---

This obsidian artifact was recently discovered during archeological investigation at Crissy Field. It is too large and heavy to be an arrow tip (5.2 cm long by 4.7 cm wide) but could have tipped a dart or spear; or it may have been a display item. It was found near an Ohlone/Costanoan site that has been dated to about 1550 A.D.

---

Native Americans have called the San Francisco Bay region home for over 10,000 years. The San Francisco Peninsula south to Monterey was occupied by people of a common language family known as the Ohlone or Costanoan. Archeological evidence indicates an Ohlone/Costanoan presence at the site of the Presidio by at least 740 A.D.

Ohlone/Costanoan people were organized into over 50 small societal groups or tribes. Ethnohistory suggests that small villages were maintained along the marshlands and in other locations, including today's Fort Mason, Crissy Field, and Sutro Baths area of San Francisco. Groups moved annually between temporary and permanent village sites in a seasonal round of hunting, fishing, and gathering. Periodic burning of the landscape was conducted to promote the growth of native grasses for seed gathering and to create forage for deer and elk. The world view and spirituality of the Ohlone/Costanoan people was expressed in a complexly woven tapestry of stories, myth, song, dance, and ritual.

Life abruptly and dramatically changed for the native people of the San Francisco Peninsula in 1776, when Spanish military and civilian settlers arrived to establish military garrisons (presidios), Franciscan missions, and civil settlements (pueblos). By 1810, introduced diseases, forced labor, and efforts to indoctrinate the indigenous peoples into an alien society and religion led to a tragic destruction of the Ohlone/Costanoan way of life in this "time of little choice."

The Ohlone/Costanoan Today

Today, descendants of the Ohlone/Costanoan people live throughout the Bay Area. Many are organized into distinct tribal groups. While participating in contemporary society, they are actively involved in the preservation and revitalization of their native culture. Restoration of native language, protection of ancestral sites, practice of traditional plant uses, story telling, dance, song, and basket weaving are all aspects of these restoration efforts. The National Park Service has begun work with Ohlone/Costanoan groups and descendants in stewarding the preservation and interpretation of ancestral sites in the Presidio and throughout the park.

Resources

Bean, Lowell John (editor), 1994. The Ohlone Past and Present: Native Americans of the San Francisco Bay Region. Ballena Press, Novato, CA.

Kroeber, Alfred L., 1925. Handbook of the Indians of California. Bureau of Ethnology, Bulletin 78, Washington D.C.

Milliken, Randall, 1995. A Time of Little Choice: The Disintegration of Tribal Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area 1769-1810. Ballena Press, Novato, CA.

Margolin, Malcolm, 1978. The Ohlone Way: Indian Life in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas. Heyday Books, Berkeley, CA.