Chumash people: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{~~short~~Short description|Native American tribe of California}}

{{Hatnote|For Chumash, five books of Moses, the Torah (Jewish), see [[Hebrew Bible]]}}{{Distinguish|text = the [[Chuvash people]]}}

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| image_caption = Historical Chumash villages

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The '''Chumash''' are a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] people of the central and southern coastal regions of [[California]], in portions of what is now [[Kern County, California|Kern]], [[San Luis Obispo County, California|San Luis Obispo]], [[Santa Barbara County, California|Santa Barbara]], [[Ventura County, California|Ventura]] and [[Los Angeles County, California|Los Angeles]] counties, extending from [[Morro Bay]] in the north to [[Malibu, California|Malibu]] in the south to [[Mt Pinos]] in the east. Their territory includes three of the [[Channel Islands (California)|Channel Islands]]: [[Santa Cruz Island|Santa Cruz]], [[Santa Rosa Island (California)|Santa Rosa]], and [[San Miguel Island|San Miguel]]; the smaller island of [[Anacapa Island|Anacapa]] was likely inhabited seasonally due to the lack of a consistent water source.<ref name=nps/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.seathos.org/chumash-indians-on-the-channel-islands/ |title=Chumash Indians on the Channel Islands |publisher=Sea•thos Foundation |access-date=September 9, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911002012/http://www.seathos.org/chumash-indians-on-the-channel-islands/ |archive-date=September 11, 2014}}</ref>▼

▲The '''Chumash''' are a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] people of the central and southern coastal regions of [[California]], in portions of what is now [[Kern County, California|Kern]], [[San Luis Obispo County, California|San Luis Obispo]], [[Santa Barbara County, California|Santa Barbara]], [[Ventura County, California|Ventura]] and [[Los Angeles County, California|Los Angeles Counties]] ~~counties~~, extending from [[Morro Bay]] in the north to [[Malibu, California|Malibu]] in the south to [[Mt Pinos]] in the east. Their territory includes three of the [[Channel Islands (California)|Channel Islands]]: [[Santa Cruz Island|Santa Cruz]], [[Santa Rosa Island (California)|Santa Rosa]], and [[San Miguel Island|San Miguel]]; the smaller island of [[Anacapa Island|Anacapa]] was likely inhabited seasonally due to the lack of a consistent water source.<ref name=nps/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.seathos.org/chumash-indians-on-the-channel-islands/ |title=Chumash Indians on the Channel Islands |publisher=Sea•thos Foundation |access-date=September 9, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911002012/http://www.seathos.org/chumash-indians-on-the-channel-islands/ |archive-date=September 11, 2014}}</ref>

Modern place names with Chumash origins include [[Malibu, California|Malibu]], [[Nipomo, California|Nipomo]], [[Lompoc, California|Lompoc]], [[Ojai, California|Ojai]], [[Pismo Beach]], [[Point Mugu, California|Point Mugu]], [[Port Hueneme, California|Port Hueneme]], [[Piru, California|Piru]], [[Lake Castaic]], [[Saticoy, California|Saticoy]], [[Simi Valley, California|Simi Valley]] and [[Somis, California|Somis]]. [[Archaeological]] research demonstrates that the Chumash people have deep roots in the [[Santa Barbara Channel]] area and lived along the southern California coast for millennia.▼

▲Modern place names with Chumash origins include [[Malibu, California|Malibu]], [[Nipomo, California|Nipomo]], [[Lompoc, California|Lompoc]], [[Ojai, California|Ojai]], [[Pismo Beach]], [[Point Mugu, California|Point Mugu]], [[Port Hueneme, California|Port Hueneme]], [[Piru, California|Piru]], [[Lake Castaic]], [[Saticoy, California|Saticoy]], [[Simi Valley, California|Simi Valley]], and [[Somis, California|Somis]]. [[Archaeological]] research demonstrates that the Chumash people have deep roots in the [[Santa Barbara Channel]] area and lived along the southern California coast for millennia.

==History==▼

▲==History==

[[File:Pictographs_at_the_Burro_Flats_Painted_Cave.png|thumb|right|250px|Chumash pictographs in [[Simi Valley, California|Simi Valley]] dating to 500 AD.<ref>Appleton, Bill (2009). ''Santa Susana''. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1-4396-3820-0}}. p. 11.</ref>]]

[[File:2009 07 09 camino cielo paradise 137.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Pictographs]], [[Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park]]]]

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During that time, people used bipointed bone objects and line to catch fish and began making beads from shells of the marine olive snail (''[[Callianax biplicata]]'').<ref>King 1990: 80–82, 106–107, 231</ref> The name Chumash means "bead maker" or "seashell people" being that they originated near the Santa Barbara coast. The Chumash tribes near the coast benefited most with the "close juxtaposition of a variety of marine and terrestrial habitats, intensive upwelling in coastal waters, and intentional burning of the landscape made the Santa Barbara Channel region one of the most resource abundant places on the planet."<ref name="Newton 4162">(Newton 416).</ref>

[[File:ChumashFamilybyGeorgeSStuart.jpg|thumb|left|Chumash Family by American sculptor George S. Stuart]]

While droughts were not uncommon in the centuries of the first millennium AD, a population explosion occurred with the coming of the [[medieval warm period]]. "Marine productivity soared between 950 and 1300 as natural upwelling intensified off the coast."<ref>Fagan, ''The Long Summer'', 2004, p. 222</ref> Before the mission period, the Chumash lived in over 150 independent villages, speaking variations of the same language. Much of their culture consisted of basketry, bead manufacturing and trading, cuisine of local abalone and clam, [[herbalism]] which consisted of using local herbs to produce teas and medical reliefs, [[rock art]], and the scorpion tree.<ref>Barry.</ref>

