https://www.herculeshistory.org/files/original/d5a907a0d6aa0c1bd0b5e7e1b5f4fac6.pdf ad3fdcbd6976727144be66a2a26a946f PDF Text Text //» L. .t.as h 7 The native Herculenas, about; whom has been obtained some knowledge a.re the Indians or natives Californians. Research has classified the native Californians into several linguistic stock,_ who share some similarity in their language. The group that lived in this area was from the Pentian linguistic stock, who also occupied all sides of ----•.<---~- -- the bay, south to Santa Clara Valley and east into the Central Valley. A group of tiese people who lived on or close to the coast, from present Contra Costa County, south to Santa Clara Va!-fey were called cost;anoans, or "coast pepole", More specifically the costanoans were further broken into approximately 7 smaller groups, the northern most group, region of Contra Costa County, were called Sallan indians, In any vent the native Californians, whether costanoans, or indianss who the:;,· displa1d, could have occupied this area, as well as other pares of California, for at least 3000 years. They could be considered a peaceful friendly gTOUJ? a very unsophisticated and quite primitive life. of people who led Like almost all natives they lived entirely off the land and rivers and had little commerce Their food was variable and usually depended upon the season. The bay was their major source of food but was considerably augmented with roots and nuts, such as acorn and buckeye. Meat from animals and birds were less common. �The earliest description of the native Americans in this immediate area was by the early Spanish explorers. During March of 1972, Don Pedro Fages circled an expedition into the East Bay region from the area of present San Jose. They traversed all the land bordering the bay, of Alameda aid Contra Costa Counties, including present day Hercules. A cartographer of the expedition, Father Juan Crespi, des- cribed the natives in this area very briefly as "white, bearded Indians". 4 However, subsequent reports did not confirm Father Crespi's notes, I 1775, an expedition of the Bay and the surrounding land was under- taken on the I Spanish ship San Carlos. ' landed and e~countered the natives. Several times the explorers One of the encounters related by Don Jose de Canizares states 11 There is a ranchero of about 400 sols. I had dealings with them, but did not buy anything, though I presented them with beads. Their acquaintance was useful to my men and to me, as they presented us with exquisite fishes (amongst them salmon) seeds, and pinole. I had the opportunity of visiting them four times and found them always as friendly as the first time, noticing in them polite manners, and what is better, modesty and retirement in the women. They are disposed to be, but accept with good will what is given them, without being impertinentv, as are many others I have seen during a conquest. This Indian village has some scows or canoes made of tule, so well constructed and woven that they caused me great admiration. Four men get in them to (SO fishing, pushing with two-ended oars with such speed that I find they went faster than the • • •.•• �launch. These were the only Indians with whom I had com- munication in this northern part" ° Q° , Perhaps the mogtthorough early report is from the diary of Father ;\. l to be present day Pinole Creek, Rodeo Creek, and Tormey Creek. His notes, incidentally, may have been the first description of Reggio ' Creek and Valley. \ He stated, as the party departed from what is .' ·'I now Pinole Creek "We continued on our way over hills and through valls .. and having passed a small arroyo we haulted at the next little rivulet", presumably Rodeo Creek. At the encounter with them at Pinole Creek, he relates, 11 / We found a fair sized village whose Indians, both men and women, were very happy to see us and very obliging. They pre- sented us with many cacomites which is a little bulb almoSf round and rather flat, and the size and shape of a somewhat flattened ball, and likewise with a good string of roasted amole, which is another root like a rather long onion, all well cooked and roasted" (Amole-soapweed) .- h- At Rodeo Creek, Father~:~lates, "As soon as we haulted 38 Indians _came to us unarmed, peaceful and very happy to see us ••••• They go naked like all the rest, and they are by no means white, but are like all those whom we saw on this journey; and they are very little bearded". ;:.:-···~ » } ~~"";;i:;;''recorded his encounter with Indians at areas now kno,1 I - Ls<,} [e v .- ! ' �At; Tormey, "We were welcomed by the Indians of the village, whom I estimated at some 400 persons, with singul ar demonstrations of joy, singing and dancing. 11 He further describes, II • • • The Indians welcomed us with an indescribable hulla balo. ·\ Three of them came to the edge of the village with some long poles with feathers on the end, and some long and narrow strips of skin with hair on which looked to me like rabbit skin, hanging like a pennant. This being their sign of peace. 