Costanoan

Costanoan, also spelled Coastanoan, is a historical ethnolinguistic designation for Indigenous peoples who inhabited the central California coast from Marin County to the Monterey Peninsula. The name derives from the Spanish costeño, meaning “coast dweller,” and was used to describe several communities that spoke Ohlone languages in the region. The term is commonly paired with Ohlone, the broader ethnolinguistic grouping.

Linguistically, Costanoan refers to a branch of the Ohlone language family. It traditionally split into Northern and Southern Costanoan varieties, as documented in historical sources and later linguistic work. Most Costanoan languages were greatly reduced or became extinct following European contact, and modern scholarship often emphasizes specific languages or the umbrella Ohlone designation rather than the older regional label.

Historically, Costanoan-speaking peoples lived along a coastal belt that included estuaries, bays, and oak savannas. They practiced a hunter-gatherer economy with diet largely based on shellfish, fishing, seeds, and acorns, and their village networks facilitated trade and exchange. The arrival of Spanish missions in the late 18th century brought profound disruption through missionization, disease, and coercive labor, contributing to drastic population declines and cultural change.

Today, descendants of Costanoan-speaking communities are commonly identified as Ohlone, with modern groups such as the Muwekma Ohlone in the San Francisco Bay Area and other communities that identify with Awaswas, Rumsen, or related Costanoan languages. Ongoing language documentation and revitalization efforts aim to preserve remaining vocabulary and cultural practices.