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The interior is composed of the land outside the coast and spanning the wide plains, rivers, and mountains. The coast covers the cliffs, land close to the ocean, and the areas of the ocean from which the Chumash harvested. The Northern Channel Islands lie off the coast of the Chumash territory. All of the California coastal-interior has a [[Mediterranean climate]] due to the incoming ocean winds.<ref>Timbrook 164.</ref> [[Image:Chumash langs.png|thumb|200px|Precontact distribution of the Chumash]]The mild temperatures, save for winter, made gathering easy; during the cold months, the Chumash harvested what they could and supplemented their diets with stored foods. What villagers gathered and traded during the seasons changed depending on where they resided.<ref>Gamble 228.</ref> With coasts populated by masses of species of fish and land densely covered by trees and animals, the Chumash had a diverse array of food.

Abundant resources and a winter rarely harsh enough to cause concern meant the tribe lived a sedentary lifestyle in addition to a subsistence existence. Villages in the three aforementioned areas contained remains of sea mammals, indicating that trade networks existed for moving materials throughout the Chumash territory.<ref>Coombs and Plog 313.</ref><ref>Fauvelle, Mikael. and Perry, Jennifer. (2023) Fisher-Hunter-Gatherer Complexity on California’s Islands: Feasting, Ceremonialism, and the Ritual Economy. In Archaeology of Fisher-Hunter-Gatherer Complexity in North America. Christina Perry Sampson, ed. Pp. 194-224. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.</ref> The Chumash were connected to extensive trade networks reaching into modern day Arizona, from which pottery and textiles were traded in exchange for shell beads.<ref>Smith, Erin M., and Fauvelle, Mikael (2015) Regional Interactions between California and the Southwest: The Western Edge of the North American Continental System. American Anthropologist 17(4):710-721 https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.12346</ref> The emergence of this trade network within the Chumash territory was facilitated by the existence of three distinct Chumash ecological groups including the island, coastal, and mainland Chumash. Access to distinct resources for these different groups made inter-Chumash trade a large part of life. Villages along the mainland coast emerged as intermediaries between groups.<ref>{{Cite journal |~~last~~last1=Perry |~~first~~first1=Jennifer |last2=Delaney-Rivera |first2=Colleen |date=April 2011~~-04~~ |title=Interactions and Interiors of the Coastal Chumash |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1179/cal.2011.3.1.103 |journal=California Archaeology |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=103–126 |doi=10.1179/cal.2011.3.1.103 |issn=1947-461X}}</ref>

The closer a village was to the ocean, the greater its reliance on maritime resources.<ref>Gamble 6.</ref><ref>Fauvelle, Mikael, and Somerville, Andrew D. (2021) Spatial and Temporal Variation in Fisher-Hunter-Gatherer Diets in Southern California: Bayesian Modeling Using New Baseline Stable Isotope Values. Quanternary International 601(2021):36-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2021.06.025</ref> Due to advanced canoe designs, coastal and island people could procure fish and aquatic mammals from farther out. Shellfish were a good source of nutrition: relatively easy to find and abundant. Many of the favored varieties grew in tidal zones.<ref>Gamble 26–28.</ref> Shellfish grew in abundance during winter to early spring; their proximity to shore made collection easier. Some of the consumed species included mussels, abalone, and a wide array of clams. [[Haliotis rufescens]] (red abalone) was harvested along the [[Central California]] coast in the pre-contact era.<ref>Hogan, C.M. [http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18353 Los Osos Back Bay.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816234114/http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18353 |date=2017-08-16 }} The Megalithic Portal, editor A. Burnham (2008).</ref> The Chumash and other [[California Indians]] also used red [[abalone]] shells to make a variety of fishhooks, beads, ornaments, and other artifacts.

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Ocean animals such as otters and seals were thought to be the primary meal of coastal tribes people, but recent evidence shows the aforementioned trade networks exchanged oceanic animals for terrestrial foods from the interior. Any village could acquire fish, but the coastal and island communities specialized in catching not just smaller fish, but also the massive catches such as swordfish.<ref name="Gamble 156">(Gamble 156).</ref> This feat, difficult even for today's technology, was made possible by the [[tomol]] plank canoe. Its design allowed for the capture of deepwater fish, and it facilitated trade routes between villages.<ref name="Gamble 156" />

