Ramaytush
Encyclopedia
The Ramaytush are one of the linguistic subdivisions of the Ohlone
Native American
s of Northern California
. Historically, the Ramaytush inhabited the San Francisco Peninsula
between San Francisco Bay
and the Pacific Ocean
in the area which is now San Francisco and San Mateo
Counties.
The Ramaytush were not thought to be a self-conscious socio-political group. Instead they were defined by modern anthropologists and linguists, initially in the early twentieth century as the San Francisco Costanoans – the people who spoke a common dialect or language within the Costanoan branch of the Utian family
. The term Ramaytush was first applied to them during the 1970s.
Historically, Ramaytush language territory was virtually bordered by ocean and sea, except in the south where they bordered the people of the Santa Clara Valley who spoke Tamyen
Ohlone and the people of the Santa Cruz Mountains and Pacific Coast at Point Año Nuevo
who spoke dialects merging toward Awaswas
Ohlone. To the east, across San Francisco Bay, were tribes that spoke the Chochenyo
Ohlone language. To the north, across the Golden Gate
, was the Huimen local tribe of Coast Miwok
speakers. The northernmost Ramaytush local tribe, the Yelamu of San Francisco, were intermarried with the Huchiun Chochenyos of the Oakland area at the time of Spanish colonization.
European disease took a heavy toll of life on all tribal people who came to Mission Dolores after its creation in 1776. The Ohlone people were forced to use Spanish resulting in the loss of their language. Hundreds of Ohlone people at Mission Dolores were taken to the north bay to construct Mission San Rafael which was then used as a hospital for sick neophytes. Alfred L. Kroeber
claimed that the west bay people were extinct by 1915. The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, descendants of closely related Chochenyo and Tamyen Ohlone speakers, have been vocal advocates for Native American issues on the San Francisco Peninsula, as have some Ohlone descendants from the Monterey Bay Area farther south.
The Yelamu group, probably a multi-village local tribe, with the following villages within the present City and County of San Francisco:
On San Francisco Bay, south of San Francisco:
On the Pacific Coast, south of San Francisco:
Other Villages (known as Rancherias by the Spanish) listed in San Francisco Mission De Asiss registry that are not given specific locations:
Ohlone
The Ohlone people, also known as the Costanoan, are a Native American people of the central California coast. 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...
Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
s of Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
. Historically, the Ramaytush inhabited the San Francisco Peninsula
San Francisco Peninsula
The San Francisco Peninsula is a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area that separates the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. On its northern tip is the City and County of San Francisco. Its southern base is in Santa Clara County, including the cities of Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Mountain...
between San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
and the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
in the area which is now San Francisco and San Mateo
San Mateo County, California
San Mateo County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It covers most of the San Francisco Peninsula just south of San Francisco, and north of Santa Clara County. San Francisco International Airport is located at the northern end of the county, and...
Counties.
The Ramaytush were not thought to be a self-conscious socio-political group. Instead they were defined by modern anthropologists and linguists, initially in the early twentieth century as the San Francisco Costanoans – the people who spoke a common dialect or language within the Costanoan branch of the Utian family
Utian languages
Utian is a family of indigenous languages spoken in the central and north portion of California, United States. The Miwok and Ohlone peoples both spoke languages in the Utian linguistic group...
. The term Ramaytush was first applied to them during the 1970s.
Historically, Ramaytush language territory was virtually bordered by ocean and sea, except in the south where they bordered the people of the Santa Clara Valley who spoke Tamyen
Tamyen
The Tamyen are one of eight linguistic divisions of the Ohlone people groups of Native Americans who lived in Northern California. The Tamyen lived throughout the Santa Clara Valley...
Ohlone and the people of the Santa Cruz Mountains and Pacific Coast at Point Año Nuevo
Año Nuevo State Reserve
Año Nuevo State Park is a state park of California, USA, encompassing Año Nuevo Island and Año Nuevo Point, which are known for their pinniped rookeries. Located in San Mateo County, the low, rocky, windswept point juts out into the Pacific Ocean about south of San Francisco and the Golden Gate...
who spoke dialects merging toward Awaswas
Awaswas
The Awaswas people are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone Native Americans of Northern California...
Ohlone. To the east, across San Francisco Bay, were tribes that spoke the Chochenyo
Chochenyo
The Chochenyo are one of the divisions of the indigenous Ohlone people of Northern California...
Ohlone language. To the north, across the Golden Gate
Golden Gate
The Golden Gate is the North American strait connecting San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. Since 1937 it has been spanned by the Golden Gate Bridge...
