The Ohlone Way: Indian Life in the San Francisco-Monterey Bay Area

200 Pages·1997·9.532 MB·English

by  Malcolm Margolin

THE OHLONE WAY

THE
OH LONE
co-Montere Ba Area
y y
·
WAY
MALCOLM MARGOLIN
ILLUSTRATED BY MICHAEL HARNEY
Heyday Books, Berkeley, California
DEDICATED TO THE DESCENDANTS OF THE OHLONES
© 1978b yM alcoMlamr golin
Afterwo©r d2 00b3y M alcolMma rgolin
All rightsr eservNeodp .o rtioofnt hiwso rkm ayb er eproduocret dr ansmiint taendy
form orb ya nym eanse,l ectroornm iecc haniicnacll,u ding photaoncdro epcyoirndgi ng,
orb ya nyi nformatsitoon raogrre e triseyvsatle mw,i thopuetr missiinwo rni tifrnogm
Heyday Books.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
MargolMianl,c olm.
TheO hlonwea y: Indilainif ent heS anF rancisco-Mobnatyae rreeIa yM alcolm
Margolin.
p.cm.
Inclubdiebsl iograrpehfiecraelan ncdei sn dex.
ISBN9 78-0-930548( 8p-b0k:a1. l-kp.a per)
1.O hlonIen dians-CalifornFiraa-nScaiBnsa cyAo r ea-Hist2o.rO y.h lone Indians­
California-FSraann ciBsacyAo r ea-Socliiaaflne d c ustom3s.O. h lonIen dians­
California-MonBtaeyRr eegyi on-Hist4o.Or hyl.o nIen dians-California-Monterey
BayR egion-Solciiafaneld c ustom5s.S. a nF ranciBsacyAo r e(aC alif.)-H6i.s tory.
Monterey Bay (Calif.)-History. I. Title.
E99.032M23070 3
979.4'6-dc22
2009002221
ISBN0:- 930588-01-0
ISBN-1937:8 -0-930588-01-4
Illustrwaetrideoo nnswe i tthh kei ncdo operaotfti hoEena sBta yR egioPnaarlDk i strict.
The City Miner Sierra Club Yodeler.
Portioofnt sh ibso ohka vaep peairne d andt he
CoveArr tl:i nolbeluomc pkr ionftr ulbeo abty A nniSet enz1e9l9,5
BookD esign: RebecLceaG aets
PrintainndBg i nding: McNa&u GguhntnoS,na liMniec,h igan
Orderisn,q uirainedcs o,r responsdheonucbleeda ddrestsoe:d
HeydaByo oks
P. 0. Box9 145B,e rkelCAe y9,4 709
(5105)4 9-35F6ax4 ,( 5105)4 9-1889
www.heydaybooks.com
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Far from being a solitary effort, this book has been nqurished by many
people.
I'm especially grateful to Vera Mae Fredrickson, Christina Kessler, and
Randy Milliken for hours of conversation, criticism, and encouragement.
I'm doubly indebted to Randy Milliken for having provided the informa­
tion for the map of the Ohlone tribelets. Others who read the manuscript
and offered valuable suggestions were Betty Bacon, Joshua Barkin, Dorothy
Bryant, Fred Cody, Larry DiStasi, Rob Edwards and Julie Olsen Edwards,
Norm Kidder, David Nawi, Chris Nelson, and David Peri. Since I did not
always follow the advice I received, the author alone is responsible for errors
and misjudgments.
Others who helped in a variety of ways include David Anderson, Barbara
Bash, James Bennyhoff, David Fredrickson, Philip Galvan, Amy Godine,
Selene Kumin, Frank and Sue Lobo, Red McClintock, Bill Noble, Jim
Schnitzen, Oscar Serley, Christopher Weills, Malcolm Wood, and my
father, Max Margolin.
The illustrations were in part financed by the East Bay Regional Parks
District, and will be used in the visitor center at Coyote Hills Regional
Park, Newark. The artist and the author are particularly grateful to Jerry
Kent and Harlan Kessel for having worked out the agreement.
Rina Margolin, my wife, drew the maps, edited and proofread, and
otherwise shared in the making of the book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 1
PART I THE OHL ONES AND THEIR LAND
Land and Animals 7
An Ohlone Village 13
Hunting as a Way of Life 23
The Deer Hunter 29
Almost Amphibious 36
The Acorn Harvest 41
The Seed Meadow 46
A Wandering Life 52
A Settled Way 58
PART II LIFE IN A SMALL SOCIETY
Birth and Childhood 67
Marriage 78
A Life of Sharing 89
The Traders 95
The Chief 103
Warfare 108
PART III THE WORLD OF THE SPIRIT
The Basketmakers 117
The Shamans 123
Sacred Time 134
The Island of the Dead 145
Dancing 150
PART IV MODERN TIMES
The Last Two Centuries 157
Postscript 169
Afterword: 2003 171
Bibliography 179
Index 184
ILLUSTRATIONS
Landscape facing 1
Beached Whale 10
Village 17
Deer Hunter 34
Netting Geese 39
Fisherman 55
Young Couple 82
Within a Village 92
Basketmakers 119
Shaman 129
Cremation 146
Mission 165
MAPS
Ohlone Tribelets 2
California Language Groups 61
THE OHLONE WAY