Some researchers believe that the Chumash [[Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact#Polynesians|may have been visited]] by [[~~Polynesia~~Polynesians]]ns between AD 400 and 800, nearly 1,000 years before [[Christopher Columbus]] reached the [[Americas]].<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/20/MNG9GDBBLG1.DTL Did ancient Polynesians visit California? Maybe so.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071230013157/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2005%2F06%2F20%2FMNG9GDBBLG1.DTL|date=2007-12-30}}, ''San Francisco Chronicle''</ref> The Chumash advanced sewn-plank canoe design, used throughout ~~the Polynesian Islands~~[[Polynesia]] but unknown in North America except by those two tribes, is cited as the chief evidence for contact. [[Comparative linguistics]] may provide evidence as the Chumash word for "sewn-plank canoe", ''[[~~tomol~~Tomol|tomolo'o]]'', may have been derived from ''kumula'au'', the Polynesian word for the [[Sequoia sempervirens|redwood]] logs used in that construction. However, the language comparison is generally considered tentative. Furthermore, the development of the Chumash plank canoe is fairly well represented in the archaeological record and spans several centuries.<ref>Arnold, Jeanne E. 1995.</ref><ref>Gamble, Lynn H. 2002.</ref> The concept is rejected by most archaeologists who work with the Chumash culture, and there is no evidence of a genetic legacy.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Jones|first=Terry L.|author2=Kathryn A. Klar|date=June 3, 2005|title=Diffusionism Reconsidered: Linguistic and Archaeological Evidence for Prehistoric Polynesian Contact with Southern California|url=http://www.saa.org/publications/AmAntiq/70-3/Jones.html|url-status=dead|journal=American Antiquity|volume=70|issue=3|pages=457–484|doi=10.2307/40035309|jstor=40035309|s2cid=161301055|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927085144/http://www.saa.org/Publications/AmAntiq/70-3/Jones.html|archive-date=September 27, 2006|access-date=2008-03-06}} and {{cite journal|last=Adams|first=James D.|author2=Cecilia Garcia|author3=Eric J. Lien|date=January 23, 2008|title=A Comparison of Chinese and American Indian (Chumash) Medicine|url=http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/nem188v1|journal=Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine|volume=7|issue=2|pages=219–225|doi=10.1093/ecam/nem188|pmc=2862936|pmid=18955312|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214184401/http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/nem188v1|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 14, 2009|access-date=2008-03-06}}. See also [http://cla.calpoly.edu/~tljones/ Terry Jones's homepage] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511194439/http://cla.calpoly.edu/~tljones/|date=2008-05-11}}, California Polytechnic State University.</ref>

Before contact with Europeans, coastal Chumash relied less on terrestrial resources than they did on maritime; vice versa for interior Chumash.<ref name="Gamble 164">(Gamble 164).</ref> Regardless, they consumed similar land resources. Like many other tribes, deer were the most important land mammal the Chumash pursued; deer were consumed in varying amounts across all regions, which cannot be said for other terrestrial animals. Interior Chumash placed greater value on the deer, to the extent that they had unique hunting practices for them.

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===Spanish contact and the mission period (1542–1834)===

{{See also|Chumash revolt of 1824}}
[[File:Chmash musicians 1873.jpg|thumb|Chumash musicians at [[Mission San Buenaventura]], 1873~~|alt=~~]]

~~{{See also|Chumash Revolt of 1824}}~~

The ~~Spaniard~~maritime explorer [[Juan Cabrillo]] was the first European to make contact with the coastal Alta Californian tribes in the year 1542.<ref>{{~~Cite~~cite web|title=Spanish California {{!}} Early California History: An Overview {{!}} Articles and Essays {{!}} California as I Saw It: First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849–1900 {{!}} Digital Collections {{!}} Library of Congress|url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/california-first-person-narratives/articles-and-essays/early-california-history/spanish-california/|access-date=2020-08-18|website=Library of Congress}}</ref> Cabrillo died and was buried on San Miguel Island, but his men brought back a diary that contained the names and population counts for many Chumash villages, such as [[Mikiw]]. Spain claimed what is now California from that time forward, but did not return to settle until 1769, when the first Spanish soldiers and missionaries arrived with the double purpose of [[Christianization|Christianizing]] the Native Americans and facilitating Spanish colonization. By the end of 1770, missions and military [[presidio]]s had been founded at [[San Diego]] to the south of Chumash lands and [[Monterey]] to their north.<ref>Brown 1967</ref>

With the arrival of the Europeans "came a series of unprecedented blows to the Chumash and their traditional lifeways. Anthropologists, historians, and other scholars have long been interested in documenting the collision of cultures that accompanied the European exploration and colonization of the Americas."<ref name="Newton 4162"/> Spain settled on the territory of the Chumash in 1770. They founded colonies, [[Spanish missions in California|bringing in missionaries to begin evangelizing Native Americans in the region]] by forcing Chumash villages into numerous missions springing up along the coast.

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[[Mission La Purisima]] Concepción was founded along the inland route from Santa Barbara north to San Luis Obispo in 1789. The final Franciscan mission to be constructed in native Chumash territory was Santa Ynez, founded in 1804 on the Santa Ynez River with a seed population of Chumash people from Missions La Purisima and Santa Barbara. To the southeast, Mission San Fernando, founded in 1798 in the land of Takic Shoshonean speakers, also took in large numbers of Chumash speakers from the middle Santa Clara River valley. While most of the Chumash people joined one mission or another between 1772 and 1806, a significant portion of the native inhabitants of the Channel Islands did not move to the mainland missions until 1816.<ref>McLendon and Johnson 1999</ref>

[[Radiocarbon dating]] of artifacts on the ~~northernmost~~southernmost of the Channel Islands, San Clemente Island, suggests that the Chumash people lived without significant contact from Spanish settlers and missionaries until the 1870’s. This island shows a clear lack of Spanish influence on its archaeology up until this point. Because of its remoteness, it was perhaps the last Chumash area to be colonized.<ref>Ruby, A., & Whitaker, A. R. (2019). Remote Places As Post-Contact Refugia. ''California Archaeology'', ''11''(2), 205–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/1947461X.2019.1655624</ref>

===Mexican era (1834–1848)===

[[File:Librado Making Kelp Fetish 1912.jpg|thumb|[[Fernando Librado]] was born in the Mexican era to two Chumash parents from ''[[Santa Cruz Island|Limuw]].''.]]

