Cholam Talks: The Origins of Migueleño in a Multilingual Region Ian Scharlotta, California Military Department (CA ARNG Camp Roberts, CA) Abstract. Archaeological settlement CA-MNT-2328 (Cholame Valley, Califor- nia) is likely the named Migueleño Salinan Rancheria of Cholam. Several areas of uncertainty about the origin of the Migueleño dialect and how it related to regional trade language(s) became apparent while trying to clarify this attribution. Multiple Salinan dialects were recognized in use at Missions San Antonio, San Miguel, and San Luis Obispo during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with variable interpretations of their associated ethnogeography. Missing or contra- dictory information in historical and ethnographic records cloud attribution of linguistic or cultural affiliation to archaeological settlements in areas known as travel and trade corridors. Keywords. linguistic amalgam, trade corridor, Salinan, Migueleño, California Introduction Ethnographers have identified two Salinan territorial units within Mon- terey and San Luis Obispo counties, one to the north and one to the south, speaking the Antoniaño and Migueleño dialects, respectively (Farris 2000; Gibson 1983; Hester 1978; Kroeber 1925; McCarthy 1999; Milliken 2000; Milliken and Johnson 2003, 2005). Another potential group noted in mission records as Playaño, or coast people (Hester 1978; Kroeber 1925), occupied the region along the coast directly west of San Miguel. It remains unclear whether Playaño people spoke a distinct language or if they spoke a dialect of Salinan or Northern Chumash (Milliken and Johnson 2005: 144; 2003: 146). Ethnohistory 70:4 (October 2023) doi 10.1215/00141801-10673300 Copyright 2023 by American Society for Ethnohistory Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/ethnohistory/article-pdf/70/4/447/2041053/447scharlotta.pdf?guestAccessKey=d6a35aff-e3dc-4bd3-868b-d5edd3c04330 by guest on 30 January 2024