried. The mounds consist predominately of molluscan shells, with lesser amounts of mammal and fish bone, vegetal materials and other organic material deposited by the Ohlone for thousands of years. These shellmounds are the direct result of village life. Archaeologists have examined the mounds and often refer to them as "middens," or "kitchen midden" meaning an accumulation of refuse.

One theory is that the massive amount of shellfish remains represent Ohlone ritual behavior, whereas they would spend months mourning their dead and feasting on large amounts of shellfish which were disposed of ever growing the girth and height of the mound.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cartier|first=Robert|title=Santa Cruz County History - Spanish Period & Earlier.|url=http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/248/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417103612/http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/248/|archive-date=April 17, 2016}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} Shellmounds were once found all over the San Francisco Bay area near marshlands, creeks, wetlands, and rivers. San Bruno Mountain is home to the nation's largest intact shellmound. These mounds are also thought to have served a practical purpose as well, since these shellmounds were usually near waterways or the ocean, they protected the village from high tide as well as to provide high ground for line of sight navigation for watercraft on San Francisco Bay.<ref>{{cite book|last=Field|first=Les|title=Unacknowledged Tribes, Dangerous Knowledge: The Muwekma Ohlone and How Indian Identities Are "Known".|date=2003}}</ref> The [[Emeryville Shellmound]] is a site standing at over 60 feet (18 m) tall and 350 feet (105 m) in diameter, and was believed to be occupied between 400 and 2800 years ago.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}

The Ohlone burial practices changed over time with cremation being preferred before the arrival of the Spanish. Once the cremation was complete the loved ones and friends would place ornaments as well as other valuables as an offering to the dead. Ohlone believed that this would give them good fortune in the afterlife. Many of these artifacts have been found in and around the shellmounds. They often include a wide variety of shell beads and ornaments as well as frequently used everyday items such as stone and bone tools. These burials also showcase genealogies and territorial rights. The mounds were seen as a cultural statement because the villages on top were clearly visible and their sacred aura was very dominant.<ref>{{cite book|last=Heizer|first=Robert|title=The California Indians; a Source Book|url=https://archive.org/details/californiaindia00heiz|url-access=registration|date=1971|location=Berkeley | publisher=University of California}}</ref>

====Present day burial and sacred sites====
'''West Berkeley Shellmound'''
The [[West Berkeley Shellmound]], located in Berkeley, California, is thought to be the site of the earliest known habitation in the San Francisco Bay Area.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} It was mostly removed by the early 20th century, but human remains and artifacts are still found in the area during construction projects. Local Ohlone groups have fought to have a portion of it protected and returned to their use.

'''Glen Cove''' (Sogorea Te')
The City of [[Vallejo, California]] built Glen Cove Waterfront Park after years of protests from Ohlone people and their allies that the location was a sacred site known as Sogorea Te', one of the last native village sites in the San Francisco Bay that had escaped urban development.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Widjojo |first1=Irma |title=Controversial Glen Cove Waterfront Park opens to protest |url=https://www.timesheraldonline.com/2012/06/17/controversial-glen-cove-waterfront-park-opens-to-protest/ |access-date=27 March 2022 |agency=Vallejo Times-Herald |date=17 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Laverty|first=Phillip|title=The Ohlone/Costanoan-Esselen Nation of Monterey, California: Dispossession, Federal Neglect, and the Bitter Irony of the Federal Acknowledgment Process|date=2003|publisher=Wíčazo Ša Review}}</ref>

'''Santa Cruz'''
A 6,000-year-old grave site was found at a KB Home construction site in the city of Santa Cruz. Protestors have picketed at the front gate of the Branciforte Creek construction site, holding signs, handing out flyers and engaging passersby to call attention to the site.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hewitt|first=Christopher|title=Ohlone Shellmound Buried Beneath the Emeryville Shopping Center.|newspaper=Sevenponds}}</ref>

'''San Jose'''
Ohlone remains were discovered in 1973 near Highway 87 during housing development. Some remains were removed during the construction of the highway.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/08/17/ohlone-burial-ground-disturbed-in-south-bay-solar-panel-project/ | title=Ohlone Burial Ground Possibly Disturbed by South Bay Solar Panel Project| date=2016-08-17}}</ref>

[[Mt. Umunhum|Mount Umunhum]] (Dove Mountain) is the physical foundation of Tamien Nation oral narrative of the Great Flood - Tamien Nation's most sacred landscape.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tamien.org/cultural-resources | title=Sacred & Cultural Landscapes}}</ref>

'''Fremont'''
Construction crews at a Van Daele Homes luxury housing development unearthed 32 sets of Ohlone remains in 2017. The remains were reburied on-site under the supervision of a native consultant.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://abc7news.com/indian-burial-ground-fremont-housing/2336282/ | title=EXCLUSIVE: Developer uncovers Ohlone Indian remains, I-Team investigates| date=24 August 2017}}</ref>

====Revitalizing and reclaiming heritage====
The determination and passion to preserve sacred ground is largely influenced by the desire to revive and preserve the Ohlone cultural heritage. Natives today are engaging in extensive cultural research to bring back knowledge, narratives, beliefs, and practices of the post-contact days with the Spanish. The Spanish eradicated and stripped the Ohlones of their cultural heritage by causing the death of ninety percent of the population, and forcing cultural assimilation with military fortification and Catholic reform. After the arrival of the Americans, many land grants were contested in court.  Preserving their burial sites is a way to gain acknowledgment as a cultural group.<ref>{{cite book|last=Margolin|first=Malcolm|title=The Ohlone Way: Indian Life in the San Francisco-Monterey Bay Area.|url=https://archive.org/details/ohlonewayindianl00marg_0|url-access=registration|date=1978|publisher=Heyday|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-930588-01-4}}</ref>