Mexico seized control of the missions in 1834. Tribespeople either fled into the interior, attempted farming for themselves and were driven off the land, or were enslaved by the new administrators. Many found highly exploitative work on large Mexican ranches. After 1849, most Chumash land was lost due to theft by Americans and a declining population, due to the effects of violence and disease.

The remaining Chumash began to lose their cohesive identity. In 1855, a small piece of land (120 acres) was set aside for just over 100 remaining Chumash Indians near Santa Ynez mission. This land ultimately became the only Chumash reservation, although Chumash individuals and families also continued to live throughout their former territory in southern California. Today, the Santa Ynez band lives at and near Santa Ynez. The Chumash population was between roughly 10,000 and 18,000 in the late 18th century. In 1990, 213 Indians lived on the [[Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians#Reservation|Santa Ynez Reservation]].<ref>(Pritzker).</ref>

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===American era (1848–present)===

[[File:Chumash indian museum thousand oaks.jpg|thumb|Reconstructed Chumash hut at the [[Chumash Indian Museum]]]]

[[File:CINMS - Tomol Crossing Sunrise .jpg|thumb|The Chumash revived their cultural tradition of traveling via ''[[tomol]]'' from the California coast to the [[Channel Islands (California)|~~channel~~Channel ~~islands~~Islands]].]]

The Chumash reservation, established in 1901, encompasses 127 acres. No native Chumash speak their own language since Mary Yee, the last Barbareño speaker, died in 1965. Today, the Chumash are estimated to have a population of 5,000 members. Many current members can trace their ancestors to the five islands of [[Channel Islands National Park]].

Beginning in the 1970s, neo-Chumash arose, tracing their lineage nearly completely from the descendants of Spanish colonists to the domain of the initial Chumash people. They promote traditions of the Chumash, and are recognized locally. Their cultural assumption has been criticized by some, but is supported by others.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Haley|first1=Brian D.|last2=Wilcoxon|first2=Larry R.|date=September 2005|title=How Spaniards Became Chumash and Other Tales of Ethnogenesis|journal=American Anthropologist|publisher=American Anthropological Association|volume=107|issue=3|pages=432–445|doi=10.1525/aa.2005.107.3.432|jstor=3567028}}</ref>

The first modern ''[[tomol]]'' was built and launched in 1976 as a result of a joint venture between Quabajai Chumash of the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation and the [[Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History]]. Its name is ''Helek/Xelex'', the Chumash word for falcon. The Brotherhood of the Tomol was revived and her crew paddled and circumnavigated around the [[Santa Barbara Channel Islands]] on a 10-day journey, stopping on three of the islands. The second ''tomol'', the ''Elye'wun'' ("[[swordfish]]"), was launched in 1997.

On September 9, 2001, the first "crossing" in the Chumash tomol, from the mainland to Channel Islands, was sponsored by the Chumash Maritime Association and the Barbareño Chumash Council. Several Chumash bands and descendants gathered on the island of Limuw (the Chumash name for Santa Cruz Island) to witness the ''Elye'wun'' being paddled from the mainland to Santa Cruz Island.

Their journey was documented in the short film "Return to Limuw" produced by the Ocean Channel for the Chumash Maritime Association, Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, and the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. The channel crossings have become a yearly event hosted by the Barbareño Chumash Council. The [[Santa Ynez Band of Chumash]] is a [[Federally recognized tribe|federally recognized]] Chumash tribe. They have the [[Santa Ynez Reservation]] located in [[Santa Barbara County, California|Santa Barbara County]], near Santa Ynez. Chumash people are also enrolled in the [[Tejon Indian Tribe of California]].

[[File:~~Chumash_Dancer_by_Chris_Seaton_~~Chumash Dancer by Chris Seaton (49936483912).jpg|thumb|Chumash dancer|alt=A Chumash woman wearing brightly colored traditional attire~~|thumb|Chumash Dancer~~]]

In addition to the Santa Ynez Band, the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation and the Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians are attempting to gain federal recognition. Other Chumash tribal groups include the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, descendants from the San Luis Obispo area, and the Barbareño Chumash Council, descendants from the greater Santa Barbara area. The publication of the first Chumash dictionary took place in April 2008. Six hundred pages long and containing 4,000 entries, the ''Samala-English Dictionary'' includes more than 2,000 illustrations.<ref>''Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Publishes Language Dictionary''. ([https://archive.today/20130202003631/http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS180466+21-Apr-2008+PRN20080421])</ref> The documentary film ''6 Generations: A Chumash Family History'' features [[Mary Yee]], the last speaker of the [[Barbareño language|Barbareño Chumash language]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kettmann |first=Matt |date=2011-01-27 |title=Santa Barbara on Screen |url=http://www.independent.com/news/2011/jan/27/santa-barbara-screen/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117234301/http://www.independent.com/news/2011/jan/27/santa-barbara-screen/ |archive-date=2013-01-17 |access-date=2013-05-08 |work=The Santa Barbara Independent}}</ref>

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To promote sustainable agriculture and healthy diets, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Environmental Office and Education Departments' after-school program planted a community garden, which provided vegetables to the Elder's Council, beginning in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chumash Community Garden Update|url=http://syceo.org/2016/05/chumash-community-update/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918193525/http://syceo.org/2016/05/chumash-community-update/|archive-date=18 September 2016|access-date=26 August 2016|website=Santa Ynez Chumash Environmental Office}}</ref> The Santa Ynez Valley Fruit and Vegetable Rescue, also known as Veggie Rescue, is another effort to improve food sourcing for the Santa Ynez.<ref>{{cite web|title=Veggie Rescue|url=http://www.veggierescue.org/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816070630/http://www.veggierescue.org/|archive-date=16 August 2016|access-date=26 August 2016}}</ref>

