Coyote was married,
but he and his wife had only one child. They were alone, with no
neighbors. Coyote
thought this was bad. He wanted to marry another wife, and have many
children. He begged
and begged, but his wife wouldn't let him. Finally, she told him to marry
again. Coyote did
so, and had five children. Each had a different language, and they
established five
rancherias: Ensen, Rumsien, Ekheya (Esselen), Kakonta, and Wacharones.
Coyote went back
to his first wife. He said, "Now, it's good. Now we have many neighbors."
Our Aboriginal Homelands
Before contact with the Spaniards, Native Californians developed distinctively arranged tribal territories, within which we practiced a complex type of plant and animal management, or farming. The Spaniards called these "rancherias". Each rancheria had at least one central, permanant village, while other permanent and seasonal villages sites were located around it. The ancestors of Esselen Nation came from at least nine major rancherias. Some of these rancherias have come to be known by several different names, since their names were written down by several different priests. These nine rancherias are:
1.Wacharon (Guachirron)/Calendaruc
(Moss Landing, Castroville, Watsonville, area);
2.Ensen (interior side of Fort
Ord and Salinas Valley);
3.Achasta (near Monterey);
4.Tucutnut/Capanay (middle reaches
Carmel River drainage);
5.Soccoronda/Jummis/Sepponet
(upper Carmel River drainage);
6.Echilat/Ixchenta/Tebityilat
(upper San Jose and Las Garzas Creek drainages);
7.Esselen/Excelen/Excelemac
(Santa Lucia Mountains/Ventana Wilderness);
8.Sargentaruc/Jojopan/Pixchi
(Carmel River south to Sur);
9.Eslanajan (Soledad/Arroyo
Seco).
Central and northern Monterey County are the ancestral homeland of the today's Esselen Nation. Our ancestors survived the Spanish-American Empire, the Mexican Republic, and the formal acquisition of California by the United States of America in 1846-1848.
Our Nation's Name
The Spaniards called all of the people on the Central California coast from the San Francisco peninsula to south of Big Sur "costeños", or coast-dwellers. The word has been changed to "Costanoans" and now revers to all the people who are native to the western coast. The Spaniards also referred to all of the aboriginal peoples of the Monterey region as Carmelenos and also Montereyanos.
The tribal name Ohlone has also been applied to the aboriginal tribes in both the greater San Francisco and Monterey Bay regions for at least a century. The elders of Esselen Nation were identified as Costanoan by the BIA and Bureau of American Ethnology during the early part of the twentieth century, so that our official name is now Ohlone/Costanoan-Esselen Nation.
The name "Esselen", derives from Ex'seien, which means "The Rock". It comes from the phrase, "Xue elo xonia eune" ("I come from the rock"). Members of the Esselen Nation still refer to the mountainous interior of the Carmel Valley, an area of profound spiritual and historical significance, as Cashagua, a name derived from the original Esselen word Xasiuan. The names of wild foods and healing herbs still used by Esselen elders retain the older names, such as soyazo for mountain huckleberries. Work is progressing on the establishment of the "Modern Esselen" language for present-day use among our tribal people. The last fluent speaer died in 1939.
Esselen Nation's History Since European Contact
In December 1602 Sebastian Vizcaino sailed into what is now Monterey Bay for repairs and supplies. Various tribal members from the coastal rancherias met his ship and provided food for Vizcaino and his crew.
"The land [is] well
populated with Indians without number, many of whom came on different
occasions to our
camp. They seem to be gentle and peaceful people; they say with signs that
there are many villiages
inland. The sustenance which these Indians eat most of daily, besides
fish and shellfish,
is acorns and another fruit larger than a chestnut; this is what we could
understand of them."
- Sebastian Vizcaino
"The port is all
surrounded with rancherias of affable Indians, good natives and well-disposed,
who like to give
what they have, here they brought us skins of bears and lions and deer.