, was the Huimen local tribe of Coast Miwok
Coast Miwok
The Coast Miwok were the second largest group of Miwok Native American people. The Coast Miwok inhabited the general area of modern Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golden Gate north to Duncans Point and eastward to Sonoma Creek...
speakers. The northernmost Ramaytush local tribe, the Yelamu of San Francisco, were intermarried with the Huchiun Chochenyos of the Oakland area at the time of Spanish colonization.
European disease took a heavy toll of life on all tribal people who came to Mission Dolores after its creation in 1776. The Ohlone people were forced to use Spanish resulting in the loss of their language. Hundreds of Ohlone people at Mission Dolores were taken to the north bay to construct Mission San Rafael which was then used as a hospital for sick neophytes. Alfred L. Kroeber
Alfred L. Kroeber
Alfred Louis Kroeber was an American anthropologist. He was the first professor appointed to the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, and played an integral role in the early days of its Museum of Anthropology, where he served as director from 1909 through...
claimed that the west bay people were extinct by 1915. The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, descendants of closely related Chochenyo and Tamyen Ohlone speakers, have been vocal advocates for Native American issues on the San Francisco Peninsula, as have some Ohlone descendants from the Monterey Bay Area farther south.
Ramaytush tribes and villages
Ramaytush groups, for the most part independent territorial local tribes, include:The Yelamu group, probably a multi-village local tribe, with the following villages within the present City and County of San Francisco:
- Chutchui also listed as Suchui in Mission Dolores Registry – on Mission Creek, the latter in the vicinity of Mission DoloresMission San Francisco de AsísMission San Francisco de Asís, or Mission Dolores, is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco and the sixth religious settlement established as part of the California chain of missions...
. The Mission also had a Christianized named for Chutchui which was Neustra Senora de la Asumpcion. The burial ground (shellmound) for Chutchui was located on where the Marshall school (15th Street & Capp Street) is located today - Sitlintac also listed as Sitinac in Mission Dolores Registry – near Chutchui
- Amuctac and Tubsinte – in Visitation Valley.
- Amutaja – Adjoining Canada de la Visitacion (Visitation)
- Petlenuc – near the San Francisco PresidioPresidio of San FranciscoThe Presidio of San Francisco is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area...
. - Mitline – near Lake Merced
- Opurome – beach side of Lake Merced
On San Francisco Bay, south of San Francisco:
- Urebure – San Bruno Creek near San Bruno MountainSan Bruno MountainSan Bruno Mountain in northern San Mateo County, California is the northernmost part of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Most of the mountain lies within the San Bruno Mountain State Park, a unique open-space island in the midst of the San Francisco Peninsula's urbanization. Next to the state park is the...
. - Altamu – San Mateo
- Chachanegtac – Las Pulgas
- Gulcismijtac – North of Las Pulgas
- Ussete – near Las Pulgas
- Chagunte – San Bruno
- Chioischin – San Bruno
- Siplichiquin – San Bruno
- Malsaitac – near San Mateo
- Supichum – San Mateo
- Shalson (spelled Ssalson by Spanish missionaries) along San Mateo Creek and in the contiguous San Andreas Valley (present-day San MateoSan Mateo, CaliforniaSan Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of approximately 100,000 , it is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, located between Burlingame to the north, Foster City to the east, Belmont to the south,...
). Their permanent or semi-permanent villages included:- Aleitac – along San Mateo Creek in San Andreas Valley.
- Altahmo – (also spelled Altagmu) – along San Mateo Creek, in San Mateo or in the San Andreas Valley.
- Tunmuda – near San Mateo Creek
- Uturbe – along San Mateo Creek, probably in San Mateo, less likely in the San Andreas Valley.
- Lamchin – Las Pulgas Creek in present Redwood City and to the west on upper Union Creek.
- Puichon – lower San Francisquito Creek and nearby areas (present-day Cities of Palo Alto and Mountain ViewMountain View-Canada:*Mountain View County, Alberta, a municipal district*Mountain View, Alberta, a hamlet in Cardston County*Mountain View, Ontario, a community in Prince Edward County*Mountain View No...
).
On the Pacific Coast, south of San Francisco:
- Aramai – coastal valleys just south of San Francisco. Its constituent villages were:
- Timigtac on Calera Creek in modern day Pacifica.
- Pruristac on San Pedro Creek in modern day Pacifica.
- Chiguan – Princeton Point and Half Moon Bay.
- Cotegen – Tunitas Creek and adjoining areas south of Half Moon Bay.
- Oljon – Lower San Gregorio and Pescadero creeks, north of Point Ano Nuevo.
