The Aboriginal Population of the San Joaquin Valley, CaliforniaCook, Sherburne Friend
History
The Aboriginal Population of the San Joaquin Valley, California
Cook, Sherburne Friend
Indians of North America -- California -- San Joaquin Valley; San Joaquin Valley (Calif.) -- Population
_The lower San Joaquin River group._--Here are included for convenience
the tribes and fragments of tribes inhabiting the banks of the San
Joaquin River from the habitat of the Leuchas, in the vicinity of
Manteca, to just below the mouth of the Merced, together with those
living along the lower courses of the Stanislaus and Tuolumne rivers
(see maps 1, 5, and 6, area 8). The San Joaquin villages or tribes
appear to have been Cuyens, Mayemes, Tationes, and Apaglamnes. The
first two are regarded by Schenck as villages only and the latter two
as "villages plus." The only Spaniard who described the area was
Viader, in the accounts of his two expeditions of 1810.
On his first expedition, having left the village of Tomchom, he went
south-southeast up the river for 2-1/2 leagues to another village "...
cuya capitan se llama Cuyens." This was very close to section 10, in
T3S, R6E. After a journey of another 2-1/2 to 3 leagues he found
another village, whose captain was Maijem (sec. 8, in T4S, R7E). Then,
after 2 leagues, still another village, whose captain was Bozenats (in
sec. 34, in T4S, R7E), was seen. Three leagues farther in the same
direction brought him to the rancheria "... cuyo appelido es Tationes."
In the meantime he had seen 30 gentiles from the Apaglamnes. The
Tationes were located close to section 27, in T5S, R8E.
During his second expedition, on October 22, Viader went from Pescadero
southeast up the river for 5 leagues to "los indios Tugites." Three
leagues farther on he was met by Indians from Cuyens, who went with him
to the "Rancheria de Mayem," another 4-1/2 leagues farther on. Then,
having forded the river to the east shore, they went still another 2
leagues to a rancheria "que se llama ... Taualames." The Rio Dolores
(Tuolumne) was supposed to be 2 to 3 leagues north. However, Viader
went upstream on the east bank 6 leagues to the Rio Merced, having in
the meantime passed "en frente de ... los indios Apelamenes y
Tatives."
The distances on both trips are very consistent and the village
locations check closely with those shown on Schenck's map, except that
only the Taualames should be placed on the east bank of the river.
Viader is very explicit in saying that all the others were on the west
bank.
Cuyens, Mayem, and Bozenats are beyond doubt villages, since each was
named after its chief, or captain. The Tationes and Apaglamnes are
given in the plural: "los indios Apelamenes y Tatives." They may well
have possessed more than one rancheria each, as is supposed by Schenck.
Schenck thinks that Cuyens and Mayem were transient parties from
Kroeber's Miwok villages, Chuyumkatat and Mayemam, which were on the
Cosumnes. Aside from the possible similarity in names there is not the
slightest evidence in Viader's diaries to support such a theory. Viader
definitely specifies rancherias, and the missionaries of that period
were able to distinguish rancherias from fishing parties.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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