==Worldviews and cosmology==

~~== Worldview ==~~

Chumash [[worldview]] is centered on the belief "that considers all things to be, in varying measure, alive, intelligent, dangerous, and sacred."{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} According to Thomas Blackburn in ''December's Child: A Book of Chumash Oral Narratives'' published in 1980, the Chumash do not have a [[creation story]] like [[Tongva]], [[Acjachemen]], [[Payomkawichum|Quechnajuichom]], and other [[Takic languages|Takic]]-speaking peoples. Rather, as summarized by Susan Suntree, "they assume that the universe with its three, or in some ~~version~~versions five, layers has always been here.{{Cn|date=April 2024}}

Human beings occupy the ~~middle~~Middle ~~region~~Region, which rests upon two giant snakes. Chronological time is unimportant, though the past is divided into two sections: the universal flood that caused the First People to become the natural world and, thereafter the creation of human beings, the arrival of the Europeans, and the devastating consequences that followed."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Suntree|first=Susan|title=Sacred Sites: The Secret History of Southern California|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|year=2010|isbn=9780803231986|page=276}}</ref>

The middle region (sometimes referred to as ''{{'}}antap''), where humans and spirits of this world live and where [[Shamanism|shamans]] could travel in [[vision quest]]s, is interconnected with the lower world (''C'oyinahsup'') through the springs and marsh areas and is connected to the upper world through the mountains. In the lower world live snakes, frogs, salamanders. The world trembles or has earthquakes when the snakes which support the world writhe.{{Cn|date=April 2024}}

Water creatures are also in contact with the powers of the lower world and "were often depicted in rock art perhaps to bring more water to the Chumash or to appease underworld spirits' at times of hunger or disease." ''Itiashap'' is the home of the First People. ''Alapay'' is the upper world in Chumash [[cosmology]] where the "sky people" lived, who play an important role in the health of the people. Principle figures of the sky world include the Sun, the Moon, Lizard, Sky Coyote, and Eagle. The Sun is the source of life and is also "a source of disease and death."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bryan E.|first=Penprase|title=The Power of Stars: How Celestial Observations Have Shaped Civilization|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|year=2010|isbn=9781441968036|pages=128–130}}</ref> The Sky Coyote, also known as the Great Coyote of the Sky or ''Shnilemun,'' is considered to be a protector and according to Inseño Chumash lore, “looks out for the welfare of all in the world below him”.<ref>Harrington, J. P., & Blackburn, T. C. (1980). ''December’s Child: A book of chumash oral narratives''. University of California Press.</ref><ref name=":1">SAINT-ONGE, R. W., JOHNSON, J. R., & TALAUGON, J. R. (2009). Archaeoastronomical Implications of a Northern Chumash Arborglyph. ''Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology'', ''29''(1), 29–58. <nowiki>http://www.jstor.org/stable/27825901</nowiki> </ref> During the creation of mankind, the Sky Coyote was present among the other important cosmological figures.<ref name=":1" /> According to John M. Anderson in his work ''Chumash Demonology'', the Eagle, also known as ''Slo’w'', represents the ruler of ~~polaris~~Polaris.<ref>Anderson, J. M. (2020). ''Chumash Demonology'' (5th ed.). AmDes Publishing, April 21, 2024, <nowiki>https://johnandersonlibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Chumash-Demonology-.pdf</nowiki> </ref> The Eagle also is the force that maintains momentum and order among the other stars so that they do not fall down on and destroy earth.<ref name=":1" />

===Cosmology and astronomy===

The Chumash cosmology is also centered around astronomy. Rock art and arborglyphs that have been found within Chumash sites are thought to have depicted Polaris (the North Star) and Ursa Major (the Big Dipper). Specialists Rex Saint-Onge, John R. Johnson, and Joseph R. Talaugon argues in their article ''Archaeoastronomical Implications of a Northern Chumash Arborglyph'' that these two astrological entities were paramount to the Chumash belief system as well as their perception of time. It is believed that the Chumash used these constellations to determine what time of the year it was depending on the position of Ursa Major around Polaris.<ref name=":1" />

== Chumash bands ==

One Chumash band, the [[Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation]] is a [[federally recognized tribe]], and other Chumash people are enrolled in the federally recognized [[Tejon Indian Tribe]]. There are 14 bands of Chumash Indians.<ref>{{~~Cite~~cite web|url=ftp://ftp.consrv.ca.gov/pub/oil/SB4DEIR/docs/CUL_Chumash_Indian_Bands_2003.pdf|title=Chumash Indians|date=19 June 2014|website=Chumash Indian Bands|publisher=Chumash Tribe}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

* Barbareño Chumash, affiliated with the Taynayan missions and the Kashwa reservations.

* Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation, their historical territory, north of Los Angeles, includes parts of the coastal counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Kern, and Ventura. The Coastal band of the Chumash Nation applied for recognition in 1981.<ref>{{~~Cite~~cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWPVa3JfmZM|title=Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation|website=YouTube|publisher=Aim Santa Barbara|access-date=April 3, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510193207/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWPVa3JfmZM|archive-date=May 10, 2018}}</ref>

* Cuyama Chumash, from the [[Cuyama Valley]].

