Pre-contact c. 1700, est. 500-1200; as of 2003, about 460
Regions with significant populations
Central Coast and Northern California
Languages
English and Spanish, formerly Esselen
Religion
Catholic, traditional tribal religion
Related ethnic groups
Rumsen, Ohlone, and Salinan
The Esselen are a Native American people belonging to a linguistic group in the hypothetical Hokan language family, who are indigenous to the Santa Lucia Mountains of a region south of the Big Sur River in California. Prior to Spanish colonization, they lived seasonally on the coast and inland, surviving off the plentiful seafood during the summer and acorns and wildlife during the rest of the year.
During the mission period of California history, Esselen children were baptized by the priests when they left their villages and relocated as family units to live in the missions where they learned reading writing and various trades. The Esselen were required to labor at the three nearby missions, Mission San Carlos, Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, and Mission San Antonio de Padua. Like many Native American populations, their members were decimated by starvation, forced labor, over work, torture, and diseases that they had no natural resistance to.
Historically, they were one of the smallest Native American populations in California. Various experts estimate there were from 500 to 1,285 individuals living in the steep, rocky region at the time of the arrival of the Spanish. Due to their proximity to three Spanish missions, they were likely one of the first whose culture was virtually eliminated as a result of European contact and domination.[1] The people were believed to have been exterminated but some tribal members avoided the mission life and emerged from the forest to work in nearby ranches in the early and late 1800s. Descendants of the Esselen are currently scattered, but many still live in the Monterey Peninsula area and nearby regions.
Map of Esselen tribelets
^Breschini, Gary S.; Haversat, Trudy. "An Overview of the Esselen Indians of Monterey County". Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
The Esselen are a Native American people belonging to a linguistic group in the hypothetical Hokan language family, who are indigenous to the Santa Lucia...
Esselen was the language of the Esselen (or self-designated Huelel) Nation, which aboriginally occupied the mountainous Central Coast of California, immediately...
Gustavus John Esselen (1888–1952) was an American chemist born in Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts. He studied at Harvard University where he was awarded...
missions. The Ohlone/Costanoan Esselen Nation, consisting of descendants of intermarried Rumsen Costanoan and Esselen speakers of Mission San Carlos Borromeo...
Ewald Auguste Esselen (27 September 1858 – 1 November 1918) was a South African barrister who served as State Attorney of the South African Republic from...
Jacob Esselens (1626, Amsterdam – 1687, Amsterdam), was a Dutch Golden Age landscape painter. According to the RKD travelled to Kleve in 1663 and got married...
members of the Esselen and Rumsen tribes, including chiefs. On May 9, 1775, Junípero Serra baptized what appears to be the first Esselen, Pach-hepas, the...
given to someone else. In July 2020, an organization of self-identified Esselen descendants purchased a 1,200-acre ranch (4.9 km2) near Big Sur, California...
Elmer S. Rigdon Hunter S. Thompson Jean Varda Vilmos Zsigmond History Esselen people Salinan people Ohlone people Rancho El Sur Rancho San Francisquito...
Mission San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo founded in 1770, the other being the Esselen language. The last fluent speaker of Rumsen was Isabel Meadows, who died...
California (1927 – 1934) Camp Wing, at Big Sur State Park (1937) Camp Esselen, at Big Sur State Park (1938 – 1953) Fort Ord Scout Camp Camp Stuart (formally...
Sinkyone, northwestern California Wailaki, Wai-lakki, northwestern California Esselen, west-central California Hupa, northwestern California Tsnungwe Juaneño...
California where Ohlone peoples settled in areas previously inhabited by the Esselen tribe (Bainbridge, 1977). In Canada, the term settler is currently used...
far to the south. The mountain is central to the creation story of the Esselen people. Pico Blanco means 'white peak' in the Spanish language. A large...
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