saklan

Saklan generally refers to the Saclan, a Native American group historically located in the East Bay region of what is now California. The name appears in various spellings in historical records, including Saclan and Saclani.

Traditional Saclan territory covered the hills and valleys of the eastern San Francisco Bay Area, with communities in the areas around what would become Oakland and Berkeley and in nearby foothills. They were part of the Bay Miwok ethnolinguistic grouping, and their economy was based on hunter-gatherer practices with reliance on acorns, game, and seasonal resources. Descriptions of their social and political organization come from early observers, though details vary between sources.

The Saclan language, often treated as a Bay Miwok language, is poorly attested. No fluent speakers remain, and knowledge about the language comes from limited word lists and ethnographic notes collected in the 19th century. As a result, it is typically described as extinct or dormant, with reconstruction limited to historical records.

European contact began in the late 18th century with Spanish colonization and Mission activity, leading to disease, displacement, and assimilation pressures that reduced Saclan communities. Over time, traditional lifeways were largely disrupted, and by the 19th century most of the population had been integrated or displaced. Today, descendants may be identified among Indigenous communities in the region, and the term Saklan/Saclan remains a subject of local history, archaeology, and cultural memory.