'''Site CA-SCL-732- Kaphan Umux or Three Wolves Site'''
The Muwekma Ohlone tribe are active participants in the revival of East Bay Ohlone culture.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tebor |first=Celina |date=April 1, 2022 |title=The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe was declared 'extinct' in the 1920s. New DNA research says otherwise. |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/03/31/california-san-francisco-muwekma-ohlone-tribe/7226103001/ |access-date=2022-04-01 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref> Key to their success is in their involvement in unearthing and analyzing their ancestral remains in ancient burial sites, which allows them to "recapture their history and to reconstruct the present and future of their people".<ref>{{cite book|last=Field|first=Les|title="What Must It Have Been Like!": Critical Considerations of Precontact Ohlone Cosmology as Interpreted through Central California Ethnohistory.|publisher=Wíčazo Ša Review}}</ref> Only some sacred cultural narratives survive through the recording of stories told from various Ohlone elders living in the missions between 1769 and 1833. This makes analyzing pre-contact Ohlone sites so difficult because so much of the symbolism and ritual are unknown. Therefore, the Muwekma see their participation in archeological projects as a way to bring tribal members together as a unified community, and as a way to reestablish the link between the Ohlone people today and their pre-contact ancestors through their ability to analyze remains and be coauthors in the archeological reports.<ref name="Field 2003">{{cite book|last=Field|first=Les|title=What Must It Have Been Like!": Critical Considerations of Precontact Ohlone Cosmology as Interpreted through Central California Ethnohistory.|date=2003|publisher=Wíčazo Ša Review}}</ref> One major archeological site the Muwekma tribe actively helped excavate is the burial site CA-SCL-732 in San Jose, dating between 1500 and 2700 BCE. In this burial site, excavated in 1992, the remains of three ritually buried wolves were found among human remains.<ref name="Field 2003"/> In other grave site, the skeletal remains of two more wolves were found with "braided, uncured yucca or soap root fiber cordage around their necks".<ref name="Field 2003"/> There were many other fragments of remains of animals like deer, squirrel, mountain lion, grizzly bear, fox, badger, blue goose, and elk found as well. From the excavations it is clear that the animals were ritually buried, along with beads and other ornamentations.<ref name="Field 2003"/>

Although the truth may not be known about exactly what these findings mean, the Muwekma and the archeological team analyzed the ritual burial of the animal remains as a way to learn what they may tell about the Ohlone cosmology and cultural system before pre-contact influence. One way the team did this was using known narratives of the Ohlone, as ascribed by previous ethnographers who recorded the sacred narratives of various Ohlone elders in the missions across the Bay, well as the narratives telling of other central California cosmologies to make references about what the meaning of the possible kinship between the animals and the Ohlone in these burials were. Together the archeological team made three hypotheses: animals served as "moieties, clans, lineages, families, and so on," animals were "dream helpers," or personal spirit allies for individuals, and lastly, the animals were representations of "sacred deity-like figures".<ref name="Field 2003"/>

====Indian People Organizing for Change====
Indian People Organizing for Change (IPOC) is a community-based organization in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its members, including Ohlone organization members and conservation activists, work together in order to accomplish social and environmental justice within the Bay Area American Indian community. Current projects include the preservation of Bay Area shellmounds, which are the sacred burial sites of the Ohlone Nation, whose homeland is the San Francisco Bay Area. Currently, IPOC has spread awareness throughout the community through shellmounds walks and has advocated for the preservation of sacred burial sites in the Emeryville Mall, Glen Cove Site, Hunters Point in San Francisco, just to name a few.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gould|first=Corrina|title="Indian People Organizing for Change." Indian People Organizing for Change.|url=http://ipocshellmoundwalk.homestead.com/}}</ref>

=====Sogorea Te Land Trust=====
{{Main|Sogorea Te Land Trust}}
The Sogorea Te Land Trust is a [[land trust]] founded by members of IPOC in 2012 with the goals of returning traditionally [[Chochenyo people|Chochenyo]] and [[Karkin people|Karkin]] lands in the [[San Francisco Bay Area]] to [[Indigenous peoples|indigenous]] stewardship and cultivating more active, reciprocal relationships with the land.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Indigenous-women-lead-effort-to-reclaim-ancestral-12384730.php|title=Indigenous women lead effort to reclaim ancestral lands|last=Kost|first=Ryan|date=28 November 2017|work=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=30 October 2018}}</ref> It has also started a project called the Shuumi Land Tax, which asks that non-indigenous people living on Ohlone land to pay dues for the land that they live on.<ref name=":0" /> The tax has no legal ramifications and no connection with the United States government or [[Internal Revenue Service]], but the organization prefers this term (as opposed to merely calling contributions [[donation]]s) as it asserts indigenous [[sovereignty]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.kalw.org/post/native-americans-ask-east-bay-residents-pay-tax-land#stream/0|title=Native Americans ask East Bay residents to pay 'tax' on land|last=Dalmas|first=Jeremy|date=16 April 2018|website=KALW Local Public Radio 91.7 San Francisco|access-date=30 October 2018}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Yokuts Louis Choris.jpg|thumb|Ohlone or [[Yokuts]] hunters painted by [[Louis Choris]]]]

=== Pre-Columbian era ===
The predominant theory regarding the [[Prehistoric migration and settlement of the Americas from Asia|settlement of the Americas]] date the original migrations from Asia to around 20,000 years ago across the [[Beringia|Bering Strait land bridge]], but one anthropologist, [[Otto von Sadovszky]], claims that the Ohlone and some other [[Indigenous peoples of California|northern California tribes]] descend from [[Siberia]]ns who arrived in California by sea around 3,000 years ago.<ref name=latimes>{{cite news |last=Billiter |first=Bill |date=January 1, 1985 |title=3,000-Year-Old Connection Claimed: Siberia Tie to California Tribes Cited |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-01-me-10267-story.html |url-status=live |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128090656/http://articles.latimes.com/1985-01-01/local/me-10267_1_tribes |archive-date=2014-11-28  |access-date=2014-11-28 |quote=Some of the California Indian tribes that are descended from Russian Siberians, [[Otto von Sadovszky|Von Sadovszky]] said, are the Wintuan, of the Sacramento Valley, the Miwokan, of the area north of San Francisco, and the Costanoan, of the area south of San Francisco.}}</ref>

