Ramaytush Tribal Territory
IntroductionBecause Ramaytush tribal territory is located along the San Francisco Peninsula and is bounded by water on its northern, eastern, and western sides, the only land border to determine is to the south. Conventional maps, like the one created by Levy in 1978 (below, right), show the southern boundary extending from (approximately) the mouth of Stevens Creek on the Bay side to just north of Point Ano Nuevo on the Ocean side. Randall Milliken (1995) locates the Ramaytush dialect of the San Francisco Bay Costanoan language along the San Francisco Peninsula, but does not specifically locate the southern boundary.
Considered altogether, the evidence provided below shows that the southern boundary of the Ramaytush dialect was likely Matadero Creek on the Bay side and near Bean Hollow on the Coast side. In general (within a mile or so), the southern boundary (east to west) parallels the Oregon Expressway, Page Mill Road, Alpine Road, Heritage Grove Trail, Town Fire Road, Shaw Flat Trail, Ocean View Trail, Butano Ridge Fire Trail, and West Ranch Road. |
Inherent Tribal Sovereignty
"We are sovereign in our own land."
As the original peoples (i.e., First Nation) of the San Francisco Peninsula, we are sovereign in our own ancestral homeland. We hold an inherent right as the first peoples of the San Francisco Peninsula to self-determination--both self-governance and to cultural continuance. Our Indigenous sovereignty pre-exists colonization and is not dependent upon federal recognition. Because we are under the political dominion of the United States Congress, we share sovereignty in our own lands with the United States as a nation, but we do not share sovereignty in our lands with any other sovereign entity, including other Native peoples. As in the past, we will defend our rights and responsibilities as Native peoples in our own land. |
Ramaytush Tribal Territory Map, 2023
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Richard Levy's Map, 1978
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Evidence for Ramaytush Tribal Territorial Boundaries
1. Ramaytush As a Polity
The Ramaytush peoples acted as an organized social and political entity within their linguistic territory.[1] In addition to heads at each individual village, the Ramaytush had a district leader who was the head of the Ramaytush district. The district leader, Luciano Tiburcio,was located at the village of Pruristac in the Aramai tribe. In order to maintain relations among the independent tribes of the Ramaytush polity, the children of Luciano Tiburcio intermarried with the children of key village heads within Ramaytush territory. No other village/tribal head had children who intermarried more often with other village/tribal heads than Luciano Tiburcio. On the southern end of Ramaytush territory on the Bay side, the marriages included children from the village of Cachinigtac, a village shared by the Lamchin and Puichon tribes. The Lamchin and Puichon tribes were neighboring tribes and were closely related as proven in the mission records. Since Puichon territory extended to the area just south of San Francisquito Creek to approximately the Palo Alto Airport, its southern boundary marks the know southern boundary of the Ramaytush polity. Intermarriages with the Oljon tribe, whose southern boundary extended to Bean Hollow on the Ocean side, mark the southern boundary of the Ramaytush polity on the Ocean side.
Additional evidence of the Ramaytush polity can be proven by their dominance as staff at Mission Dolores. From 1785, at which time they entered Mission Dolores, until just after 1800, by which time most Ramaytush had died, the children of Luciano Tiburcio and Manuel dominated positions of leadership in the mission staff at Mission Dolores. The leadership extended to spouses of Luciano Tiburcio. As might be expected, Ramaytush families continued to intermarry with one another at Mission Dolores just like they had prior to the invasion of the Spanish until high death rates severely limited the choice of marital partners. In other words, the political authority exercised by the district leader, Luciano Tiburcio continued even at Mission Dolores.
In sum, evidence from the mission records clearly indicates that the Ramaytush existed as a distinct social and political entity within their linguistic territory. While each independent tribe had its own leadership, the district head of the Ramytush maintained social and political relations through the intermarriage of his children across the whole of Ramaytush territory. Marriages with the children of other village/tribal heads confirm the southern boundary as being the southern edge of Puichon territory on the Bay side and the southern edge of Oljon territory on the Ocean side.
Additional evidence of the Ramaytush polity can be proven by their dominance as staff at Mission Dolores. From 1785, at which time they entered Mission Dolores, until just after 1800, by which time most Ramaytush had died, the children of Luciano Tiburcio and Manuel dominated positions of leadership in the mission staff at Mission Dolores. The leadership extended to spouses of Luciano Tiburcio. As might be expected, Ramaytush families continued to intermarry with one another at Mission Dolores just like they had prior to the invasion of the Spanish until high death rates severely limited the choice of marital partners. In other words, the political authority exercised by the district leader, Luciano Tiburcio continued even at Mission Dolores.
