THE COAST MIWOK

THE COAST MIWOK LIVED IN MARIN COUNTY AS WELL AS THE SOUTHERN PART OF SONOMA COUNTY. THEY WALKED AN HOUR TOP THE COAST TO COLLECT CLAM SHELLS, ABALONE, HUNT BIRDS, AND BROUGHT THESE ITEMS BACK TO THEIR VILLAGE. TWO DIALECTS WERE SPOKEN - THE BODEGA BAY MIWOKS AND A DIALECT FROM THE REST OF THE MIWOKS IN MARIN.



THERE ARE OVER 600 VILLAGE SITES IN THE COAST MIWOK LOCATED ALONG FRESH WATER STREAMS. MORE THAN 100 VILLAGES AND SITES ARE IN THE POINT REYES AREA BY TOMALES BAY. THEY HUNTED GAME ANIMALS AND BIRDS WERE ABUNDANT. HUNDREDS OF DEER, ELK, BLACK AND GRIZZLY BEARS WERE HUNTED AS WELL AS CONDORS WITH 12 INCH WING SPREADS. THEY COLLECTED NUTS, SEED BERRIES, AND NATIVE PLANTS SIMILAR TO THE POMO. SOME OAKS WERE PRIVATELY OWNED. THEY ATE OCEAN FISH AND SHELLFISH. THE MIWOKS HAD TO PAY ATTENTION TO SOME OF THE LANDOWNERS WITH CLAM SHELL MONEY TO FISH IN SOME PLACES.

SOME OF THEIR VILLAGES WERE RETURNED FOR 100S -1000'S OF YEARS. THIS INFORMATION COMES FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE, EARLY EXPLORERS JOURNALS, AND ETHNOGRAPHIC RECORDS, AND MIWOK ELDERS.

SOME MIWOK VILLAGES HAVE BEEN DATED TO 3500 YEARS AGO. IN ANCIENT TIMES THE WATER LEVEL OF THE OCEAN WAS MUCH LOWER, SO MANY SITES HAVE BEEN BURIED. THESE SHELL MOUNDS CONSIST OF BROKEN SHELL BITS AND ASHY CHARCOAL SOIL, MIXED WITH SMALL FLAKES OF OBSIDIAN AND FISH AND ANIMAL BONE, STONE, AND BONE TOOLS AS WELL.

AT LIMATOUR BEACH THERE WAS A SITE REPRESENTING A SHELL BEAD MONEY INDUSTRY. THE SITE HAS MANY UNDRILLED BEAD BANKS AND SOME PERFECTLY ROUND SHELL BEADS, DRILL BITS, AND BONES OF WATER BIRDS. ALSO MANY STONE MORTARS AND PESTLES FOR PROCESSING ACORNS. OTHER ACTIVITIES THAT WERE INDICATED HERE INCLUDE LARGE GAME AND BIRD HUNTING, FISH, SHELLFISH COLLECTING, ACORN PROCESSING, ADHESIVE PREPARATION FOR USE AS ADHERING POINTS TO ARROW SHAFTS. THEY USED EARTH OVENS AS DID MANY TRIBES IN CALIFORNIA.

THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY ARCHAEOLOGISTS EXCAVATED MANY SITES ON POINT REYES PENINSULA IN 1900 - 1910. THE SOUTHERN VILLAGES AT POINT REYES INDICATE A DIFFERENT CULTURE AND THEY USED FIRED CLAY BALLS TO SLING AND HUNT WATER BIRDS. NATIVE CHERT CORES WERE FLAKED ONTO TOOLS.

AT LIMANTOUR BEACH NEAR DRAKE'S ESTERO SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, THE ENGLISH SAILOR, LANDED IN THE 16TH CENTURY. THEY MADE RECORDS IN 1579 OF MEETING THE MIWOK. HIS BOAT HAD BEEN LEAKING. HIS EXPEDITION LEFT CHINESE PORCELAIN LEFT CHINESE PORCELAIN AND OTHER ARTIFACTS. HIS ASSISTANT NOTED IN THEIR DIARY THAT THE MIWOK WERE A GENTLE AND LOVING PEOPLE.