* Island Chumash, from the [[Channel Islands (California)|Channel Islands]].

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* Malibu Chumash, from the coast of Malibu. Descendants of this band can now be found among the Ventura, Coastal, Tejon, and San Fernando Valley bands.

* Monterey Chumash, from the [[Monterey Peninsula]].

* [[Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians|Samala, or Santa Ynez Chumash]]. The Santa Ynez Chumash people in 2012 went to federal court to regain more land. The Bureau of Indian Affairs approved the request; the land was to go toward tribal housing and a Chumash Museum and Cultural Center. Protesters and anti-tribal groups have spent approximately $2 million to disrupt or stop the land acquisition.<ref>2012. Indian Lands: Exploring Resolutions to Disputes Concerning Indian Tribes, State and Local Governments, and Private Landowners over Land Use and Development. N.p.</ref>

* San Fernando Valley Chumash, once laborers at the [[Mission San Fernando Rey de España]].{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} They intermarried other tribes who also worked at the mission.

* Yak Tityu Tityu Yak Tilhini Northern Chumash, homelands from coastal [[Avila Beach, California|Avila Beach]] to [[Morro Bay, California|Morro Bay]]. They are the northwesternmost Chumash people, located in San Luis Obispo County.

Line 117 ⟶ 128:

==Population==

Estimates for the precontact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. The anthropologist [[Alfred L. Kroeber]] thought the 1770 population of the Chumash might have been about 10,000.<ref>A. L. Kroeber, p.883</ref> Alan K. Brown concluded that the population was about 15,000.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Brown|first=Alan K|title=The Aboriginal Population of the Santa Barbara Channel.|journal=Reports of the University of California Archeological Survey|year=1967|issue=69|publisher=University of California}}</ref> [[Sherburne F. Cook]], at various times, estimated the aboriginal Chumash as 8,000, 13,650, 20,400, or 18,500.<ref>S. F. Cook, 1976</ref>

Line 124 ⟶ 136:

The Chumash appear to have been thriving in the late 18th-century, when Spaniards first began actively colonizing the California coast. Whether the deaths began earlier with the contacts with ships' crews or later with the construction of several Spanish missions at Ventura, Santa Barbara, Lompoc, Santa Ynez, and San Luis Obispo, the Chumash were eventually devastated by the [[California Genocide]] carried out when the United States took over the territory. By 1900, their numbers had declined to just 200, while current estimates of Chumash people today range from 2,000<ref name="sdsu" /> to 5,000.<ref name="nps" />

The demographics of traditional Chumash society are quite complex. One aspect of interest is the 'Aqi gender of the Chumash. 'Aqi was a third Chumash gender defined by biological males that performed work and wore clothing traditionally of women. The 'aqi gender appears to also be closely tied to non-procreative sexual activity, such as homosexuality.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Archaeologies of sexuality|date=2000|publisher=Routledge|others=Schmidt, Robert A., 1953-, Voss, Barbara L., 1967-|isbn=978-0-415-22366-9|location=London|oclc=70746810}}</ref> [[Transgender archaeology|Archaeological investigation]] of morturary practices has provided evidence for this.<ref>Hollimon, S. E. 2000: [https://books.google.~~co.uk~~com/books~~/about/Archaeologies_of_Sexuality.html~~?id=eSBVQpifqhkC~~&redir_esc=y~~ Archaeology of the 'aqi: gender and sexuality in prehistoric Chumash society], in Archaeologies of Sexuality, pp. 179-196.</ref>

==Languages==

Several related languages under the name "[[Chumashan languages|Chumash]]" (from ''čʰumaš'' {{IPA|/t͡ʃʰumaʃ/}}, meaning "Santa Cruz Islander") were spoken. No native speakers remain, although the dialects are well documented in the unpublished fieldnotes of linguist [[John Peabody Harrington]]. Especially well documented are the [[Barbareño language|Barbareño]], [[Ineseño language|Ineseño]], [[Ventureño]] and [[Ventureño|Obispeño]] languages within the Chumashan language family, which is a language isolate. In 2010, the Šmuwič Chumash Language School was established at Wishtoyo's Chumash Village and remained active until 2012. The language reclamation program in 2010 was initially run by Elder Johnny Moreno and his niece Deborah Sanchez. The language classes were revitalized in 2014 at American Indian Health and Services in Santa Barbara and in Santa Paula in 2016. Sanchez was the sole instructor.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.wishtoyo.org/cp-chumash-language |title=Šmuwič Chumash Language School |access-date=2019-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414110520/https://www.wishtoyo.org/cp-chumash-language |archive-date=2019-04-14 |url-status=live }}</ref> Classes then moved online once the COVID pandemic arrived. The traditional name for Ineseño is ''s'amala'' {{IPA|/sʔamala/}} and the Chumash name for the Barbareño people is Šmuwič.

==Culture==

[[~~Image~~File:Rafael, a Chumash who shared cultural knowledge with Anthropologists.jpg|thumb|Rafael Solares, a Samala [[Tribal chief|chief]], captain of Soxtonoxmu, capital village in the [[Santa Ynez Valley]], photograph by Leon de Cessac, late 19th century]]

The Chumash were [[hunter-gatherer]]s and were adept at [[fishing]] at the time of Spanish colonization. They are one of the relatively few [[New World]] peoples who regularly navigated the ocean (another was the [[Tongva people|Tongva]], a neighboring tribe to the south). Some settlements built a plank boat (''tomol''), which facilitated the distribution of goods and could be used for whaling.

