6 - Heritage of a Bayshore Culture

WAYSIDE PANEL TITLE: Heritage of a Bayshore Culture

PANEL DESCRIPTION: The wayside faces west, on the western side of the trail.

VIEW FROM WAYSIDE: This panel looks out over the Crissy Field tidal marsh, though the view directly ahead is largely obscured by a large coyote brush, with its tightly packed leaves and branches. To the right, or northwest, the density of the coastal scrub plants lessens, and on clear days, affords a clear view of the Golden Gate Bridge, the bay and the Marin Headlands. Behind and to the right of the wayside are picnic tables. A path to the right curves around to the left along the coastal scrub and connects to the San Francisco Bay Trail at a section with a bridge over the marsh. To the left of the wayside there's a gate that leads to a boardwalk bridge over the marsh, and, a wayside panel.

TEXT: Based on archeological study, native people have lived in this region for at least 8,000 to 10,000 years, and in what is now San Francisco at least 5,500 years. Traditional creation stories place the origins of the Ohlone people to "a time out of memory." The Yelamu, an Ohlone tribe, inhabited the tip of the San Francisco peninsula at the time Spanish colonization began in the 1770s. These lands bordering the bay provided the Yelamu with a rich array of plants and animals that supplied food, tools, ornaments and shelter.

An abundance of plants and animals in this estuarine location sustained the Yelamu. In limited archeological excavations at this site, the remains of at least 84 species were found. These include shellfish, surfperch and various other fish (huyi in Ohlone); birds, chiefly seabirds, waterfowl, shorebirds, birds of prey, ravens and crows; marine mammals and assorted terrestrial mammals, including sea otters (shuushch), harbor seals (asks), tule elk (tiwu) and grizzly bears (ores).

These Ohlone words are from the well-documented southern Rumsien and Mutsun dialects. Only a few words from the Ramaytush dialect spoken here were ever recorded.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATION #1: A detailed illustration of an Ohlone dwelling. Shaped like a bell, the structure is made of woven natural fibers, with a rounded opening on one side.

CAPTION: The most common type of Ohlone house (illustrated here by Linda Yamane, Rumsien Ohlone) along the bay shore was a domed structure made from the wood of willows and thatched with tule.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATION #2: To the right of the illustration of the Ohlone house is a drawing of three Ohlone people in a small canoe. Two of them are men, shirtless with their long, black hair tied on top of their heads and headbands around their foreheads holding long, pointed paddles in both their hands over their shoulders. Between the men is a woman dressed in a white, hooded cloak. The waters are calm, and the hilly land formations behind them plainly visible.

CAPTION: Ohlone people made boats of tule, which they used for transportation, fishing and hunting.

DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE #1: On the right hand side of the panel is a photograph of an empty dirt patch with a brown sign with white lettering that reads, "Crissy Field Project."

CAPTION: Preserving an Ohlone Cultural Site Together. Buried remnants of a seasonal Yelamu village were discovered here before the reconstruction of the Crissy Field marsh began. In consultation with Ohlone tribes, individuals from the Ohlone community and archeologists, the National Park Service redesigned the marsh to preserve this native heritage. This decision reflected the preference of the National Park Service and the Ohlone community to preserve this site rather than disturb it.

Middens--accumulations of bones, shells, food refuse, fire pits and discarded and lost materials--mark the locations of ancient encampments. Some middens contain the remains of human burials, although none were found here.

DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE #2: A photograph of a black, obsidian stone arrow, with one smooth and one serrated edge.

CAPTION: Arrowhead styles signify specific time periods. This obsidian projectile point, along with shell beads, the remains in soil layers and scientific dating methods, indicates this site was occupied 200 to 600 years ago.

DIRECTIONS TO NEXT WAYSIDE: From the wayside, walk to your left about six feet where you will find a boardwalk and gated fence. The latch to the gate is on the top left. Proceed through the gate onto the boardwalk about 400 feet until you reach a wayside on the right.