The San Geronimo Valley’s First Peoples: The Coast Miwok
The Coast Miwok have many thousands of years of history in the San Geronimo Valley as its first human inhabitants. Tribal storytelling describes the Coast Miwok presence in what is now Marin County reaching back to the creation of the very land itself.
Pre-1850 written work describing Marin and Southern Sonoma County’s First Peoples presence in the San Geronimo Valley is not easily uncovered due to the nature of the Coast Miwok oral tradition. By the time written references to the Valley by American settlers and Mexican Californios began to appear in the mid-1800s, the Coast Miwok population across what is now Marin County had been fragmented - but not defeated - by disease and the imposition of colonial powers.
While Coast Miwok villages with individuals living in a traditional manner no longer exist in Marin County, descendants of the Coast Miwok live in Marin and Sonoma counties, across California, and beyond, and many keep traditional culture alive. Included below is information regarding some Coast Miwok descendants who are active in practicing their traditional culture.
What we have attempted to do here is create a non-comprehensive database of information on Marin’s Coast Miwok - and where information specific to the San Geronimo Valley does exist, to make a point to highlight and contextualize it. We have also attempted to synthesize information from some of the more densely written resources to help facilitate easier access to the information.
Each underlined section topic heading is a link to a page with more information on the given topic.
Links:
Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin - “The Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin was organized in February, 2020, by a core group of lineal Marin Coast Miwok descendants.”
The Alliance for Felix Cove - “advocates for the protection and restoration of the only remaining 19th century Tomalko (Coast Miwok Tomales Bay)-built home at Point Reyes National Seashore.”
Marin American Indian Alliance - longstanding Marin County 501c3 non-profit organization connecting American Indians living in Marin and the San Francisco Bay Area at large.
MAPOM (Miwok Archeological Preserve of Marin) - “MAPOM seeks to promote accurate knowledge of the Coast Miwok Indians, the first people of Marin and southern Sonoma counties.”
Federated Indian of Graton Rancheria - “The Graton Rancheria community is a federation of Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo groups recognized as a tribe by the US Congress.”
Museum of the American Indian - “dedicated to providing the people of Northern California with programs and exhibits that deepen understanding and appreciation of Native American cultures.”
Kule Loklo - recreated Coast Miwok village in Pt. Reyes National Seashore, near the Bear Valley Visitor Center in Olema.
Language:
Language resources for Marin Coast Miwok exist in the form of books and selected words from larger compilations.
Primary Sources:
A considerable quantity of research has been done on the history of Marin’s first peoples. A very small fraction of the research performed relates directly to Native American presence in the San Geronimo Valley. What little references are made in available literature are displayed on our Primary Sources page.
Myths:
Anthropologist C. Hart Merriam worked amongst all of California’s Miwok culture groups in the early 1900s, documenting the way they understood the world. His book The Dawn of the World: Myths and Tales of the Miwok Indians of California captured ten stories belonging specifically to Marin’s Coast Miwok culture, careful to specify which region of Marin the stories originated from.
Written in 1910, the book has since become public domain. Click here for a free download of the book in its entirety. Click here to access the Marin-specific excerpts from the book.
Music:
Coast Miwok descendent Sky Road Webb, who traces his ancestry to the Miwok of the Tomales Bay region, performs music in the tradition of his people, both ancient songs and his newly composed songs - all in the Coast Miwok language. Click here to visit the Sound Orchard website to listen to his music.
Ethnomusicologist Richard Keeling studied the music of California Native Americans and produced a journal article with his research. Click here to view the article.
Maps:
Documents from a variety of sources define Coast Miwok territory, as well as offer specific place names - both provide us with a picture of pre-colonial Marin County.
Images:
The images available on this site are reposted from other sources. Currently the SGVHS does not possess any original photographs documenting the Coast Miwok presence in the San Geronimo Valley.