Some anthropologists think 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&nbsp;century&nbsp;CE, displacing or assimilating earlier [[Hokan languages|Hokan]]-speaking populations of which the Esselen in the south represent a remnant. Datings of ancient [[Emeryville Shellmound|shell mounds in Emeryville]] and in [[Newark, California|Newark]] and suggest the villages at those locations were established about 4000&nbsp;BCE.<ref>For origin, arrival and displacement based on "linguistic evidence" in 500 CE per Levy, 1978:486, also Bean, 1994:xxi (cites Levy 1978). For Shell Mound dating, F.M. Stanger 1968:4.</ref>

Through shell mound dating, scholars noted three periods of ancient Bay Area history, as described by F.M. Stanger in {{lang|es|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&nbsp;BCE to 1000&nbsp;BCE in the Bay Area and to about 2000&nbsp;BCE in the Central Valley. The second or Middle Horizon was from these dates to 700&nbsp;CE, while the third or Late Horizon, was from 700&nbsp;CE to the coming of the Spaniards in the 1770s."<ref>F.M. Stanger 1968:4</ref> {{clarify |reason=What makes these epochs unique?|date=May 2021}}

===Mission era (1769–1833)===
[[File:Ohlone Indians in a Tule Boat in the San Francisco Bay 1822.jpg|thumb|Three Ohlone people in a [[tule]] boat in the San Francisco Bay, painted by Louis Choris in 1816]]
The arrival of missionaries and Spanish colonizers in the mid-1700s had a negative impact on the Ohlone people who inhabited Northern California. The Ohlone territory consisted of the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula down to Big Sur in the south. There were more than fifty Ohlone landholding groups prior to the arrival of the Spanish Missionaries. The Ohlone were able to thrive in this area by hunting, fishing, and gathering, in the typical pattern found in California coastal tribes. Each of the Ohlone villages interacted with each other through trade, intermarriage, and ceremonial events, as well as through occasional conflict.<ref>{{cite book|last=Teixeira|first=Lauren|title=Access to information on the Costanoan/Ohlone Indians of the San Francisco and Monterey Bay area: a descriptive guide to research.|date=1991|publisher=Masters Thesis}}</ref>

The Ohlone culture was relatively stable until the first Spanish soldiers and missionaries arrived with the double-purpose of Christianizing the Native Americans by building a series of [[Spanish missions in California|missions]] and of expanding Spanish territorial claims. The Rumsien were the first Ohlone people to be encountered and documented in Spanish records when, in 1602, explorer [[Sebastián Vizcaíno]] reached and named the area that is now [[Monterey, California|Monterey]] in December of that year. Despite Vizcaíno's positive reports, nothing further happened for more than 160 years. It was not until 1769 that the next Spanish expedition arrived in Monterey, led by [[Gaspar de Portolà]]. This time, the [[Spanish missions in California#Military districts|military expedition]] was accompanied by [[Franciscan]] missionaries, whose purpose was to establish a chain of missions to bring Christianity to the native people. Under the leadership of Father [[Junípero Serra]], the missions introduced Spanish religion and culture to the Ohlone.<ref>For Spanish missionaries and colonization, Teixeira, 1997:3; Fink, 1972:29–30.  For Sebastian Vizcaíno documenting Ohlone in 1602, Levy:486 (mentions "Rumsien were the first"); Teixeira, 1997:15; also Fink, 1972:20–22. For Mission Chain leaders Serra and Portolà arrival by foot in Monterey in 1769, see Fink, 1972:29–38.</ref>
[[File:Mission Santa Clara Indian quarters.jpg|thumb|Indian quarters at [[Mission Santa Clara de Asís]]]]
Spanish mission culture soon 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 (California)|Mission San José]] (founded in 1797), and [[Mission San Juan Bautista]] (founded in 1797). The Ohlone who 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.<ref>Mission name list only; dates from Wikipedia related article. Milliken 1995:69–70 discusses neophytes, mentions "first neophyte marriages" in 1778. For list of ethnicity at each mission: Levy, 1976:486. For Mission San Francisco details: Cook, 1976b:27–28. For detailed tribal migration records: Milliken, 1995:231–261, Appendix I, "Encyclopedia of Tribal Groups".</ref>

Spanish military presence was established at two Presidios, the [[Presidio of Monterey, California|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. For the first twenty years, the missions accepted a few converts at a time, slowly gaining population. Between November 1794 and May 1795, a large wave of Bay Area Native Americans were [[baptism|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 March 1795, this migration was followed almost immediately by the worst-seen epidemic, as well as food shortages, resulting in alarming statistics of death and escapes from the missions. In pursuing the runaways, 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. By running to tribes outside of the missions, escapees and those sent to bring them back to the mission spread illness outside of the missions.<ref>For events of 1795–1796, Milliken, 1995:129–134 ("Mass Migration in Winter of 1794–95"). For runaways, Milliken, 1995:97 (cites Fages, 1971).</ref>

Indians did not thrive when the missions expanded both their populations and operations in their geographical areas. "A total of 81,000 Indians were baptized and 60,000 deaths were recorded".<ref name="Bean 1994">{{cite book|last=Bean|first=John|title=The Ohlone Past and Present: Native Americans of the San Francisco Bay Region|url=https://archive.org/details/ohlonepastpresen00bean|url-access=registration|date=1994|publisher=Bellena|location=Menlo Park}}</ref> The cause of death varied, but most were the result of European diseases such as smallpox, measles, and diphtheria against which the Indians had no natural immunity. Other causes were a drastic diet change from hunter and gatherer fare to a diet high in carbohydrates and low in vegetables and animal protein, harsh lifestyle changes, and unsanitary living conditions.<ref name="Bean 1994"/>

====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, California|San Jose]]: There were "heated debates" between "the Spanish State and ecclesiastical bureaucracies" over the government authority of the missions. Setting the precedent in 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.<ref>For "heated debates" between church and state, Milliken, 1995:2n. For petition of 1782, Indians vs. settlers of San Jose, with quotations, see Milliken, 1995:72–73 (quoting Murguia and Pena [1782] 1955:400). For law of Spanish citizenship, and Franciscans held the land in trust for "10 years", see Beebe, 2001:71; Bean, 1994:243; and Fink, 1972:63–64.</ref>