BAPTISMAL AND BURIED RECORDS FROM THIS MISSION DELORIS AND OTHERS IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA INDICATE THAT 90% OF THE INDIANS LIVING TODAY AT MISSIONS DIED FROM MALNUTRITION, DISEASES FROM EUROPEANS, AND CULTURAL LOSS AND DEPRESSION DURING 1975 - 1830'S.

IN 1810 RUSSIAN SEA OTTER HUNTERS CAME TO THE BODEGA COAST. SOME EARLY EXPLORERS EVICTED INDIANS FROM THEIR TRADITIONAL LANDS, HOWEVER, MOST CONTINUE TO LIVE ON THEIR ORIGINAL LANDHOLDINGS. BY EARLY 1900'S ALL COAST MIWOKS HAD MARRIED INTO OTHER CULTURAL GROUPS. THE INFORMATION HERE IS LARGELY ELDER MIWOK INTERVIEWS. CONDUCTED BY ISABEL KELLY FROM BERKELEY IN 1932. MANY COAST MIWOKS ARE KNOWLEDGEABLE OF THEIR ANCESTRY. THEY ORGANIZED THEMSELVES IN 1992 TO SECURE TRIBAL LANDS AS THEIR OWN. THE PROCESSED ACORN MUSH SIMILARLY AS DID THE POMO, BUT USED TAN OAKS (SEE ACORN PREPARATION BLOG). THEY SOMETIMES MIXED THE ACORN MUSH WITH PINOLE. THE WOMEN BUILD A FIRE AND THROW COOKING ROCKS INTO IT FOR HEATING THEIR MUSH. THEY HAVE WOVEN A TIGHT BASKET THAT HOLDS WATER. THE WOMAN USES A GREEN HAZELWOOD STICK TO ADD A ROCK TO THE MUSH IN THE BASKET WHEN THE ROCK IS COOLED SHE REPLACES IT WITH ANOTHER HOT ROCK UNTIL THE MUSH IS THICKENED. IT MAY BE EATEN WARM OR COLD.

IN SUMMER THEY ATE SEAWEED OR KELP AND IT WAS ROASTED OR FRIED. DUCKS AND MUDHENS, QUAIL AND OTHER GAME WAS PLENTIFUL. BASKETS WERE WOVEN AS EASILY AS THE POMO WOVE BASKETS. THEY USED THEM FOR ALL KINDS OF REASONS. THERE ARE NO COAST MIWOK BASKETS LEFT IN MUSEUMS TODAY. THEY WERE BURNED AFTER THE DEATH OF THE MAKER.

ROLES AND OCCUPATIONS

MEN WERE THE HUNTERS, WOMEN WERE THE GATHERERSOF SEEDS, BERRIES, NUTS, AND PLANTS. A VILLAGE HEADMAN WAS CALLED HOYPU WHO MEDIATED DISPUTES. A YOUNG HOYPU WAS TRAINED BY AN OLD HOYPU AND FOUR OLD WOMEN. THE HEAD WOMAN WAS CALLED MAAYEN. SHE HELD CONSIDERABLE POWER.REGARDING DECISIONS, DANCES, CEREMONIES, AND HEADED THE WOMAN'S DANCE HOUSE. THE MEN MADE CLAM SHELL DISC BEADS BOTH MEN AND WOMEN HELD DOCTOR POSITIONS TO CURE MIND AND BODY. THEY CURED BY PRAYER, DANCE, CURING SONGS AND HERBAL REMEDIES. SOMETIMES THEY SUCKED FOREIGN OBJECTS THROUGH A BONE TUBE. SOME DOCTORS TALKED TO SPIRITS. CHILDREN TOOK CARE OF THE ELDERLY.

A NARCOTIC PLANT CALLED MONOY WAS BROUGHT FROM SANTA ROSA AND USED BY DANCERS TO PRODUCE VISIONS! THEY HAD AN IMPORTANT DANCE WHERE THE MAN AND WOMAN HEADS PEOPLE INVITED NEIGHBORS TO COME. ONLY MEMBERS OF THE DANCE HOUSE WERE INVITED TO DANCE. THEY HAD AN EARLY SUMMER DANCE WITH DANCERS DRESSED IN TULE.


















SYLVIA THALMAN