 Map of historical Tamien territory | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Santa Clara Valley,California | |
| Languages | |
| Tamyen (Santa Clara Costanoan) | |
| Religion | |
| Kuksu,Ohlone mythology |
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TheTamien people (also spelledTamyen,Thamien, orThámien) are one of eight linguistic divisions of theOhlone people, who are groups ofNative Americans who live inNorthern California.[2][3] The Tamien traditionally lived throughout theSanta Clara Valley.[4] The use of the name Tamien is on record as early as 1777; it comes from theOhlone name for the location of the firstMission Santa Clara (Mission Santa Clara de Thamien) on theGuadalupe River.[5][6] Father Padres Tomás de la Peña mentioned in a letter toJunipero Serra that the area around the mission was calledThamien by the native people.[7][8] The missionary fathers erected the mission on January 17, 1777, at the native village of So-co-is-u-ka.[9]
Traditionally, the Tamien people spoke theTamyen language, a NorthernOhlone language, which ceased to be spoken since possibly the early 19th century. "Tamyen", also calledSanta Clara Costanoan, has been extended to mean the Native people of Santa Clara Valley, as well as the language they spoke. Tamyen is listed as one of eight Costanoan language dialects in theUtian family, although the cogency of the Utian language grouping (combiningMiwokan withOhlone) is contested.[10] Tamyen was the primary language of the Native people living at the first and secondMission Santa Clara (both founded in 1777). Linguistically, it is thought thatChochenyo, Tamyen, andRamaytush are dialects of a single language. This is not to imply, however, that Chochenyo, Tamien, and Ramaytush people ever belonged to a single unified tribe.[11]
Tamien territory extends over most of the present daySanta Clara County, California, and was bordered by communities that spoke other Ohlone languages:Ramaytush to the northwest on theSan Francisco Peninsula,Chochenyo, East Bay,Mutsun, south of San Martin, and theAwaswas to the southwest.
TheTamyen (Tamien, Thamien) people are associated with the original site of Mission Santa Clara (Mission Santa Clara de Thamien) on theGuadalupe River, 1777. The entire Santa Clara Valley was populated with dozens of Tamyen-speaking villages, several onCoyote Creek.
In 1925,Alfred Kroeber, then director of theHearst Museum of Anthropology, declared the Ohlone extinct, which directly led to the historicVerona Band of Alameda County (whose lineal descendants established theunrecognizedMuwekma Ohlone Tribe) losing federal recognition and land rights.[12] Land claims made by the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe have caused great confusion about which entity represents Tamien people. While Muwekma claims to be "comprised of all known surviving American Indian lineages aboriginal to the San Francisco Bay region who trace their ancestry through Mission Dolores (Ramaytush), Santa Clara (Tamien), and San Jose (Chochenyo)", this statement is false and the tribe is composed mainly of lineages with ancestral connections to thePleasanton Rancheria.[13][14] TheAssociation of Ramaytush Ohlone have accused the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of "undermin[ing] the Indigenous Sovereignty of other Bay Area Native Peoples" and partaking in "internalized colonialism andlateral oppression."[15] The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe has also received backlash from the Tamien Nation for encroaching on Tamien Nation traditional tribal territory.[16]
On January 25, 2022, in a virtual presentation atSanta Clara University, Tamien Nation Councilwoman Quirina Luna Geary claimed that the historic Tamien were not tribelets, rather "a nation based on Tamyen-speaking villages."[17] Geary claims that her great-grandmother (Mutsun Ohlone) described Mutsun-speaking villages as one "Mutsun Nation"; by similar logic Geary concluded that the Tamien must have been one Tamien Nation as well, however this claim has not been proven.[18]
In 2024, it was announced that the Tamien nation would receive $6 million in state funds in support of tribal land return and stewardship in California, as approved by GovernorGavin Newsom.[19]