Other Villages (known as Rancherias by the Spanish) listed in San Francisco Mission De Asiss registry that are not given specific locations:
- Aluenchi
- Amictu
- Atarpe
- Chimus
- Chirau
- Chocoayco
- Chupanes
- Chynan Jumiamuc
- Conap
- Cosapa
- Geluasibe
- Liuanegtur
- Macsinum
- Olestura
- Ousint
- Payesone
- Puichon
- Pusuay
- Septuca
- Subchiam
- Toquisara
- Tuzsint
- Uturpe
Notable Ramaytush Ohlone people
- 1777 – Chamis of the village Chutchui. On 24 June 1777, at age 20 he became the first neophyte to join the Mission San Francisco by baptism. He was given the Christian name of Francisco Moraga. No Mission Indian would be given a last name. Chamis would also be the first to be married on on April 27 1778 to the Ohlone woman with the Christian name Catarina de Bononia. Between 1777 and 1850 7,280 Ohlone people were baptized at Mission Dolores.
- 1777 – Pilmo from Playa de la Dolores is 2nd baptized on June 24 1777 and given the named Jose Antonio.
- 1777 – Taulvo from Playa de la Dolores is 3rd baptized on June 24 1777 and given the name Juan Bernardino.
- 1777 – Xigmacse, A Yelamu chief, at the time of the establishment of the Mission San Francisco.
- 1779 – Charquín, given the baptismal name of Francisco in the same year, appears to have been the leader of the first band of runaways in 1789. Exiled to San DiegoSan Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, he died there in the spring of 1798. - 1783 – Mossués, captain of the village Pruristac, baptized in 1783
- 1797 – Valeriano and Jorge elected Alcalde of Mission SF de Assis. California's first governor Felipe de Neve ordered the Missions to elect local Alcaldes around 1779.List of pre-statehood mayors of San Francisco
- 1797 – Acursio and Fermin elected regidores (council members)at Mission SF Assis.
- 1798 – Biridianna, Last living Chutchui villager to have witnessed the founding of Mission Dolores.
- 1804 – Poylemja, ceremonially reburied at Dolores cemetery.
- 1807 – Hilarion and George (their baptismal names) were two Ohlone men from the village PruristacPacifica, CaliforniaPacifica is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Half Moon Bay.-Overview:The City of Pacifica is spread along a six mile stretch of the north central California coastal beach and hills, nestled in several small valleys spanning between...
who served as alcaldes (mayors) of the Mission San Francisco in 1807. - 1807 – Jocnocme, ceremonially reburied at Dolores cemetery.
- 18?? – 1823 Pomponio, of Half Moon BayHalf Moon Bay, CaliforniaHalf Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, USA. Its population was 11,324 as of the 2010 census. Immediately at the north of Half Moon Bay is the Pillar Point Harbor and the unincorporated community of Princeton-by-the-Sea....
led raids against Mission Dolores, taking livestock and horses. He was caught, escaped and recaptured then executed. - 18?? – Monica, worked as a boatman for William Richardson, who built the first house in Yerba Buena in 1836. Monica told Richardson about the oral history of a time prior to the opening now known as the Golden Gate.
- 1842 – José Antonio – age 16, one of the last twelve known ohlone living in SF. All Ohlone people at the Mission would be given the name of a catholic saint upon baptism. None would be given a last name and be designated in the census as either a neofita or neofito in the census.
- 1842 – Alejo – age 35, one of the last twelve known ohlone living in SF.
- 1842 – Pablo – age 18, one of the last twelve known ohlone living in SF.
- 1842 – Junipero – age 43, one of the last twelve known ohlone living in SF.
- 1842 – José Ramon – age 16, one of the last twelve known ohlone living in SF.
- 1842 – Josefa – age 14, one of the last twelve known ohlone living in SF.
- 1842 – Consolacion – age 12, one of the last twelve known ohlone living in SF.
- 1842 – Ygnacio – age 53, one of the last twelve known ohlone living in SF.
- 1842 – Dunas – age 49, one of the last twelve known ohlone living in SF.
- 1842 – Forcuata – age 40, one of the last twelve known ohlone living in SF.
- 1842 – José – age 16, one of the last twelve known ohlone living in SF.
- 1842 – José D. – age 3, one of the last twelve known ohlone living in SF.
- 1893 – Pedro Evencio has been called the last (Ramaytush) Native American of San Mateo. His son José Evencio lived at Coyote Point until World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
; final whereabouts are unknown. - 1950s – Andrés Osorio, of Half Moon BayHalf Moon Bay, CaliforniaHalf Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, USA. Its population was 11,324 as of the 2010 census. Immediately at the north of Half Moon Bay is the Pillar Point Harbor and the unincorporated community of Princeton-by-the-Sea....
, said to be the area's last "Indian", possibly Tulare or Mexican.