on being born with the Coast Miwok DNA...

It’s expensive being born one of the last families of DNA carriers of the Coast Miwok of Marin County. It’s doing it all, all that tribes do that they divide up between them. I’m fortunate that my kids are stepping up to the plate.

As much as I have been in Marin, now 40 years, and talking to people, I have noticed right from the beginning that the Coast Miwoks were starting to be a Forgotten People. I didn’t realize until talking to so many. I would always ask, “Do you know the history of Marin,” and in return it was usually with a sentence or two of what they knew, and only with a 50 percent passing rate 😉 Then I realized, this is how you bury a People.

I’m not being too critical of the people of Marin County, I realize that when one moves to a new area, that you don’t always immediately go for the history of the place, and that not every family is sitting around talking about Native Americans, Coast Miwoks, Maria Ynitia, Camillo Ynitia, Rueben Knox, Joseph Knox, and I could go endlessly on and on (and I have been on my Facebook page and now new web page.)

BUT it’s never too late. It’s time to acknowledge the people who dwelled on your land for so many thousands of years, it’s time to know who they were and bring them to light and not get buried under the carpet.

Unfortunately, there is not much out there on the Coast Miwoks of Marin County, especially the part where my family descends from, the Band in Southern Marin, encompassing Novato down to Sausalito, and Tiburon over to Bolines and everything in between. My father would tell me, so many times, every time we talked, “There were three main bands, Lucina, there was the Bodega Bay, the Tomales and then ours is Olompali,” encompassing down to Sausalito (and the areas mentioned above).

Because of the dwindling numbers and because it’s just the way it is, there is just not much about the First People of Marin County. So it’s a big job, so there is much to do, and so it takes time from work, but it has to be done. One of the last voices of Marin County of the Coast Miwok Southern Marin. One last generation and chance to be heard. Yes, there are kids and grandkids in our families, but the oral history passed down in the family stops pretty much with me and my Dad telling it to me on our so many talks about Marin County History!

My ancestors were here, for a very long time, in very large numbers. Please remember who they were. They were described as Nobel People, proud, they made the most beautiful and crafted baskets, There people were Beautiful People, that’s why they lasted and stayed so long here.

I have met new family, Coast Miwoks of Marin, from Tomales, Nicassio, who are also the last in their bands. We have dwindled. I’m sorry to say. But it’s never too late to Honor and Remember and Bring to Light the People that once were in Marin County. We were here and we were beautiful people, the Coast Miwok of Marin County. Never Forget Us!