===Basketry===

[[File:Basketry tray, Chumash, Santa Barbara Mission, early 1800s - Native American collection - Peabody Museum, Harvard University - DSC05558.JPG|thumb|Coiled Basket tray, Santa Barbara Mission, early 19th century]]

[[Anthropology|Anthropologist]]s have long collected Chumash baskets. Two of the largest collections are at the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in [[Washington, DC]], and the [[Musée de l'Homme]] (Museum of Mankind) in [[Paris]]. The [[Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History]] is believed to have the largest collection of Chumash baskets.

===Bead manufacture and trading===

The Chumash of the Northern Channel Islands were at the center of an intense regional trade network. Beads made from ''[[Callianax]]'' shells were manufactured on the Channel Islands and used as a form of currency by the Chumash.<ref name="Arnold 2001">Arnold 2001</ref> Shell beads were not just a form of currency, they also played a vital role in the Chumash social system. The beads ~~functioned~~exchanges ashelped apeople ~~form of~~build social ~~storage~~networks, ~~that~~and ~~was~~accumulated ~~used~~wealth ~~in exchanges that consisted~~outside of food resources. This allowed the Chumash people to minimize the risk of food shortages in their tribe and were able to fall back on durable beads and their existing friends in other communities. Chumash chiefs and elite members were responsible with the redistribution of the shell beads, subsistence goods, and other items.<ref>Gamble, L. H. (2008). Economics and Exchange: Manifestations of Wealth Finance. In ''The Chumash World at European Contact: Power, Trade, and Feasting Among Complex Hunter-Gatherers'' (1st ed., pp. 223–248). University of California Press. <nowiki>http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1ppr4x.11</nowiki></ref> These shell beads were traded to neighboring groups and have been found throughout Alta California. Over the course of late prehistory, millions of shell beads were manufactured and traded from Santa Cruz Island. It has been suggested that exclusive control over stone quarries used to manufacture the drills needed in bead production could have played a role in the development of social complexity in Chumash society.<ref name="Arnold 2001" />

These shell beads were traded to neighboring groups and have been found throughout Alta California. Some items that were traded by the Chumash from the island to the Chumash mainland tribes included shell beads, digging stick weights (stone rings),<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sutton |first=Elizabeth A. |date=2014 |title=Digging Stick Weights and Doughnut Stones: An Analysis of Perforated Stones from the Santa Barbara Channel Region |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45154996 |journal=Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=17–42 |jstor=45154996 |issn=0191-3557}}</ref> and steatite Lolas (stone bowl) which originates mainly from Santa Catalina Island. The mainland tribes would in return export seeds, acorns, bows and arrows, fur, skin, roots, and baskets to the island. There was also trade from the mainland and inland areas whose items consisted of fish and beads. The interior citizens would trade fish, game, seeds, fruit, and fox-skin shawls to the coast. Fernando Librado (Chumash Elder) mentions that all the trade transactions took place on the mainland due to the location since it was between the island and the interior.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gamble |first=Lynn H. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1ppr4x |title=The Chumash World at European Contact: Power, Trade, and Feasting Among Complex Hunter-Gatherers |date=2008 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-25441-1 |edition=1 |jstor=10.1525/j.ctt1ppr4x }}</ref>

~~===Cuisine===~~

Foods historically consumed by the Chumash include several marine species, such as [[Black Abalone|black abalone]], the [[Leukoma staminea|Pacific littleneck clam]], [[red abalone]], the [[Macoma nasuta|bent-nosed clam]], [[Ostrea lurida|ostrea lurida oysters]], [[Acanthinucella spirata|angular unicorn snails]],<ref name="Hogan">{{cite web |last=Hogan |first=C. M.|title=Los Osos Back Bay |url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18353|work=The Megalithic Portal|access-date=15 June 2010|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501082811/http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18353|archive-date=1 May 2011}}</ref> and the [[Saxidomus nuttalli|butternut clam]].<ref>[http://www.nwmarinelife.com/htmlswimmers/s_nuttalli.html Intertidal Marine Invertebrates of the South Puget Sound (2008)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216051534/http://www.nwmarinelife.com/htmlswimmers/s_nuttalli.html |date=February 16, 2012 }}</ref> Acorns, an important plant food, were ground up and cooked into a soup.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Daily Life {{!}} Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History |url=https://www.sbnature.org/collections-research/anthropology/chumash-life/daily-life |access-date=2022-04-23 |website=www.sbnature.org}}</ref> They also made flour from the dried fruits of the [[Malosma|laurel sumac]].<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite journal |last1 = Timbrook |first1 = Jan |year = 1990 |title = Ethnobotany of Chumash Indians, California, Based On Collections by John P. Harrington |journal = [[Economic Botany]]|volume = 44|issue = 2| pages = 236–253|doi = 10.1007/BF02860489 |s2cid = 25807034|doi-access = free}}</ref> Highly prized seafood such as swordfish were caught through the use of plank canoes and were likely shared by chiefs during communal feasts <ref>Fauvelle, Mikael, and Somerville, Andrew D. (2024)▼

Over the course of late prehistory, millions of shell beads were manufactured and traded from Santa Cruz Island. It has been suggested that exclusive control over stone quarries used to manufacture the drills needed in bead production could have played a role in the development of social complexity in Chumash society.<ref name="Arnold 2001" />

