A Lesson A Day for all Ages!
w i k i p e d i a
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The authenticated Coast Miwok villages are:[13]
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On Bodega Bay: Helapattai, Hime-takala, Ho-takala, Suwutenne, Tiwut-huya, Tokau. Also in this vicinity: Awachi (at the mouth of Estero Americano Creek), Amayelle (on San Antonio Creek), Kennekono (at Bodega Corners).
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On Tomales Bay: Echa-kolum, Shotommo-wi (near the mouth of San Antonio Creek), Sakloki (opposite Tomales Point, Dillon Beach area), Utumia (Near present-day town of Tomales.)
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At the present-day City of Petaluma: Etem, Petaluma (east of River). Also in this vicinity: Tuchayelin (northwest), Likatiut (on Petaluma River north of town), Meleya (on San Antonio Creek southwest of Petaluma), Susuli (northwest), Tulme (northwest), Wotoki (on the south side of the Petaluma River).
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At the present-day City of San Rafael: Awani-wi.
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At the present-day City of Sonoma: Huchi. Also in this vicinity: Temblek (west), Tuli (northwest), Wugilwa (on Sonoma Creek).
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At the present-day City of Cotati: Kotati, Lumen-takala (northeast). Also in this vicinity: Payinecha (west).
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At the present-day town of Nicasio: Echa-tamal.
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At the present-day town of Olema: Olema-loke.
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At the present-day City of Sausalito: Liwanelowa.
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Near the present-day town of Bolinas: Bauli-n
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Near the present-day town of Freestone: Oye-yomi, Pakahuwe, Patawa-yomi.
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Near the present-day town of Ignacio: Ewu, Puyuku (south), Shotokmo-cha (southeast).
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Near the present-day City of Novato: Chokeche, Olompolli (northwest).
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Near the present-day town of Valley Ford: Ewapalt, Uli-yomi (at the headwaters of Estero Americano Creek).
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Near the present-day town of Salmon Creek: Pulya-lakum (on the ocean, near the mouth of Salmon Creek).
ETHNOHISTORY AND ETHNOGEOGRAPHY OF THE COAST MIWOK AND THEIR NEIGHBORS
1783-1840
by Randall Milliken
Technical Paper presented to: National Park Service
Golden Gate NRA Cultural Resources and Museum Management Division Building 101
Fort Mason San Francisco, California
Prepared by: Archaeological/Historical Consultants
609 Aileen Street Oakland, California 94609
June 2009
Few Artifacts of the Coast Miwoks Have Survived!
Olompali and Nicasio
(wikipedia)
After Mission San Rafael closed during the 1834-1836 period, the Mexican government deeded most of the land to Californios, but allowed the Indians ex-neophytes to own land at two locations within traditional Coast Miwok territory: Olompali and Nicasio.
The Coast Miwok leader Camilo Ynitia, secured a land grant of 2 sq. leagues known as Rancho Olompali, from Governor Micheltorena of Alta California in 1843, which included the prehistoric Miwok village of Olompali (his home village) and is north of present-day Novato.[24]
The village of Olompali dates back thousands of years, had been a main center in around 1200, and might have been the largest native village in Marin County.[25] Ynitia held onto the Rancho Olompoli land title for 9 years, but in 1852 he sold most of the land to James Black of Marin.[25] He retained 1,480 acres (6.0 km2) called Apalacocha. His daughter eventually sold Apalacocha.
The other Indian-owned rancho was at Rancho Nicasio northwest of San Rafael. Near the time of secularization (1835), the Church granted the San Rafael Christian Indians 20 leagues (80,000 acres, 320 km²) of mission lands from present-day Nicasio to the Tomales Bay. About 500 Indians relocated to Rancho Nicasio. By 1850 they had but one league of land left. This radical reduction of land was a result of illegal confiscation of land by non-Indians under protest by Indian residents. In 1870, José Calistro, the last community leader at Nicasio, purchased the small surrounding parcel. Calistro died in 1875, and in 1876 the land was transferred by his will to his four children. In 1880 there were 36 Indian people at Nicasio. The population was persuaded to leave in the 1880s when Marin County curtailed funds to all Indians (except those at Marshall) who were not living at the Poor Farm, a place for "indigent" peoples.[26]
By the early 20th century, a few Miwok families pursued fishing for their livelihoods; one family continued commercial fishing into the 1970s, while another family maintained an oyster harvesting business. When this activity was neither in season nor profitable, Indian people of this area sought agricultural employment, which required an itinerant lifestyle. The preferred locality for such work was within Marin and Sonoma counties.
A Miwok Village in Marin County. October 22, 2020
Huimen, Gualen, Aguasto, Olema, Tamal, Omiomi, Alaguali, Segloque, Olompali, Petaluma, Chocuyen, Licatiut, and Yoletamal.
~~based on maps of Randall Milliken
Native American Heritage Month, the annual celebration of the history, culture, and traditions of Native American communities begins today. Today, we remember powerful Native American women who have shaped our history.
Family
Maxima Antonia Ynita, circa 1865
Camilo married four times. He married his first wife Elena 22 October 1822; she died in April 1830. He next married Candida on 22 May 1831; she died 13 March 1835. He then married Cayetana on 13 July 1835. By Cayetana he had a son, Juan Pablo, and two daughters, Maxina Antonia and Maria Antonia. Juan Pablo was born in 1839; he died in a boating accident on 28 May 1851 along with the father of the man who would marry Maria Antonia. Maxima Antonia (known as Mary Maxima later in life) was born 18 November 1841, and was baptized on 5 December 1841. Maria Antonia was born in August 1845, and was baptized on 31 October 1845. Her godfather was William A. Richardson, the namesake of Richardson Bay. Cayetana died 21 November 1850, and Camilo married his fourth wife, Susanna Maria on 5 January 1852.[2] Camilo also adopted another girl, who married John Pingston, a "free man of color". They had a son, Juan Jose Pingston. Camilo conveyed approximately 20 acres (81,000 m2) in the extreme southwest corner of Apalacocha to John on 14 February 1853.
Camilo's daughter Maxima Antonia was married first to Henry Holden Bennett, an American, on 12 June 1854, likely with Camilo's encouragement. Then after Bennett's death in 1856, Maxima married Henry Harper Willard. Henry and Maxima had 13 children. After Henry's death in 1888, Maxima married Armstrong McCabe on 31 July 1891. Maria Antonia married Joseph Knox and had two children. After Camilo's death, Maxima and Maria purchased a part of Rancho Sanel in the Sanel Valley of Mendocino County, and moved there with their husbands and helped found the town of Sanel, later named Hopland. On 26 November 1860, "Being in want of money for a Maintenance," Maxima and Maria sold Apalacocha, to John Knight, their Mendocino attorney, for $3,693. With that transaction, the last of aboriginal Olompali passed into American ownership.[citation needed]
Pictured below are Maxima and Maria Ynitia. Taken around 1868ish. Last Full Coast Miwok. Very powerful women. It's the voice in their liniage that remains strong today!
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TODAY'S LESSON: Our Lineage - Architecture January 4, 2021
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What language did the Miwok tribe speak?
The Miwok tribe spoke in seven different dialects of the Penutian language and were comprised of three groups. The Coast Miwok, the Lake Miwok and the Sierra Miwok.
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The Coast Miwok lived along the Pacific Coast (north of San Francisco from present-day Sausalito to Duncan's Point)
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The Lake Miwok who lived east and south of Clear Lake along the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers
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The Sierra Miwok, who the largest group, lived to the western slope on the foothills and along the rivers of the Sierra Nevada
