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For
thousands of years, Ohlone Indians (also called Costanoan) lived
in a village called "Huchiun" along the bay. The center
of this village was between the two creeks now named Wildcat and
San Pablo. Food was plentiful with two creeks providing fresh
water, nourishing
plants, and attracting animals. In addition, the bay was a source of fish and
shellfish. They were part of a great trade network, and traded
seashells for obsidian with tribes in Napa
and Lake Counties. The people built homes and boats out of reeds called Tule.
Louis Choris, artist with a Russian expedition, sketched our only portrait of a San Pablo area Ohlone
when he drew Bay Area Native Americans and Mission Dolores in San Francisco in 1816.
There are still descendants of the Ohlone living in this area, and every year they hold a
gathering of Ohlonean peoples at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont.
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