Ohlone

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of indigenous peoples native to the central California coast; the language spoken by these people; the cultural and historical heritage associated with this community
2. Native inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay area in California; their original language, now mostly extinct; the traditions and ancestral lineage tied to these tribes
3. An ethnic group indigenous to northern California's coastal region; their native tongue and linguistic heritage; the social customs and historical background of the people belonging to this group

Etymology: Ohlone is the name of a group of Native peoples of the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Coast of California, and the name itself is a modern label rather than one the groups used for themselves. Their own languages were distinct, and in the Spanish mission era the people were grouped together under various names by outsiders. The word "Ohlone" is generally derived from the name of the Ohlone village or place of Huchiun or related sites, and it came into common use as an umbrella term for the Costanoan-speaking peoples. The label "Costanoan" is an older one, from Spanish "costaños," meaning "coast people," applied by Spanish colonizers to the groups living along the coast. Many communities who were identified this way later preferred the name Ohlone, and it has been adopted in scholarship and by descendant communities today.

Synonyms: Costanoan