History
Introduction
In an interview with Indian Sub-agent Adam Johnson in the early 1850s, Pedro Alcantara declared, “I am all that is left of my people. I am alone.” Alcantara was born in 1786 at Ssalaime, a village of the Cotegen tribelet located on the Pacific Coast side of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Mateo County. Alcantara’s lineage did in fact survive until the death of his granddaughter Marie Buffet in 1922. A second family is known to have survived as well. Joseph Evencio, a descendant of the Ssalson tribelet and the son of Pedro Evencio, is thought to have survived until the 1930s in San Mateo County. Writing in reference to the Evencio family Alan K. Brown stated with some certainty that “the San Mateo County Indians have vanished from among us as completely as any could” (Brown 1973:23). While other families may have survived into the twentieth century, only one lineage is known to have produced living descendants in the present. The lineage originated from the Aramai tribe at the village of Timigtac located near present-day Pacifica.
Ramaytush
Prior to the arrival of the Spanish in 1769, the indigenous inhabitants of the San Francisca Peninsula, referred to as the Ramaytush, numbered about 1,400 persons. They were divided into ten independent tribelets, including the Aramai that was situated on the west side of the San Francisco Peninsula in and around present-day Pacifica. The Aramai lived in two primary villages: the smaller village of Timigtac was located along Calera Creek, and the primary village of Pruristac was located immediately south in the San Pedro Valley.
The Aramai may have extended further south and included the Cotogen tribelet as well. In his interview with Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Pedro Alcantara reported that there were five primary “tribes of the Bay of San Francisco . . .: the Ah-wash-tes, Ol-hones, (called, in Spanish, Costanos, or Indians of the Coast,) Al-tah-mos, Ro-mo-nans, and Tu-lo-mos. There were in addition a few small tribes, but all upon the land extending from the entrance to the head of the San Francisco Bay, spoke the same language” (Schoolcraft 1853:506).
Three in Alcantara’s list can be clearly identified with one of the ten Spanish tribelet designations. Fathers Palou and Gambon referred to the Yelamu as Aguazios (or Awashtes) in a 1783 report. One of the primary villages of the Ssalson was called Altagmu (or Altahmos), and of course the Olhones refers to the Oljon tribelet. Alcantara identified as Romonan and was born in the Cotegen tribelet, which was a small tribelet situated between the Chiguan and the Oljon tribelets along the Pacific coast. Milliken et al (2009) suggest that Romonan refers to the Aramai (260). Perhaps, then, the Cotegen were an additional band closely related to the Aramai and Chiguan, which would explain Alcantara’s claim to be from one of the larger tribelets of the peninsula, which the combined tribelets of the Aramai, Chiguan, and Cotogen would certainly represent.
Finally, the Tulomos is unrecognizeable as a potential tribelet along the San Francisco Peninsula. Milliken et al. suggest that the name may refer to the Tulare or Yokut people of the central valley (260). The Urebure tribelet would have been excluded from the list of five because of its small population. The larger Lamchin tribelet is conspicuously absent from the list, as is the Puichon tribelet, although the majority of Puichon were baptized at Mission Santa Clara as were the majority of the smaller Olpen tribelet.
Of the ten tribelets of the San Francisco Peninsula, the Aramai (villages of Timigtac and Pruristac) were the most politically influential. The headman of the village at Pruristac had at least three wives and six children. His children married the children of other headmen more frequently than any other headman. Aramai men accounted for nearly one-third of leadership positions at Mission Dolores, which is impressive given its comparatively small size. The Pruristac Headman's son retained an important status at the mission until his death in 1830.
The Aramai may have extended further south and included the Cotogen tribelet as well. In his interview with Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Pedro Alcantara reported that there were five primary “tribes of the Bay of San Francisco . . .: the Ah-wash-tes, Ol-hones, (called, in Spanish, Costanos, or Indians of the Coast,) Al-tah-mos, Ro-mo-nans, and Tu-lo-mos. There were in addition a few small tribes, but all upon the land extending from the entrance to the head of the San Francisco Bay, spoke the same language” (Schoolcraft 1853:506).
