The Awaswas people are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone (Costanoan)

Ohlone

The Ohlone people, also known as the Costanoan, are a Native American people of the central California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the area along the coast from San Francisco Bay through Monterey Bay to the lower Salinas Valley...

  Native Americans of Northern California

Northern California

Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...

. The Awaswas lived in the Santa Cruz Mountains

Santa Cruz Mountains

The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central California, United States. They form a ridge along the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco, separating the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley, and continuing south,...

 and along the coast of present-day Santa Cruz County

Santa Cruz County, California

Santa Cruz County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, on the California Central Coast. The county forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. . As of the 2010 U.S. Census, its population was 262,382. The county seat is Santa Cruz...

 from present-day Davenport

Davenport, California

Davenport is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, California. Davenport sits at an elevation of . The 2010 United States census reported Davenport's population was 408.-Situation:...

 to Aptos

Aptos, California

Aptos is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The population was 6,220 at the 2010 census.Aptos is an unincorporated area of Santa Cruz county, consisting of several small communities...

.

Awaswas (Santa Cruz) is also the name of their spoken dialect, listed as one of the Costanoan language dialects in the Utian family

Utian languages

Utian is a family of indigenous languages spoken in the central and north portion of California, United States. The Miwok and Ohlone peoples both spoke languages in the Utian linguistic group...

, becoming the main language spoken at the Mission Santa Cruz

Mission Santa Cruz

Mission Santa Cruz was established in 1791 and named for the feast of the Exultation of the Cross, the name that the explorer Gaspar de Portolà gave to the area when he camped on the banks of the San Lorenzo River on October 17, 1769, and erected a wooden cross...

. However, there is evidence that this grouping was more geographic than linguistic, and that the records of the 'Santa Cruz Costanoan' language in fact represent several diverse dialects.

The Awaswas territory was bordered by the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 to the west, and other Ohlone people on all other sides: the Ramaytush

Ramaytush

The Ramaytush are one of the linguistic subdivisions of the Ohlone Native Americans of Northern California. Historically, the Ramaytush inhabited the San Francisco Peninsula between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in the area which is now San Francisco and San Mateo Counties.The Ramaytush...

 to the north, Tamyen

Tamyen

The Tamyen are one of eight linguistic divisions of the Ohlone people groups of Native Americans who lived in Northern California. The Tamyen lived throughout the Santa Clara Valley...

 to the east, and the Mutsun and Rumsien to the south.

During the era of Spanish missions in California

Spanish missions in California

The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...

, the Awaswas people's lives changed with the Mission Santa Cruz

Mission Santa Cruz

Mission Santa Cruz was established in 1791 and named for the feast of the Exultation of the Cross, the name that the explorer Gaspar de Portolà gave to the area when he camped on the banks of the San Lorenzo River on October 17, 1769, and erected a wooden cross...

 (founded in 1791) built in their territory. Most moved into this mission and were baptized, lived and educated to be Catholic neophytes, also known as Mission Indians

Mission Indians

Mission Indians is a term for many Native California tribes, primarily living in coastal plains, adjacent inland valleys and mountains, and on the Channel Islands in central and southern California, United States. The tribes had established comparatively peaceful cultures varying from 250 to 8,000...

, until the missions were discontinued by the Mexican Government in 1834.

Awaswas tribes and villages

The villages included the Sokel, who lived at Aptos, and the Chatu-mu, who lived near the current location of Santa Cruz.

• Ohlone tribes and villages in Santa Cruz Mountains