Homeland of the Yelamu

Homeland of the Yelamu. . , The Native People of the Peninsula , The Yelamu were one of 50 independent Ohlone tribes related through culture and language. Ohlone peoples have lived in the Bay Area for several thousand years. The Yelamu, whose territory included today's Crissy Field, moved seasonally from the winter villages of Tubsinte, Sitlintac, and Petlenuc to the summer/fall villages of Chutchui and Amuctac. Archeological study of remains found at Crissy Field indicates the Yelamu lived here when plants, fish and other animals were available for harvest. , The Legacy of Conquest , "I am very old… my people were once around me like the sands of the shore… many… many. They have all passed away. They have died like the grass… they have gone to the mountains. I do not complain, the antelope falls with the arrow. I had a son. I loved him. When the palefaces came he went away. I do not know where he is. I am a Christian Indian, I am all that is left of my people. I am alone." , -Pedro Alcantara, the last known Yelamu, born in 1780, from an interview recorded by Indian Agent Adam Johnston in 1850, the year California became a state. , ”We Are Still Here” , The Yelamu population, around 200 at the time Spanish colonists arrived in the 1770s, was among the smallest of all Ohlone tribes. The disruptions wrought by European colonoization decimated the Yelamu. Although we know of no Yelamu descendants living today, several Ohlone tribal groups and many individuals from the broader Ohlone population make up a vital contemporary native community. Ohlone people have played an active role in the Crissy Field restoration project. , (marker photo captions – lower right corner) , . Crissy Field tidal marsh opening, November 1999 , . Ohlone representatives signed an agreement with the National Park Service concerning the preservation and interpretation of Ohlone culture.