Three in Alcantara’s list can be clearly identified with one of the ten Spanish tribelet designations. Fathers Palou and Gambon referred to the Yelamu as Aguazios (or Awashtes) in a 1783 report. One of the primary villages of the Ssalson was called Altagmu (or Altahmos), and of course the Olhones refers to the Oljon tribelet. Alcantara identified as Romonan and was born in the Cotegen tribelet, which was a small tribelet situated between the Chiguan and the Oljon tribelets along the Pacific coast. Milliken et al (2009) suggest that Romonan refers to the Aramai (260). Perhaps, then, the Cotegen were an additional band closely related to the Aramai and Chiguan, which would explain Alcantara’s claim to be from one of the larger tribelets of the peninsula, which the combined tribelets of the Aramai, Chiguan, and Cotogen would certainly represent.
Finally, the Tulomos is unrecognizeable as a potential tribelet along the San Francisco Peninsula. Milliken et al. suggest that the name may refer to the Tulare or Yokut people of the central valley (260). The Urebure tribelet would have been excluded from the list of five because of its small population. The larger Lamchin tribelet is conspicuously absent from the list, as is the Puichon tribelet, although the majority of Puichon were baptized at Mission Santa Clara as were the majority of the smaller Olpen tribelet.
Of the ten tribelets of the San Francisco Peninsula, the Aramai (villages of Timigtac and Pruristac) were the most politically influential. The headman of the village at Pruristac had at least three wives and six children. His children married the children of other headmen more frequently than any other headman. Aramai men accounted for nearly one-third of leadership positions at Mission Dolores, which is impressive given its comparatively small size. The Pruristac Headman's son retained an important status at the mission until his death in 1830.
References
Randall Milliken at al. Ohlone/Costanoan Indians of the San Francisco Peninsula and Their Neighbors, Yesterday and Today. Oakland, CA: Archaeological and Historical Consultants, 2009.
Randall Milliken at al. Ohlone/Costanoan Indians of the San Francisco Peninsula and Their Neighbors, Yesterday and Today. Oakland, CA: Archaeological and Historical Consultants, 2009.
Spanish/Mexican Colonization
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Spanish explorations in Aramai territory began 31 October 1769 when the Portola Expedition arrived in San Pedro Valley. The Portola party remained in the area for a few days, and on 4 November 1769 from a summit along Sweeny Ridge the Spanish explorers beheld San Francisco Bay. A second expedition under Captain Rivera reached the San Pedro Valley in December of 1774.
Mission San Francisco De Assis or Mission Dolores was founded by Fray Francisco Palou 29 July 1776 along Dolores Creek and near the Yelamu village of Chutchui. Using average baptism years as an indicator, the Aramai were the third tribe to be incorporated into Mission Dolores, and by 1784 they had been almost entirely incorporated into Mission Dolores. In 1785 conditions at the mission became worse for neophyte Indians as disease spread as a result not only of overcrowding and a dwindling supply of food. In response, the missionaries to construct an outpost (or asistencia) in Aramai territory in the San Pedro Valley. Life expectancy for the Aramai did not differ from life expectancy for other Ramaytush tribes. At Mission Dolores life expectancy after baptism declined to about 4 years on average by 1790. According to Randy Milliken et al., “[b]y 1801 all of the native San Francisco Peninsula people had joined Mission Dolores” (Milliken et al. 2 ) As the result of disease and other factors related to missionization, approximately 80% of the Aramai population died by 1800. By 1834 “only 37 descendants of the original San Francisco Peninsula Indians” (Milliken at al. 2) were living at Mission Dolores, and by 1842 that number dwindled to about 15 persons (The San Francisco Census of 1842). References
Randall Milliken at al. Ohlone/Costanoan Indians of the San Francisco Peninsula and Their Neighbors, Yesterday and Today. Oakland, CA: Archaeological and Historical Consultants, 2009. “The San Francisco Census (1842).” < http://www.sfgenealogy.com/spanish/cen1842.htm> |