===Secularization===
In 1834, the Mexican government ordered all Californian missions to be [[Mexican secularization act of 1833|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.<ref>Fink, 1972:64: "Land grants were scarce; In 1830 only 50 private ranches were held in Alta California, of which 7 were in the Monterey region." For number of land grants, see Cowan 1956:139–140. For Mission secularizarion to rancherias, Teixeira, 1997:3; Bean, 1994:234; Fink, 1972:63.</ref>

===Survival===
[[File:Isabel Meadows.jpg|thumb|[[Isabel Meadows]], considered the last fluent speaker of an Ohlone language]]
The Ohlone eventually regathered in multi-ethnic rancherias, along with other Mission Indians from families that spoke the [[Coast Miwok]], [[Bay Miwok]], [[Plains Miwok]], [[Patwin]], [[Yokuts]], and Esselen languages. Many of the Ohlone that had survived the experience at Mission San Jose went to work at ''Alisal Rancheria'' in [[Pleasanton, California|Pleasanton]], and ''El Molino'' in [[Niles, California|Niles]]. Communities of mission survivors also formed in [[Sunol, California|Sunol]], Monterey and [[San Juan Bautista, California|San Juan Bautista]]. In the 1840s a wave of United States settlers encroached into the area, and California became annexed to the United States. The new settlers brought in new diseases to the Ohlone.<ref>Teixeira, 1997:3–4, "Historical Overview".</ref>

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. [[Peter Hardeman Burnett]], the state's first governor, was an open advocate of exterminating local California Indian tribes.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Blakemore|first=Erin|title=California's Little-Known Genocide|url=https://www.history.com/news/californias-little-known-genocide|access-date=2020-07-15|website=HISTORY|language=en}}</ref> By all estimates, the Ohlone were reduced to less than ten percent of their original pre-mission era population. By 1852 the Ohlone population had shrunk to about 864–1,000, and was continuing to decline. By the early 1880s, the northern Ohlone were virtually entirely gone, and the southern Ohlone people were severely impacted and largely displaced from their communal land grant in the [[Carmel Valley, San Diego, California|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.<ref>For population estimates, Cook, 1976a:183, 236–245. For decline and displacement, Cook, 1976a, all of California; Cook, 1976b all of California; Milliken, 1995 San Francisco Bay Area in detail. For Helen Hunt Jackson's account, Jackson, 1883.</ref>

Considered the last fluent speaker of an Ohlone language, [[Rumsen language|Rumsien]]-speaker [[Isabel Meadows]] died in 1939 at the age of 92. Descendants are reviving Rumsien, Mutsun, and Chochenyo.<ref>For Rumsien revival and Isabella Meadows, see Hinton 2001:432. For Mutson and Chochenyo revival, see external links, language revival. See also Blevins 2004.</ref>

===Contemporary Ohlone groups===
[[File:Ohlone costume.jpg|thumb|An Ohlone family in traditional regalia in San Francisco, 2015]]
The Mutsun (of Hollister and Watsonville), Lisjan Ohlone, [[Tamyen people|Tamien]] Nation, Ramaytush Ohlone and the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe (of the San Francisco Bay Area) are among the surviving groups of Ohlone today. The Esselen Nation also describes itself as Ohlone/Costanoan, although they historically spoke both the southern Costanoan (Rumsien) and an entirely different [[Hokan languages|Hokan language]] Esselen.

Ohlone tribes with [[federally recognized tribes|petitions for Federal Recognition]] pending with the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]] are:<ref>[http://500nations.com/tribes/Tribes_Petitions.asp 500 Nations Web Site - Petitions for Federal Recognition]; and {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20011025205646/http://fourdir.com/costanoans.htm Costanoans by Four Directions Institute]}} quoting Sunderland, Larry, ''Native American Historical Data Base (NAHDB)''</ref>

*'''[[Tamien people|Tamien Nation]]''', Southern San Francisco Bay Area and the Greater Santa Clara County
:All enrolled Tamien Nation citizens have ''direct'' lineages from historic Tamien villages verified by a certified genealogist and are direct lineal dependents of/or are on the California Judgment Fund Rolls (CJFR) of 1953 and 1972, and have Certificates of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB) issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Tamien Nation elders were also subject to the Indian Relocation Act of 1956 (also known as Public Law 959) implemented by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Tamien Nation citizens are "living Indians" who continue to hunt, fish, gather Indigenous foods, process and eat acorns and participate in their religious ceremonies.

[[File:Indigenous Peoples' Day SF 20181008-5101.jpg|thumb|Members of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe attend a proclamation of the first official [[Indigenous Peoples' Day (United States)|Indigenous Peoples' Day]] in San Francisco, October 2018.]]

* '''[[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]].  On 21 September 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.<ref name="Muwekma">{{cite web |url=http://www.muwekma.org/news/index.html |title=The Muwekma Ohlone - News |website=www.muwekma.org |access-date=6 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090509075105/http://www.muwekma.org/news/index.html |archive-date=9 May 2009 }}</ref> The [[Advisory Council on California Indian Policy#Efforts of the ACCIP|Advisory Council on California Indian Policy]] has assisted in their case. They lost the case in 2011, and have filed an appeal.<ref>{{Cite news| last = Sue Dremann| title = Local Native American tribe seeks identity: Muwekma Ohlone lose federal court battle over official recognition of tribe| work = PleasantonWeekly.com| access-date = 2012-07-25| date = 2011-12-07| url = http://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/show_story.php?id=8259}}</ref>

* '''Amah Mutsun Band of Ohlone/Costanoan Indians''', Woodside:
:The {{ill|Amah Mutsun|qid=Q111585476}} 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.<ref>Amah-Mutsun Tribe Website; Leventhal and all, 1993.</ref>