In sum, evidence from the mission records clearly indicates that the Ramaytush existed as a distinct social and political entity within their linguistic territory. While each independent tribe had its own leadership, the district head of the Ramytush maintained social and political relations through the intermarriage of his children across the whole of Ramaytush territory. Marriages with the children of other village/tribal heads confirm the southern boundary as being the southern edge of Puichon territory on the Bay side and the southern edge of Oljon territory on the Ocean side.
[1] The same pattern existed elsewhere in California, including a Huichiun district in Chochenyo territory, and the Humaliwo and Lulapin districts in Chumash territory.
2. Linguistic Boundaries: Pedro Alcantara
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Baptized at Mission Dolores in San Francisco 25 September 1786 (SFD-B:553), Pedro Alcantara was born a month earlier at the village called Ssalaime “on Purisima Creek on the Pacific Coast, south of Half Moon Bay” (Milliken 1995:242). His brother was born at village of Timigtac along Calera Creek. Alcantara’s father, Gonzalo Simmòn (SFD-B:534), originated from the village of Torose near Ssalaime. His mother, Restituta Juuim (SFD-B:535) came from the village of Chutchui of the Yelamu in present-day San Francisco. The couple renewed their marriage at Mission Dolores 22 April 1786 (SFD-M:126).
In his interview Pedro Alcantara claimed to be a member of the Romanon tribe, which is a mis-hearing/mis-spelling of Ramai-non. Ramai (or Aramai) is the root word for west. Tribal peoples were often referred to by the location of their tribe relative to the tribe making the reference. In other instances, tribal members referred to themselves using a location and not a tribal name. For example, two persons baptized from what we today call the Aramai tribe refer to their place of origin as Aramai, as being "from the west." In this case, the Romanon tribe refers to the combination of three tribal designations currently used by scholars and others: the Aramai, the Chiguan, and likely the Cotegen. Since the Aramai and Chiguan tribes were headed by brothers, and since the head of the Aramai tribe was born in Chiguan territory, it is likely that the two were considered one tribal community by their own members. The Cotegen tribe, south of the Chiguan, was likely a continuation of the larger Aramai tribe. The villages of Ssalaime and Torose were located in what we today refer to as Cotegen territory. |
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3. Language and EthnicityPersons who spoke the Chochenyo dialect of the San Francisco Bay Costanoan language referred to the Ramaytush as people from the San Francisco side of the Bay, and they noted differences between the dialects--between Chochenyo and Ramaytush. In other words, the Chochenyo differentiated the Ramaytush from themselves as a people who spoke a different dialect. This linguistic differences is used as an indicator of ethnic differences between the Chochenyo and the Ramaytush. Today, we use linguistic differences (language and dialect) to differentiate ourselves and our respective tribal territories. In this way, linguistic boundaries function as tribal territorial boundaries.
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4. Geographic BoundariesIn our traditional past, physiographic features delimited tribal territorial boundaries. While the specific physical features have been lost to history, our ancestors were keenly aware of the boundaries of their respective tribal territories. Today we can closely estimate those boundaries based on physical features of the landscape in combination with documented evidence, like Spanish diaries. Furthermore, all of the Ramaytush tribes along the San Francisco Peninsula occupied watersheds, and most tribal territories extended to the coast in order to provide access to necessary resources near the ocean and bay shores; therefore, the boundaries of watersheds are valid indicators that can be used to estimate tribal territorial boundaries.
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Ramaytush Tribal Territorial Boundaries
Our specific tribal territorial boundaries, based on the information above (especially relying upon watershed boundaries), is as follows (from east to west): Southeast corner of Palo Alto Airport, Embarcadero Road, Oregon Expressway, Page Mill Road, Skyline Blvd (south), Big Basin Way, Big Basin Highway, Unnamed Fire Road (continuation of China Grade Road?), South Butano Fire Trail, Olmo Fire Road, Southwest corner of Olmo Fire Road to Pigeon Point.
Pacific Ocean-Side Location:
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San Francisco Bay-Side Location:
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