For ten thousand years or more

the ancestors of the Muwekma Ohlone Indians

lived,

gave birth,

hunted

and fished.

They harvested a great diversity of fruits and vegetables.

They managed large tracts of land through selected burning.

They married,

grew old

and died

here by San Francisco Bay.





The Muwekma Ohlone and other tribes developed religious institutions and a system of social ranking.

Many of their elite were buried with grave wealth, in cemeteries that developed into large earth mounds, commonly known as "shellmounds".

Muwekma means "The People" in the Tamien and Chochenyo Ohlone Indian languages.