Esselen people
![](/Images/godic/202501/11/Monterey_native_c_17912949.jpg")
![Distribution map of the Esselen language in California prior to contact with European cultures.](/Images/godic/202501/11/Esselen_language_distribution_before_16022949.jpg")
![A drawing of Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo prepared by Captain George Vancouver depicts the grounds as they appeared in November 1792. Round, native huts of thatched branches are shown in the background. From A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World.](/Images/godic/202501/11/Vancouver-Carlos-mission2949.jpg")
![Indians of Mission San Carlos Borromeo are lined up with military precision to greet French expedition led by Jean Francois Galaup, Comte De La Perouse. Watercolor attributed to Tomas de Suria or Jose Cardero, 1791. after a lost original painting at the occasion by Gaspard Duché de Vancy. 1786.](/Images/godic/202501/11/San_Carlos_Borromeo_Mission_17862949.jpg")
The Esselen are a Native American people belonging to a linguistic group in the hypothetical Hokan language family, who were indigenous to the Central California coast and the coastal mountains, including what is now known as the Big Sur region in Monterey County, California.