*[[File:Native American Repatriation & Burial at Presidio of Monterey 4 (37169639393).jpg|thumb|Louise Miranda Ramirez, chairwoman of the Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation presided over the re-burial of Ohlone and Esselen remains found at the [[Presidio of Monterey, California|Presidio of Monterey]]]]'''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.<ref>[http://www.esselennation.com/OCENToday.html Ohlone/Costanoan Esselen Nation Today] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208132719/http://www.esselennation.com/OCENToday.html |date=2006-12-08 }}. File retrieved November 30, 2006.</ref>

* '''Costanoan Band of Carmel Mission Indians''', Monrovia.
* '''Costanoan Ohlone Rumsen-Mutsen Tribe''', Watsonville.
* '''Costanoan-Rumsen Carmel Tribe''', Pomona/Chino Offices, from Carmel, Monterey Bay Area.
* '''Indian Canyon Mutsun Band of Costanoan, Mutsun Indians, Chalon''', South of Hollister, San Benito County, Only federally recognized "Indian Country" between Sonoma and Santa Barbara along central coastal California.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Indian Canyon -- Honor the Past to Shape the Future |url=http://indiancanyonlife.org/ |access-date=2023-10-01 |website=indiancanyonlife.org}}</ref> "Indian Country", land held in trust recognizing Indian People<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.water.ca.gov/LegacyFiles/tribal/docs/maps/CaliforniaIndianTribalHomelands24x30_20110719.pdf | title=California Indian Tribal Homelands and Trust Land Map | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181021105528/https://www.water.ca.gov/LegacyFiles/tribal/docs/maps/CaliforniaIndianTribalHomelands24x30_20110719.pdf | archive-date=2018-10-21}}</ref>

==Etymology==
[[File:Statue_of_an_Ohlone_Elder_Weaving_a_Basket_(Dublin,_California).png|thumb|right|Bronze statue of an Ohlone elder weaving a tule reed basket, in [[Dublin, California|Dublin]].]]
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.<ref name="Teix-pg4">Teixeira, 1997:4, "The Term 'Costanoan/Ohlone'".</ref>

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, California|Pescadero]] Creek. Teixeira traced the name ''Ohlone'' 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 Gregorio Creek and Pescadero Creek on the Pacific Coast".<!--CITATIONS:--><ref>Opinions and quotations, Teixeira 1997:4; Milliken, 1995:249.</ref>

==Divisions==
{{See also|List of Ohlone villages}}
Linguists identified eight regional, linguistic divisions or subgroups of the Ohlone, listed below from north to south:<ref>Levy, 1978:485–486; Teixeira, 1997:37–38, "Linguistics"; and Milliken, 1995:24–26, "Linguistic Landscape". The latter two both cite Levy 1978.</ref>

*'''[[Karkin people|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.<ref>Beeler, 1961.</ref>
*'''[[Chochenyo people|Chochenyo]]''' (''also called Chocheño, Chocenyo and East Bay Costanoan''): The Chochenyo speaking tribal groups resided in the East Bay, primarily in what is now [[Alameda County, California|Alameda County]] and the western (bayshore) portion of 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 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.
*'''[[Tamyen]]''' (''also called Tamien, Thamien, and Santa Clara Costanoan''): The Tamyen resided on Coyote Creek and [[Calaveras Reservoir|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 (California)|Guadalupe River]]; Father Pena mentioned in a letter to Junípero Serra that the area around the mission was called Thamien by the Ohlone.<ref>For language in general, see Forbes, 1968:184; also Milliken 2006 "Ethnohistory". For Father Pena letter, see Hylkema 1995:20; for close relationship among Chochenyo, Tamyen, and Ramaytush, see Callaghan 1997:44; location indicated on a map by Kroeber 1925:465</ref> <!--confirm Rivers named-->
*'''[[Awaswas]]''' (''also called Santa Cruz Costanoan''): Local bands of Awaswas speakers resided on the Santa Cruz coast and adjacent Santa Cruz Mountains between Point Año Nuevo and the [[Pajaro River]]s (Davenport and Aptos).
*'''[[Mutsun]]''' (''also called Mutsen, San Juan Bautista Costanoan''): A number of distinct local territorial tribes of Mutsun speakers lived in the Hollister Valley (along the lower [[San Benito River]], middle Pajaro River, and San Felipe Creek) and along nearby creeks of the eastern Coast Range valleys (including San Luis and Ortigalita creeks).
*'''Rumsien''' (''also called Rumsen, Carmel or Carmeleno''): A few independent Rumsien-speaking local territorial tribes resided from the [[Pajaro River]] to Point Sur, and the lower courses of the Pajaro, as well as the lower [[Salinas River (California)|Salinas]], Sur and [[Carmel River (California)|Carmel River]]s (San Carlos, Carmel, and Monterey Counties).
*'''[[Chalon people|Chalon]]''' (''also called Soledad''): Local bands of Chalon speakers resided along the upper course of the San Benito River and farther east in the Coast Range valleys of Silver and Cantua creeks. Kroeber also mapped them on the middle course of the Salinas River, but some recent studies give that area to the Esselen people.

These division designations are mostly derived from selected local tribe names. They were first offered in 1974 as direct substitutes for Kroeber's earlier designations based upon the names of local Spanish missions. The spellings are anglicized from forms first written down (often with a variety of spellings) by Spanish missionaries and soldiers who were trying to capture the sounds of languages foreign to them.<ref>Heizer 1974:3; Milliken 1995:xiv.</ref>

Within the divisions there were over 50 Ohlone tribes and villages who spoke the Ohlone-Costanoan languages in 1769, before being absorbed into the Spanish Missions by 1806.<ref>Milliken, 1995:231–261 Appendix 1, "Encyclopedia of Tribal Groups".</ref>

== Loss of recognition ==
In 1925, [[Alfred Kroeber]], then director of the [[Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology|Hearst Museum of Anthropology]], declared the tribe extinct, which directly led to its losing federal recognition and land rights.<ref name=":02">{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Patricia Leigh |date=2022-12-11 |title=Indigenous Founders of a Museum Cafe Put Repatriation on the Menu |language=en |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/11/arts/design/hearst-museum-ohlone-cafe-repatriate-medina.html |access-date=2023-08-13}}</ref>

