Ark Independent Studies
840 N. Branciforte Avenue
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
831-429-3898 ext 206
A Little about the Native Peoples of the Central California Coast
Contributed by Vivian Gratton
Very Basic History and Tribal Names
Native peoples have lived on the Central California coast for at least 10,000 years. (This always gets me. Think since 8,000 B.C.) The Spanish, who arrived in the late 1700's called these native people "costeños," which has been anglicized to Costanoan. Most descendants of these original peoples identify themselves as "Ohlone." I wish I could give you the exact origin of this name. There are various possibilities, but the name, I believe, is of native Ohlone origin, perhaps from one of the villages.
Ohlone/Costanoan territory extended from San Francisco and the Carquinez Strait to the western edge of the Central Valley and south to Carmel and the Pinnacles area. These native peoples lived in many tribal groups. It is very difficult, and sometimes impossible to reconstruct these different groups, so people have come to identify with the eight surviving Ohlone languages. Descendents from these different tribal groups continue to live in the Bay Area, although there are many who are not aware of their heritage because their grandparents, great-grandparents, and on, pretended to be Mexican to avoid persecution and even death. Ohlone/Costanoan people are making great efforts through cultural revival, research, and political actions to uncover andrestore their heritage and to regain federal recognition as a tribe. (They know they are the native people of this land we live on; we know it; the U.S. government does not want to say it is so.)
A very long established way of life on this land came to an end between 1769 and 1809. In 1769 Spanish missionaries and soldiers arrived to settle around Monterey Bay. By 1809, virtually no native Ohlone villages remained along the Monterey Bay. The people had either died of introduced diseases, or moved to agricultural communities associated with the Franciscan missions. The loss of life to smallpox, measles and other diseases was tremendous ‹ perhaps 70% of the population died within a space of a few years of "missionization." To find out more about this life, please read, A Gathering of Voices, The Native Peoples of Central California Coast, edited by Linda Yamane, 2002, visit the exhibit at the Natural History Museum by Seabright beach, or read the Ohlone Way by Malcolm Margolin.
Branciforte area
The land that this school is on would have been occupied by members of the Uypi tribal group (part of the Awaswas language group). The Uypi group held the mouth of the San Lorenzo River, and with Branciforte Creek running up from that river, this would undoubtedly have been land that they gathered acorns and other plant food from and hunted on. The creek would have provided many resources for these people. Try to imagine it, with thick salmon runs, bears (hungry for salmon as well), oaks, thick blackberry bushes, paths along the creek, all native vegetation.
The Branciforte Villa, a Spanish land grant, was established on this land, on the other side of the river from the Mission. I think there has been a bridge of some sort at Water Street for a long time. If anyone would like to do more research on this piece of land, all the way back to the first arrival of the Spaniards, please do so and contact me. This is when reference librarians beat the internet. Try the the County library, then the U.C. library.
The Costanoan-Rumsen Carmel Tribe
The Costanoan-Rumsen Carmel Tribe responded to the request of students to use the name Costanoa for their school name with a tribal proclamation agreeing to the use of the name and an offer to come to the school site and offer a healing dance. The headman of the tribe has ancestors who were Awaswas, the tribal language group in the school area. This land was taken from them, and many things have happened on this land since then. The healing dance will be offered to bring this disruption back into harmony as the Costanoa and other small schools begin to use this land for their learning. The Costanoan-Rumsen Carmel Tribe lost their land in the mid 1850s and moved south, now living in the Chino/Pomona area. They return to Costanoan/Ohlone land often for ceremony. To find out more about the Costanoan-Rumsen Carmel tribe and the Humaya (Hummingbird) Dancers, check out www.costanoanrumsen.org
The Costanoan Indian Canyon Nation
Indian Canyon is a piece of federal Indian trust land in the Hollister Hills that has been home to Costanoan-Mutsun people for thousands of years. Ann Marie Sayers, Chair of the Indian Canyon Nation has offered this land for the use of indigenous people to conduct their ceremonies and gatherings. She also welcomes many school groups, college students, and others there for educational purposes and gatherings such as the California Indian Storytelling. Ms. Sayers will offer her words and blessings for the best beginnings for Costanoa school and for all schools on this campus. There are many opportunities for individual and group projects and field trips to Indian Canyon. I¹ll make sure Ann Marie speaks of these as well. To find out more about Indian Canyon, check out www.indiancanyon.org
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