They
use the bow and
arrow and have their form of government. They were very pleased that we
should have settled
in their country. They go naked at this port."
- Fray Antonio de
la Ascencion
For many years after, trade ships heading east from the Phillippines or coming north and south to and from the Vancouver region would anchor at this bay, and interact and trade with our ancestors.
The Mission San Carlos Borromeo was founded at Monterey in May, 1770. Shortly after, our Esselen ancestors began to filter into the mission. By December, the first Indian baptism took place. It was of a young boy, five years old, from Achasta, one of Esselen Nation's ancestral rancherias.
As the Spanish padres and military men were establishing a foothold for the northernmost frontier of the Spanish Empire, the baptized and converted Esselen Indians, working as indentured laborers, built and supported several of the northern Franciscan missions (San Carlos and Soledad), military posts and settlements. Many fled the missions to the interior while others died under harsh and restrictive treatment by the missionaries and settlers.
The American flag was raised in Monterey in 1846 by US. forces, who claimed formal possession of California. Admiral Sloat gave a speech on the "Color of Right" about legal entitlements to be honored by the US Government. In 1848 the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo ending the Mexican War also guaranteed protection of Indian rights.
After California statehood in 1850, Congress and the President of the United States authorized Special Agents McKee, Barbour and Wozencraft to treat with California Indians in 1851. Eighteen treaties were negotiated between the California tribes and these special agents. These treaties were established to accomplish two basic goals:
1). To give most of the native lands to the United States
govenment
2). To save 8.5 million acres of land in the interior
of the state to be used as reservations for the California Native Americans.
These 18 treaties were never ratified, and were kept secret by the government until 1905. These treaties remain unhonored by the Federal Government. In 1928, four years after American Indians officially become U.S. citizens, Congress passed the California Indian Jurisdictional Act of 1928. The purpose of this act was twofold: 1) to create a tribal roll for those California Indians who could prove that their ancestors resided in the State of California as of June 1, 1852; and 2) to allow the State Attorney General to sue the U.S. Government over the illegal acquisition of California Indian lands due to the refusal of the Senate in ratifying the 18 treaties. Many of the Elders of Esselen Nation enrolled between 1928-1932 and were recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Esselen Nation Today
The Esselen Nation currently consists of approximately 350 enrolled members with many applications pending. Approximately 60% of our enrolled members reside in Monterey and San Benito Counties. The current council consists of the following individuals who represent the lineages descended from the nine aboriginal rancherias and districts: Rudy Rosales (Tribal Chairperson), Alan Gil (Treasurer), Lorraine Escobar (Tribal Genealogist), Gloria Ritter, Cheryl Urquirdez, Janette Ritter, Marlene Baker, and Richard Cominos, Jr.
Esselen Nation submitted its tribal narrative to the Branch of Acknowledgement and Research (BAR, Bureau of Indian Affairs) on January 25, 1995 during a White House meeting. The completed petition, which meets the requisite seven criteria established by Congress and the BIA for recognition, was hand delivered to BAR in August 1995. At present, it is our understanding that we are under consideration by BAR as a previously Federally Recognized Tribe. This year, we may indeed be restored to our recognized status, which we lost due to L.A. Dorrington, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Sacramento, who decided to unilaterally terminate 135 tribal communities in 1927. Although unofficially terminated, the families of Ohlone/Costanoan-Esselen Nation continue to thrive and are in the process of revitalizing our tribal government, community and heritage. Even though we have made great strides under the federal guidelines, we still desire support from within and from outside our community.
For more information, please contact the Tribal Council at:
Esselen Nation
P.O. BOX 1301
Monterey, CA 93942
or send e-mail to the Tribal Administration Office at ACominos@aol.com.
Contents copyright © 1996, 1999 by Ohlone/Costanoan Esselen Nation.
Last update 28 April 1999.
This page was edited by Jessica M. Cox to make it acceptable for fifth
graders as part of Authentic Education Technology at the University of
San Francisco, 2000.