==Population==
{| class="wikitable floatright"
|+ Ohlone population in 1769: <br />Various expert opinions
|-
! Population || Source
|-
| 7,000 || Alfred Kroeber (1925)<ref>Kroeber, 1925:464. Kroeber says he was generalizing each "dialect group" had 1,000 people each in this model, and he only counted seven dialects. By his own methodology, his estimate should be 8,000.{{Original research inline|date=April 2014}}</ref>
|-
| 10,000 or more || Richard Levy (1978)<ref name="Levy, 1978:486">Levy, 1978:486.</ref>
|-
| 26,000 including Salinans<br />"Northern Mission Area"|| Sherburne Cook (1976)<ref>Cook 1976b:42–43. In his earlier articles, Cook had estimated 10,000–11,000 (see 1976a:183, 236–245) but later retracted it as too low.</ref>
|}

[[Image:OhlonePopulation5.png|thumb|right|300px|Ohlone/Costanoan population over time.<ref>For pre-contact population estimate, population infobox sources; For post-contact population estimates, Cook, 1976a:105, 183, 236–245.</ref>]]

Published estimates of the pre-contact Ohlone population in 1769 range between 7,000<ref>Kroeber, 1925:464</ref> and 26,000 combined with Salinans.<ref>Cook 1976b:42-43. Note the number of 26,000 includes Salinans</ref> Historians differ widely in their estimates, as they do with the entire [[population of Native California]]. However, modern researchers believe that American anthropologist [[Alfred L. Kroeber]]'s projection of 7,000&nbsp;Ohlone "Costanoans" was much too low. Later researchers such as [[Richard L. Levy|Richard Levy]] estimated "10,000 or more" Ohlone.<ref name="Levy, 1978:486"/>

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 does not give an exact number.<ref>For definition of 'Northern Mission area", Cook, 1976b:20. For density of populations, Cook, 1976a:187.</ref>

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."  The population had dropped to about 10% of its original numbers by 1848.<ref>For quotation, see Cook, 1976b:200. For population in 1848, see Cook, 1976a:105.</ref>

The population stabilized after 1900, and as of 2005 there were at least 1,400 on tribal membership rolls.<ref>For tribal membership rolls, Muwekma Ohlone Tribe homepage, 397 members; Amah-Mutsun Band homepage, over 500 members; and Ohlone/Costanoan—Esselen Nation homepage, approximately 500 members.</ref>

==Language==
{{main|Ohlone languages}}
The Ohlone language family is commonly called "Costanoan", sometimes "Ohlone". Ohlone is classified with Miwok under the label [[Utian languages|Utian]]. The controversial [[Penutian languages|Penutian]] language phylum groups the Utian languages with other languages spoken in California, Oregon, and Washington. The most recent work suggests that Ohlone, Miwok, and Yokuts may all be sub-families within a single [[Yok-Utian languages|Yok-Utian]] language family.<ref>Utian and Penutian classification: Levy, 1978:485–486 (citing Kroeber), Callaghan 1997, Golla 2007. Yok-Utian as a taxonomic category: Callaghan 1997, 2001; Golla 2007:76.</ref>

Eight dialects or languages of Ohlone have been recorded: [[Awaswas language|Awaswas]], [[Chalon language|Chalon]], [[Chochenyo language|Chochenyo]] (aka Chocheño), [[Karkin language|Karkin]], [[Mutsun language|Mutsun]], [[Ramaytush language|Ramaytush]], Rumsen, and [[Tamyen language|Tamyen]]. Of these, Chochenyo, Mutsun, and Rumsen are seeing [[Language revitalization|revival]] by Ohlone tribes.

==Salvaging records==
The [[chroniclers]], [[ethnohistorian]]s, and [[ethnolinguist|linguist]]s 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 [[Clinton Hart Merriam|C. Hart Merriam]] who researched the Ohlone in detail from 1902 to 1929. This was followed by [[John Peabody Harrington|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. Other research was added by Robert Cartier, Madison S. Beeler, and [[Sherburne F. Cook]], to name a few. 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.<ref>Historians and research years, Teixeira, 1997, biographical articles; notably page 34: "John Peabody Harrington". Variances in data and interpretation can be noted in main published references Kroeber, Merriam, Harrington, Cook.</ref>

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&nbsp;... 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.{{'"}}<ref>Quotation "both men disliked Kroeber" said by Heizer, in "Editor's Intro" of Merriam (1979). Quotes Harrington's "cornering research" and "Harrington&nbsp;... would resent Kroeber's 'muscling in'" said by Heizer 1975, in Bean:xxiii–xxiv.</ref>

Recent Ohlone historians who have published new research are Lauren Teixeira, Randall Milliken and Lowell J. Bean. They all note the availability of mission records which allows for continual research and understanding.<ref>See books by Teixeira, Milliken and Bean.</ref>

