xučyun

horše ta-mak nonwente holše mak-noono — It is good that we speak our beautiful language!

Chochenyo is the indigenous language of the East Bay, spoken on this land since time immemorial. Chochenyo is a distinct Ohlone language, related, yet different in sound structure and vocabulary, to seven other Ohlone languages that stretch from the Carquinez Strait south to Big Sur. Chochenyo is also related to Mewuk languages to the East. 

Prior to colonization, numerous Chochenyo dialects are known to be spoken reflecting regional variation and linguistic cosmopolitanism that is unique to this place. Today, a standardized Chochenyo language continues to be spoken by the East Bay Ohlone people.

In Ohlone cultural teachings, Chochenyo is directly shaped by this very land itself, and the landscape of the East Bay is reflected in the sound structure and unique vocabulary of Chochenyo.

East Bay Ohlone forebears resisted and responded to the suppression of Chochenyo language throughout the Mission period and assimilationist policies by the American government by continuing to speak, even at times when there was risk due to everpresent racism - and throughout the 1920s to the 1960s, to document the language so that Chochenyo would continue to live. 

In 1921, Angela de los Colos, an Ohlone forebear, documented on the Sunol Rancheria an immense amount of Chochenyo linguistic knowledge mostly with the ethnographer John Peabody Harrington with the Smithsonian Institute in a successful effort to protect the language for future generations. Angela’s rich knowledge of Chochenyo was complimented in archives by other Ohlones of her generation and younger, such as Jose Guzman, Susana Nichols, and Dario Marine.

The successful efforts to keep Chochenyo as a spoken language inspires and allows the East Bay Ohlone people of today to continue to center their beloved language and speak it with fluency and pride. 

Through a multi-year effort to strengthen the Chochenyo language, led by Vincent Medina, Chochenyo continues to be spoken and expand with a community of multigenerational speakers that includes children, instilling care and respect for the first language of the East Bay. Ohlone elders who heard the language as children guide this effort to ensure that the sound structure and vocabulary is taught in an honest manner that reflects how they heard Chochenyo spoken by generations before.