The Yelamu are a local tribe of

Ohlone people The Ohlone, formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the ...

from the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

. The Yelamu speak a language called Ramaytush. The moder
Association of Ramaytush Ohlone (ARO)
are the descendants of the Ramaytush. Ohlone_war_dance_closeup

Randall Milliken's study, "A Time of Little Choice: The Disintegration of Tribal Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area 1769-1810," estimates that 160 to 300 Yelamu were living in San Francisco when the Spanish established

Mission San Francisco de Asís Mission San Francisco de Asís ( es, Misión San Francisco de Asís), commonly known as Mission Dolores (as it was founded near the Dolores creek), is a Spanish Californian mission and the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco. Located i ...

on June 30, 1776. Artifacts have been found across San Francisco from at least 50 different locations during modern construction activities within the city that were originally left by family groups that moved seasonally between villages around present day San Francisco. Additional villages existed to the south of San Francisco as well.

History

According to anthropologists the Yelamu people and their Ohlone neighbors arrived here between 4,000-6,000 years ago. They live on the northern tip of the

San Francisco Peninsula The San Francisco Peninsula is a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area that separates San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. On its northern tip is the City and County of San Francisco. Its southern base is Mountain View, south of Palo Alt ...

in the region comprising the City and County of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

before the arrival of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

missionaries in 1769. The first four Yelamu people who converted to Christianity were baptized by Father Palou and Father Santa Maria between 1777 and 1779. They were absorbed into the

that was founded in 1776 by the Spaniards, and became some of the first "Mission Indians" in the San Francisco area.

Villages

The largest of the three San Francisco groups had its winter village at Tubsinthe, near Candlestick Point and its summer home at Amuctac in Visitacion Valley. The second group moved between their summer camp at Chutchui village located along Mission Creek in the Mission and Sitlintac on the edge of Mission Bay that was filled in during the 19th century. The third community lived near Crissy Field at Petlenuc. The Yelamu/Ramai villages south of San Francisco: * Ompuromo - Southwest of Lake Merced * Timigtac - Near present day Pacifica * Pruristic - Present day Pacifica * Siplichiquin - southeast foot of San Bruno Mountain * Urebure - Present day San Bruno See

List of Ohlone villages Over 50 villages and tribes of the Ohlone (also known as Costanoan) Native American people have been identified as existing in Northern California circa 1769 in the regions of the San Francisco Peninsula, Santa Clara Valley, East Bay, Santa ...

for a larger list.

Notes

References

* Brown, Alan K. ''Indians of San Mateo County'', ''La Peninsula:Journal of the San Mateo County Historical Association'', Vol. XVII No. 4, Winter 1973-1974. * Brown, Alan K. ''Place Names of San Mateo County'', published San Mateo County Historical Association, 1975. * Milliken, Randall. ''A Time of Little Choice: The Disintegration of Tribal Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area 1769-1910'' Menlo Park, CA: Ballena Press Publication, 1995. (alk. paper) * Teixeira, Lauren. ''The Costanoan/Ohlone Indians of the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Area, A Research Guide''. Menlo Park, CA: Ballena Press Publication, 1997. .

External links

Cultural Contact at the Presidio
{{authority control Native American tribes in California History of San Francisco History of San Mateo County, California Ohlone