==Notable Ohlone people==

* 1777: Xigmacse, chief of the local Yelamu tribe at the time of the establishment of the Mission San Francisco, and thus the earliest known San Francisco leader.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Muwekma Ohlone |url=https://www.cultures.com/features/Muwekma/history_04s.html |access-date=2023-10-01 |website=cultures.com}}</ref>
* 1779: Baltazar, baptized from the Rumsen village of Ichxenta in 1775, he became the first Indian ''alcalde'' of Mission San Carlos in 1778. After his wife and child died, he fled to the Big Sur coast in 1780 to lead the first extensive Ohlone resistance to colonization.<ref>Milliken 1987:28</ref>
* 1791: Charquin, a chief of the Quiroste tribe, began leading an active resistance against the mission system soon after being baptized. After his capture in 1793, the Quirostes continued their resistance, ultimately launching the only direct attack on a Spanish mission in that December. Charquin escaped in 1795 and then was recaptured in 1796 and sent to the San Diego Presidio where he died two years later.<ref>Milliken, 1995:115-120</ref>
* 1807: Hilarion and George (their baptismal names) were two Ohlone men from the village [[Pacifica, California|Pruristac]] who served as ''alcaldes'' (mayors) of the Mission San Francisco in 1807. As such, they were at the beginning of a long line of [[Mayors of San Francisco]].<ref>Milliken, 1995:206–207.</ref>
* 1877: Lorenzo Asisara was a Mission Santa Cruz man who provided three surviving narratives about life at the mission, primarily from stories told to him by his own father.<ref>Castillo in Yamane 2002:51–62</ref>
* 1913: Barbara Solorsano, died 1913, Mutsun linguistic consultant to C. Hart Merriam 1902–04, from San Juan Bautista.<ref>Teixeira, 1997:33, 40.</ref>
* 1930: [[Ascencion Solorsano de Cervantes]], died 1930, renowned Mutsun doctor, principal linguistic and cultural informant to J. P. Harrington.<ref>Bean, 1994:133, 314.</ref>
* 1934: Jose Guzman, died 1934, he was one of the principal Chochenyo linguistic and cultural consultants to J. P. Harrington.<ref>Bean, 1994:101–107; Teixeira, 1997:35.</ref>
* 1939: [[Isabel Meadows]], died 1939, the last fluent speaker of Rumsen and a primary Rumsen consultant to J.P. Harrington.<ref>Hinton 2001:430 [https://books.google.com/books?id=nq5dzUTSiBsC&pg=PA430].</ref>
* 1965: [[Corrina Gould]], coleader of the [[Sogorea Te Land Trust]] and other organizations.
* 2006: Ralph Allan Espinoza, Director and founder of the only non-profit, Native American affiliated food bank in the U.S., "God Provides - Pomona Valley Food Bank" located in Pomona, California.
* 2016: Ann Marie Sayers, Mustun Ohlone leader, tribal chair of [[Indian Canyon, California]], the only federally recognized Indian country from Sonoma to Santa Barbara.
* 2022: [[Tommy Guerrero]], San Francisco musician, composer, and professional skateboarder.

