The Real Pioneers

        The King of Spain played fast and loose with America’s natural resources when he granted 45,000 acres to Luis Peralta.  If the land along the San Francisco bay belonged to anyone, it was the Ohlone, native people who had lived in the area since before anyone could remember. 

        The Ohlone were masters at utilizing the entire environment without exploiting it.  Everything they ate, wore or used came from their visible world.  Their only manufactory was their hands, the only recreation what they invented.  Their only medicine came from plants and was dispensed by someone with no medical books.

        Deer in our area were plentiful then and were hunted with stone tipped arrows and spears.  Every part of the deer was used.  The meat, of course, was eaten, but bones were repurposed into tools and musical instruments.  The hide, after a lengthy process, could appear in a dance costume, a piece of clothing or a disguise for a hunter creeping quietly on his hands and knees, to wear as he stalked the living meat market.

        Babies were carried on their mother’s back in a framework most commonly made of willow.  The babies didn’t wear diapers, so the mother lined the bottom of the carrier with cattail fuzz.  When the baby felt the urge, he just let go and the fuzz absorbed whatever came out.  Back at the village, the carrier was emptied and its contents buried away from the dwellings.  New cattail fuzz was introduced and the carrier was ready for the next trip.

        These clever, inventive people, so well adapted to living here, traded with other native groups they came into contact with.  The trade among groups was extensive.  Abalone disks have been found as far east as Missouri.

        The weaver’s craft was not restricted to baby carriers.  Baskets were used for just about everything you have in your kitchen, even cooking pots.  And the artistry was so fine some of them could hold water.

        I haven’t told you anything new here.  Many people have written about Native American people and about the Ohlone.  Malcolm Margolin, in particular has provided us with lots of information about them.

        My purpose in this item is to remind us of when California history really starts and who the first pioneers actually were.