Native American Heritage Month, the annual celebration of the history, culture, and traditions of Native American communities begins today. Today, we remember powerful Native American women who have shaped our history.

Family

Maxima Antonia Ynita, circa 1865

Camilo married four times. He married his first wife Elena 22 October 1822; she died in April 1830. He next married Candida on 22 May 1831; she died 13 March 1835. He then married Cayetana on 13 July 1835. By Cayetana he had a son, Juan Pablo, and two daughters, Maxina Antonia and Maria Antonia. Juan Pablo was born in 1839; he died in a boating accident on 28 May 1851 along with the father of the man who would marry Maria Antonia. Maxima Antonia (known as Mary Maxima later in life) was born 18 November 1841, and was baptized on 5 December 1841. Maria Antonia was born in August 1845, and was baptized on 31 October 1845. Her godfather was William A. Richardson, the namesake of Richardson Bay. Cayetana died 21 November 1850, and Camilo married his fourth wife, Susanna Maria on 5 January 1852.[2] Camilo also adopted another girl, who married John Pingston, a "free man of color". They had a son, Juan Jose Pingston. Camilo conveyed approximately 20 acres (81,000 m2) in the extreme southwest corner of Apalacocha to John on 14 February 1853.

Camilo's daughter Maxima Antonia was married first to Henry Holden Bennett, an American, on 12 June 1854, likely with Camilo's encouragement. Then after Bennett's death in 1856, Maxima married Henry Harper Willard. Henry and Maxima had 13 children. After Henry's death in 1888, Maxima married Armstrong McCabe on 31 July 1891. Maria Antonia married Joseph Knox and had two children. After Camilo's death, Maxima and Maria purchased a part of Rancho Sanel in the Sanel Valley of Mendocino County, and moved there with their husbands and helped found the town of Sanel, later named Hopland. On 26 November 1860, "Being in want of money for a Maintenance," Maxima and Maria sold Apalacocha, to John Knight, their Mendocino attorney, for $3,693. With that transaction, the last of aboriginal Olompali passed into American ownership.[citation needed]

Pictured below are Maxima and Maria Ynitia. Taken around 1868ish. Last Full Coast Miwok. Very powerful women. It's the voice in their liniage that remains strong today!

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