==See also==
{{Portal|San Francisco Bay Area}}

*[[Ohlone mythology]]
*[[List of Ohlone villages]]
*[[Mission Dolores mural]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* Bean, Lowell John, ed. 1994. ''The Ohlone: Past and Present Native Americans of the San Francisco Bay Region.'' Menlo Park, California: Ballena Press Publication. {{ISBN|0-87919-129-5}}. Includes Leventhal et al., ''Ohlone Back from Extinction''.
* Bean, Lowell John and Lawton, Harry. 1976. "Some Explanations for the Rise of Cultural Complexity in Native California with Comments on Proto-Agriculture and Agriculture". in ''Native Californians: A Theoretical Retrospective''.
* Beebe, Rose Marie. 2001. ''Lands of Promise and Despair: Chronicles of Early California, 1535–1846.'' Heyday Books, Berkeley, co-published with University of Santa Clara. {{ISBN|1-890771-48-1}}.
* Beeler, Madison S. 1961. "Northern Costanoan". ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', 27: 191–197.
* Blevins, Juliette, and Monica Arellano. 2004. "Chochenyo Language Revitalization: A First Report". Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas, January 2004, in Oakland, California.
* Blevins, Juliette, and Victor Golla. 2005. "A New Mission Indian Manuscript from the San Francisco Bay Area". ''Boletin: The Journal of the California Mission Studies Association'', 22: 33–61.
* Brown, Alan K. 1974. ''Indians of San Mateo County'', in ''La Peninsula:Journal of the San Mateo County Historical Association'', Vol. XVII No. 4, Winter 1973–1974.
* Brown, Alan K. 1975. ''Place Names of San Mateo County'', San Mateo County Historical Association.
* Callaghan, Catherine A. 1997.  "Evidence for Yok-Utian". ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', 63: 18–64.
* Callaghan, Catherine A. 2001. "More Evidence for Yok-Utian: A Reanalysis of the Dixon and Kroeber Sets". ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', 67: 313–345.
* Cartier, Robert, ''et al.'' 1991. ''An Overview of Ohlone Culture.'' Cupertino, California: De Anza College. Reprinted from a 1991 report titled "Ethnographic Background" as prepared with Laurie Crane, Cynthia Janes, Jon Reddington, and Allika Ruby, ed.
* Cook, Sherburne F. 1976a. ''The Conflict Between the California Indian and White Civilization.''  Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 1976. {{ISBN|0-520-03143-1}}. Originally printed in ''Ibero-Americana'', 1940–1943.
* Cook, Sherburne F. 1976b. ''The Population of the California Indians, 1769–1970.'' Berkeley, California: University of California Press, June 1976. {{ISBN|0-520-02923-2}}.
* Costo, Rupert and [[Jeannette Henry Costo]]. 1987. ''The Missions of California: A Legacy of Genocide.'' San Francisco: Indian Historian Press.
* Cowan, Robert G. 1956. ''Ranchos of California: a list of Spanish concessions, 1775–1822, and Mexican grants, 1822–1846''. Fresno, California: Academy Library Guild.
* Fink, Augusta. 1972. ''Monterey, The Presence of the Past.'' San Francisco, California: Chronicle Books, 1972. {{ISBN|978-877010720-4}}
* Forbes, Jack. 1968. ''Native Americans of California and Nevada''. Naturegraph Publishers, Berkeley.
* Golla, Victor. 2007. "Linguistic Prehistory" in ''California Prehistory: Colonization, Culture, and Complexity'', pp.&nbsp;71–82. Terry L. Jones and Kathryn A. Klar, editors. New York: Altamira Press. {{ISBN|978-0-7591-0872-1}}.
* Heizer, Robert F. 1974. ''The Costanoan Indians''. California History Center Local History Studies Volume 18. Cupertino, California: De Anza College.
* Hinton, Leanne. 2001. ''The Ohlone Languages'', in ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=nq5dzUTSiBsC&pg=PA425 The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice]'', pp.&nbsp;425–432. Emerald Group Publishing {{ISBN|0-12-349354-4}}.
* Hughes, Richard E. and Randall Milliken. 2007. "Prehistoric Material Conveyance". In ''California Prehistory: Colonization, Culture, and Complexity'' Terry L. Jones and Kathryn A. Klar, eds. pp.&nbsp;259–272. New York and London: Altamira Press. {{ISBN|978-0-7591-0872-1}}.
* Jackson, Helen Hunt. 1883. ''[https://archive.org/details/reportonconditi00jackgoog Report on the Condition and Needs of the Mission Indians of California].'' Washington, D.C.: Govt. Printing Office. LCC 02021288
* Hylkema, Mark. 1995. ''Archaeological Investigations at the Third Location of Mission Santa Clara De Assis: The Murguia Mission 1781–1818''. California Department of Transportation Report for site CA-SCL-30/H.
* Kroeber, Alfred L. 1907a, "Indian Myths of South Central California". ''University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology'' 4:167-250. Berkeley. On-line at [http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/ca/scc Sacred Texts Online].
* Kroeber, Alfred L. 1907b, "The Religion of the Indians of California". ''University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology'' 4:6. Berkeley, sections titled "Shamanism", "Public Ceremonies", "Ceremonial Structures and Paraphernalia", and "Mythology and Beliefs"; available at [http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/ca/ric Sacred Texts Online]
* Kroeber, Alfred L. 1925. ''Handbook of the Indians of California''. Washington, D.C.: ''Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin'' No. 78.
* Levy, Richard. 1978. "Costanoan" in ''Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 8 (California)'', pp.&nbsp;485–495. William C. Sturtevant, and Robert F. Heizer, eds. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. {{ISBN|0-16-004578-9}}/0160045754.
* Merriam, Clinton Hart. 1979. ''Indian Names for Plants and Animals among Californian and other Western North American Tribes.'' Menlo Park, California: Ballena Press Publication. {{ISBN|0-87919-085-X}}
* Milliken, Randall. 1987. ''Ethnohistory of the Rumsen''. Papers in Northern California Anthropology No. 2. Salinas, California: Coyote Press.
* Milliken, Randall. 1995. ''A Time of Little Choice: The Disintegration of Tribal Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area 1769–1910.'' Menlo Park, California: Ballena Press Publication. {{ISBN|0-87919-132-5}} (alk. paper)
* Milliken, Randall. 2008. ''Native Americans at Mission San Jose.'' Banning, California: Malki-Ballena Press Publication. {{ISBN|978-0-87919-147-4}} (alk. paper)
* Milliken, Randall, Richard T. Fitzgerald, Mark G. Hylkema, Randy Groza, Tom Origer, David G. Bieling, Alan Leventhal, Randy S. Wiberg, Andrew Gottsfield, Donna Gillete, Viviana Bellifemine, Eric Strother, Robert Cartier, and David A. Fredrickson. 2007. "Punctuated Culture Change in the San Francisco Bay Area". ''California Prehistory: Colonization, Culture, and Complexity'' Terry L. Jones and Kathryn A. Klar, eds. pp.&nbsp;99–124. New York and London: Altamira Press. {{ISBN|978-0-7591-0872-1}}.
* Moratto, Michael, ed. 1984. ''California Archaeology''. New York: Academic Press. {{ISBN|0-12-506180-3}}
* Sandos, James A. 2004. ''Converting California: Indians and Franciscans in the Missions''. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. {{ISBN|0-300-10100-7}}
* Stanger, Frank M., ed. 1968. ''La Peninsula'' Vol. XIV No. 4, March 1968.
* Stanger, Frank M. and Alan K. Brown. 1969. ''Who Discovered the Golden Gate?: The Explorers' Own Accounts.'' San Mateo County Historical Association.
* Teixeira, Lauren. 1997. ''The Costanoan/Ohlone Indians of the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Area, A Research Guide.'' Menlo Park, California: Ballena Press Publication. {{ISBN|0-87919-141-4}}.
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* Kroeber, Alfred L. (ed.). 1925. ''[https://archive.org/stream/bulletin781925smit#page/462/mode/2up The Costanoans]''. Chapter 31. pp.&nbsp;462–473 in ''Handbook of Indians of California''.  Also available as: Washington, D.C.: ''Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78'', 1925.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ohlone}}
;Tribal websites:
* [https://www.ramaytush.org/ Association of Ramaytush Ohlone - Home]
* [http://www.costanoanrumsen.org/about.html Costanoan Rumsen Carmel Tribe Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813232939/http://www.costanoanrumsen.org/about.html |date=August 13, 2014 }}
* [http://www.icimedia.com/costanoan/index.html Amah-Mutsun Tribe Website]
* [http://ohlonecostanoanesselennation.org Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation Tribal Website]
* [http://www.indiancanyon.org/ Costanoan-Ohlone Indian Canyon Resource] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309031636/http://www.indiancanyon.org/ |date=2017-03-09 }}
* [http://www.muwekma.org/index.html Muwekma Ohlone Tribe Website]

;Other:

* [http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/costanoan/costanoanindiantribe.html Costanoan Indian Tribe], Access Genealogy
* [https://archive.today/20120803141737/http://www.islaiscreek.org/ohlonehistorybackground.html Overview of Yelamu Ohlone]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060709220747/http://www.spn.usace.army.mil/archaeology/rockremoval/4.0historicbkrd.htm Historic Background]
* [http://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/show_story.php?id=8259 Muwekma Ohlone lose federal court battle over official recognition of tribe]
*{{Cite web
| title = California Ohlone Offer Welcome and Support to Lakota and Child Rescue Project at Historic Meeting
| work = Yahoo! News
| access-date = 2012-07-25
| date = 2012-07-23
| url = https://news.yahoo.com/california-ohlone-offer-welcome-support-lakota-child-rescue-080158219.html
}}

{{Ohlone}}
{{Indigenous peoples of California}}
{{authority control}}
{{Good article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohlone People}}
[[Category:Ohlone| ]]
[[Category:Mission Indians]]
[[Category:History of Monterey County, California]]
[[Category:History of San Benito County, California]]
[[Category:History of San Francisco]]
[[Category:History of San Mateo County, California]]
[[Category:History of Santa Clara County, California]]
[[Category:History of Santa Cruz County, California]]
[[Category:History of the San Francisco Bay Area]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of California]]