THE MISSION
In the written words of:
Tony Cerda, Chairman of The Costanoan Rumsen Carmel Tribe of California
The Mission of the Costanoan Rumsen Carmel Tribe of California, is to make people around the world aware of the lost Ohlone culture. We propose to do that with the purchase of sacred land of our ancestors at Monterey, California. Once the land is purchased and a model village is built we will extend an invitiation to everyone to come and experience the lost culture of our Ohlone ancestors through story, song, and dance. The village of the Ohlone will be built the way it was when the Spaniards arrived in 1769. We will build a modern facility that will appear to be an Indigenous dwelling. There we will provide a historical profile of the Ohlone through video, audio, and books. The Redwood sign as you enter the village will forever memorialize the names of the Indiegogo contributors who made it possible to PURCHASE THE LAND AND BUILD THE FIRST OHLONE VILLAGE!
![Tony Cerda on Ancient Ohlone land]()
OUR GOAL
In the written words of:
Tony Cerda, Chairman of The Costanoan Rumsen Tribe of California
It has always been the goal of the Costanoan Rumsen Carmel Tribe to return to the sacred land of our Ohlone ancestors and build the first village of the Ohlone. Our ancestors were not as fortunate as other Indigenous people in the rest of the United States who maintained their culture into the early 1900’s. Our culture became extinct when the Spaniards arrived on the shores of California in 1769. I have spent a lifetime researching the village sites of our people. Over the years I would be asked:
“Why do you spend so much time gathering the history of the Ohlone?”
I always tell them:
"To let the world know that at one time a peaceful loving group of Indigenous people lived along the coast of San Francisco Bay through Monterey Bay to the lower Salinas Valley. Our people had no enemies."
WHEN THE CONQUERING SPANIARDS ARRIVED WITH A DOCUMENT (PAPAL BULL) SIGNED BY THE POPE IN ROME, DECLARING THAT ALL NEWLY DISCOVERED LANDS WERE INHABITED BY HEATHENS, THE OHLONE CULTURE CEASE TO EXIST. The Spaniards under the direction of Father Junipero Serra ordered the Ohlone villages burned. The Ohlone were marched off to build the California missions. The final blow came when our ancestors were forced to adopt Spanish surnames.
You could say:
“That was a long time ago, does it really matter? "
The answer is a resounding YES!
Yes because it was the Ohlone who contributed their labor and creativity to the advancement of the great state of California.
From the missions they went on to work in the gold fields and later to assist in building the great California agricultural empire. The history of the Ohlone must not be lost to another time. Our goal through the purchase of the Ohlone site at Monterey, California is to build the first Ohlone village and invite people from nations around the globe to come and experience the peaceful Ohlone way of life.
The Costanoan Rumsen Carmel Tribe of California is a verified 501(C)(3).
All contributions US-based are tax deductible.
![21 California Missions, Built by the Ohlone People]()
THE OHLONE WERE MARCHED OFF TO BUILD THE MISSIONS FROM SAN FRANCISCO BAY THROUGH MONTEREY BAY TO THE LOWER SALINAS VALLEY.
THE HISTORY
The Ohlone people, also known as Costanoan, are a Native American people of the central and northern California coast. When the Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the area along the coast from San Francisco Bay through Monterey Bay to the lower Salinas Valley. At that time they spoke a variety of languages, the Ohlone languages, belonging to the Costanoan sub-family of the Utian language family, which itself belongs to the proposed Penutian language phylum or stock. The term “Ohlone” has been used in place of “Costanoan” since the 1970’s by some descendant groups and by most ethnographers, historians, and writers of popular literature. Before the Spanish came, the Ohlone lived in more than 50 distinct landholding groups, and did not view themselves as a distinct group.
They survived by hunting, fishing, and gathering, the typical ethnographic California pattern. Originally, the Ohlone religion was Kuksu, but in the years 1769 to 1833, the Spanish Missions in California had a devastating effect on the Ohlone culture. The Ohlone population declined steeply during this period, when the Ohlone were marched off by the Spaniards to build the California missions.
The Ohlone living today belong to one or another of a number of geographically distinct groups, most, but not all, in their original home territory. The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe has members from around the San Francisco Bay area, and is composed of descendants of the Ohlones/Costanoans from the San Jose, Santa Clara, and San Francisco missions. The Ohlone/Costanoan Esselen Nation, consisting of decendants of intermarried Rumsen Costanoan and Esselen speakers of Mission San Carlos Borromeo, are centered at Monterey. The Amah-Mutsun Tribe are decendants of Mutsun Costanoan speakers of mission San Juan Bautista, inland from Monterey Bay. Most members of another group of Rumsen language, decendants from Mission San Carlos, the Costanoan Rumsen Carmel Tribe of Pomona/Chino now living in Southern California. Many of the members have relocated to their ancestral roots in the Monterey Bay area of California.
Most of the Rewards can be viewed in the Gallery.
Note: All rewards are unique in their own way. Each is handcrafted by the men, women, and children of the Costanoan Rumsen Carmel Tribe of California.
The Tribal members take great pride in authenticating the artifacts that symbolize the ancient Ohlone culture.
