Salinan
The Salinan are an Indigenous group from California, primarily located in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties. Historically, they numbered around 3,000 at the time of European contact in the 18th century. The name "Salinan" is derived from the Salinas River, while the people may have referred to themselves as Ennesen. The Salinan culture is categorized into three subdivisions based on nearby missions: Antoniaño, Migueleño, and Playano. Although their population has significantly declined over the years due to colonization and cultural assimilation, efforts have been made to preserve their heritage, language, and traditions. The Salinan people traditionally practiced a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, relying on a variety of plants and animals. Despite being considered culturally extinct for much of the twentieth century, modern descendants are actively working to revive their identity and apply for federal recognition as an Indigenous nation. They engage in community activities, educational initiatives, and efforts to protect their sacred sites, maintaining a cultural legacy that continues to evolve in contemporary society.
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Salinan
- CATEGORY: Tribe
- CULTURE AREA: California
- LANGUAGE GROUP: Salinan
- PRIMARY LOCATION: Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties, California
- POPULATION SIZE: 514 (2020: DEC Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File A US Census)
Like many other Indigenous American cultures of California, the Salinan are not distinguished by political or social organization but rather by language. The term Salinan has been adopted by modern scholars from the Salinas (Spanish for "salty") River, although others claim that the people’s own name was Ennesen. Three subdivisions have been identified: Antoniaño, after Mission San Antonio (founded 1771); Migueleño, after Mission San Miguel (founded 1797); and Playano, after the playa (Spanish for beach).
Europeans first encountered the Salinan, who numbered about 3,000, when Gaspar de Portolá led a Spanish expedition from San Diego in search of Monterey Bay. Based on several records of that expedition that described the Salinan as docile, friendly, and otherwise amenable, Franciscan missionaries established San Antonio and began replacing Indigenous culture with Christianity and other aspects of Spanish culture. The effort of the missionaries was not wholly successful, as a report by the padres in 1814 indicated that many features of Salinan culture (language, diet, even religion) still persisted.
Despite the evidence of cultural survival, the numbers of Salinan at San Antonio and later at San Miguel underwent a steady downward progression. By the time of secularization, around 1834, the approximate population at San Antonio was less than 550 and at San Miguel around 600. Subsequent numbers are difficult to define because enumerators did not always identify Salinan people clearly, but they almost certainly show a continued decline. A special survey in 1904 showed only 105 Salinan members living in Monterey County and another ten in San Luis Obispo County. The federal roll of 1928 located eleven full Salinan individuals of the San Antonio branch and four from San Miguel, as well as other combinations, for a total of thirty-five people with varying degrees of Salinan ancestry. According to an informant in 1987, all pure Salinan members had since died. Although some 300 individuals who claimed to trace partial Salinan origin resided in the area at the time of the 1990 census, no recognized Indigenous nation organization existed.
Even in the early twentieth century, when some pure Salinan members were still alive to impart sketches of their language to linguists and recollections of their culture to anthropologists, most scholars asserted that Salinan culture was essentially extinct. Available evidence indicates that, historically, the Salinan differed little in terms of general social organization, material culture, and practices from other Indigenous Americans of southern California. As hunter-gatherers, they consumed a wide variety of animals and plants, especially acorns. While some religious mythology has been recorded—shamans clearly played an important role in Salinan society—their religion seems to have regarded no animal as sacred and thus immune to hunting. The fur of some animals was used for winter blankets, but normal dress was nonexistent for men; women wore a simple apron. Pottery, metallurgy, masonry, and complex religious or political organizations were all unknown.
Despite being categorized as extinct for most of the twentieth century, the Salinan identity was preserved by a few people in southern California. They carried on the mission of restoring their culture and language. Members from the Salinan Nation (also known as Salinan Chumash Nation) and the Salinan Tribe of Monterey & San Luis Obispo Counties have formally applied for federally recognized Indigenous nation status after decades of research and documentation, although it remained ungranted. Elders have recorded their perspectives on the nation's history, traditions, and contemporary status in an effort to counteract centuries of marginalization by European Americans. In the 2010s, the nation, which earned California state recognition, conducted activities including regular meetings of the Indigenous business council, publication of a monthly newsletter, development of a recreated traditional village, and fighting for access to sacred sites. Linguists remained interested in the Salinan language as a possible isolate within the proposed language family known as Hokan. As the twenty-first century progress, those identifying as Salinan continued to preserve their traditions through sacred ceremonies, worked to preserve their language, established a nonprofit organization to educate the public about Salinan traditions, and provided social services for their communities.
Bibliography
Bacich, Damian. "Salinan Tribe Facts." California Frontier Project, www.californiafrontier.net/salinan-tribe-facts. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.
Cuddy, Bob. "Local Salinan Indian Tribe Applies for Federal Recognition." San Luis Obispo Tribune, 14 Dec. 2011, www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article39190881.html. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.
Herrera, Allison. "In California, Salinan Indians Are Trying To Reclaim Their Culture And Land." NPR, 13 Dec. 2017, www.npr.org/2017/12/13/570208941/in-california-salinan-indians-are-trying-to-reclaim-their-culture-and-land. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.
"Salinan." California Language Archive. cla.berkeley.edu/languages/salinan.html. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.
Salinan Tribe of San Luis Obispo and Monterey Counties, salinantribe.com. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.
Taylor, Suzanne Pierce. "The Salinan People." Mission San Miguel Arcangel. www.missionsanmiguel.com/history/salinans.html. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.
"2020: DEC Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File A: Salinan Alone." US Census Bureau, data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALDDHCA2020.T01001?q=salinan. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.