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Archaeology teaches us about the people who preceded us. We tend to look back at these cultures seeking a resemblance of their way of life to our own. In San Francisco, the first people are often referred to as the Ohlone. In fact, Ohlone is a larger name for a whole group of people who spoke a similar language. The tribe that lived here were the Yelamu. These were the first people of San Francisco; those who created the foundation for a place many of us call home.
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A culture that existed for over 10,000 years can not be summarized in a few paragraphs so I will not attempt to do so. There is evidence that the Yelamu Ohlone were a slightly nomadic people with seasonal villages spaced through out what is now our city.
Like the other Ohlone, they created shellmounds. There has been much debate if these sites were for waste or burials. Early work said waste area or in archaeological terms,a “midden”. Later research says burial site. Archaeologists have found thousands of human remains, artifacts, and shells. As a burial site, the shellmound seems to mirror the rituals of many other cultures. A person's possessions are placed with them after death and the living gathered together in celebration often feasting. In time, those layers became almost sedimentary as the soil, shells, bones, and artifacts combined. What is definitely known is that the existence of the shellmounds prove that the Ohlone had been living here for at least 5000 years before the Spanish arrived. The idea of one culture of people living in the same location for such a long time is a rarity in history.
Like the other Ohlone, they created shellmounds. There has been much debate if these sites were for waste or burials. Early work said waste area or in archaeological terms,a “midden”. Later research says burial site. Archaeologists have found thousands of human remains, artifacts, and shells. As a burial site, the shellmound seems to mirror the rituals of many other cultures. A person's possessions are placed with them after death and the living gathered together in celebration often feasting. In time, those layers became almost sedimentary as the soil, shells, bones, and artifacts combined. What is definitely known is that the existence of the shellmounds prove that the Ohlone had been living here for at least 5000 years before the Spanish arrived. The idea of one culture of people living in the same location for such a long time is a rarity in history.
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In the early 1900s, an archaeologist named Nels Nelson completed an extensive study of the remaining shellmounds in San Francisco Bay Area. He was able to map over 400 of them. This leads to one to start thinking about where these sacred sites are now, over a hundred years later. Sadly few remain due to destruction, development, or burial. One of the largest was the Emeryville Shellmound which was 60 feet high and 600 feet in diameter and destroyed for modern development. There is another at the base of San Bruno Mountain and in Fremont at Coyote Hills Regional Park. There are two shellmound sites in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area but their exact locations are understandably kept secret. I must not be alone in my curiosity as there's a fascinating article in Oakland Local about one man's research/hunt last year for the shellmound sites in the East Bay.
Although many Native Californian communities were destroyed from their European contact, the Ohlone were not one of them. Currently all remaining members have joined together under the Muwekma Ohlone name. They are actively fighting for their remaining sacred sites to be protected.
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