11 �The early English speaking non-Spanish or nonexican immigrants also presented descriptions of the native Californians but directed their observations toward their primitiveness and their submissiveness. John Marsh, in a letter dated 1846, relates, "The general expression of the wild Indian was nothing of the proud and lothly bearing or the haughtiness and ferocity so often seen east of the mountains. It is more commonly indicative of timidity and stupidity." ".4 However, John Marsh described the Indians on the east side of the coastal range whose description was not consistent with those of the· explorers 75 years earlier. In addition he may have been unfairly biased. In spite of this, Kroeber, in a book titled the handbook of the Indians of California (published 1925) stated, 11 The universal testimony, however, is that t;he Costanoan Indians made an unfavorable impression. They were dark, dirty, squalid and apathetic; and travelers coming from the north as well as those arriving from the south were struck by the obvious paucity and rudeness of the native culture in the Costanoan area as compared with other regions." ;' 4 �Slocum's book, History of Contra Costa County, published in 1882, relates, 11 Nature had provided for them with a lavish hand, and all they had to do was reach forth with their hands, pluck and eat. No vein ambitions lured them on in the great race of life; No baubles of riches enticed them into hardships of labor, either mental or physical. They lived to die •••• Whence or why theYi,· came upon the scene of action, was not theirs to inq_uire • ··\ And who shall say that they were not as happy in their listless lives as we are of higher type who wrestle with the inevitable almost from our infancy to our dotage?", I The population of native Californians of the precolonization period is entirely unlmm-m. Many estimates have been presented substantiated by reasonable roeth~~~o~ deriv~ the:Cconclu_s=°."sl SinCe it appears / that--the·natives·;··out not always, migrated, it is reasonable to believe 1 / / {ii( '! ! r: fi that the inhabitants on the bay front between present day San Pablo ' and Crockett could have numbered, at any one day, between 500 - 1500. After the arrival of the white man, who brought slavery and disease, their population rapidly declined so that in less than one century they became virtually extinct. Of interest is that within the.present incorporated area of Hercules are at least 9 Indian shell mounds. At least 4 are on the bay side of present interstate route 80, at least one is located within the Refugio Valley and there are 4 within Live Oak Valley. (on st Fl.- no. & �(«..') Accounts of the native method of disposing of the dead are .somewhat in conflict, but cremation appears to have been the rule. The pro- perty of the dead was thoroughly destroyed, the reason alleged being that the deceased would then be no longer rembered, believed to go to an island across the sea • . a The dead were ····.•· �Visualize little communi ties of people living in houses of a kind of thatch, probably shaped a bit like large upside down baskets, going about the activities of gaining their living and relating to eachother, Children and dogs probably ran about the hills and in the water. Women walked along the shores gathering shell fish or sat in groups in the village grinding acorns and cooking. Men might be seen sitting around the fire finishing a bow or along the shore working on their nets, tightening the bindings on their tule ".4 boats or securing the fastenings on the double paddles. Further inland, hunting parties of men and boys could be found. Another group might be coming in from the bay with fish. . .' <«-- The fires would give off a constant and if one went up on a hill looking for a returning trading party or coming guests, would see the smoke of other communities towards San Pablo or further inland. He'd know these places and his own area and its potentials very well. Though some tasks were usually the work of specialists, each individual probably knew how to do almost all of the things appropriate to survival, from catching a fish to relating with whatever supernatural forces were necessary to i'ullfill one's needs. They knew their world and lived in harmony with it 'in a way that was successful enough for many thousands of years. It was not a way of life which could survive along with the avarice of the white man. Almost immediately slavery, death and cultural extinction happened to a gentle people at the hands of those who like today are telling us - you can't stop progress. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Jennifer Posedel Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariotti Remarks on the Ohlone Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1976