Diet, Status, and incipient social Inequality: Stable isotope data from three Complex Fisher-Hunter-Gatherer sites in southern California. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 73:101554 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2023.101554

~~</ref>~~

The bead-making industry involved two distinct craft specializations: the production of tools used to make beads and the actual manufacturing of the beads themselves.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gamble |first=Lynn H. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1ppr4x |title=The Chumash World at European Contact: Power, Trade, and Feasting Among Complex Hunter-Gatherers |date=2008 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-25441-1 |edition=1 |jstor=10.1525/j.ctt1ppr4x }}</ref> Central to this industry was [[chert]], a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock. The Chumash crafted small flakes of chert into [[Microblade technology|microblades]], which were essential for their bead production. These microblades were then used to create drills, the tools necessary for making holes in shells, transforming them into beads. Thus, chert microlithic tools played a crucial role in the bead-making process.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Arnold |first=Jeanne E. |date=1990 |title=Lithic Resource Control and Economic Change in the Santa Barbara Channel Region |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27825420 |journal=Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=158–172 |jstor=27825420 |issn=0191-3557}}</ref>

The regional diversity present within the Chumash territory spawned an intricate trade system connecting the island, coastal, and mainland groups. The villages of Xaxas and Muwu emerged as the most important trade hubs for the Chumash people. Their positioning relative to coastal and mainland trade routes and resources made these villages particularly powerful within the Chumash trade ecosystem.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Perry |first1=Jennifer |last2=Delaney-Rivera |first2=Colleen |date=April 2011 |title=Interactions and Interiors of the Coastal Chumash |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1179/cal.2011.3.1.103 |journal=California Archaeology |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=103–126 |doi=10.1179/cal.2011.3.1.103 |issn=1947-461X}}</ref>

===Cuisine, foodways, and subsistence===

▲Foods historically consumed by the Chumash include several marine species, such as [[Black Abalone|black abalone]], the [[Leukoma staminea|Pacific littleneck clam]], [[red abalone]], the [[Macoma nasuta|bent-nosed clam]], [[Ostrea lurida|ostrea lurida oysters]], [[Acanthinucella spirata|angular unicorn snails]],<ref name="Hogan">{{cite web |last=Hogan |first=C. M.|title=Los Osos Back Bay |url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18353|work=The Megalithic Portal|access-date=15 June 2010|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501082811/http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18353|archive-date=1 May 2011}}</ref> and the [[Saxidomus nuttalli|butternut clam]].<ref>[http://www.nwmarinelife.com/htmlswimmers/s_nuttalli.html Intertidal Marine Invertebrates of the South Puget Sound (2008)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216051534/http://www.nwmarinelife.com/htmlswimmers/s_nuttalli.html |date=February 16, 2012 }}</ref> Acorns, an important plant food, were ground up and cooked into a soup.<ref>{{~~Cite~~cite web |title=Daily Life {{!}} Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History |url=https://www.sbnature.org/collections-research/anthropology/chumash-life/daily-life |access-date=2022-04-23 |website=www.sbnature.org}}</ref> They also made flour from the dried fruits of the [[Malosma|laurel sumac]].<ref name="ReferenceA">{{~~Cite~~cite journal |last1 = Timbrook |first1 = Jan |year = 1990 |title = Ethnobotany of Chumash Indians, California, Based On Collections by John P. Harrington |journal = [[Economic Botany]]|volume = 44|issue = 2| pages = 236–253|doi = 10.1007/BF02860489 |s2cid = 25807034|doi-access = free|bibcode = 1990EcBot..44..236T}}</ref> Highly prized seafood such as swordfish were caught through the use of plank canoes and were likely shared by chiefs during communal feasts .<ref>Fauvelle, Mikael, and Somerville, Andrew D. (2024) Diet, Status, and incipient social Inequality: Stable isotope data from three Complex Fisher-Hunter-Gatherer sites in southern California. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 73:101554 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2023.101554</ref>

Feasts are a ritual activity of communal consumption of large quantities of food and drinks along with dances, music, and singing. They played a large role in political and social relations for the Chumash people. The feasts would be prepared over many days, mostly by women, and would coincide with major events such as childbirth, marriages, and chiefs’ birthdays. There are accounts of feasts being held for European expeditions passing through Chumash territories.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03377142 | doi=10.1007/BF03377142 | title=Subsistence Practices and Feasting Rites: Chumash Identity after European Colonization | date=2015 | last1=Gamble | first1=Lynn H. | journal=Historical Archaeology | volume=49 | issue=2 | pages=115–135}}</ref>

During the time of Spanish colonialism, some diets of the Chumash people living on mission sites shifted to include European plants and animals. Evidence has been found that more sheep and cattle were consumed during the 19th century. Traditional hunting and fishing practices were still maintained alongside the addition of European livestock.<ref>Brown, Kaitlin M., Brian J. Barbier, Griffin Fox, Itzamara Ixta, Gina Mosqueda-Lucas, Brianna Rotella, and Lindsey Willoughby. "Subsistence and economic activities of the Chumash community ('Amuwu) at Mission La Purísima Concepción." ''Boletín: The Journal of the California Mission Studies Association'' 37, no. 1 (2021): 100-115.</ref>

There is evidence to suggest that a seafaring, fishing economy in the Channel Islands has been around for at least 12,000 years. This can be seen through various types of fishing projectile points as well as animal remains such as seal, shellfish, and fish all found at sites across the islands by archaeologists and researchers. Coastal people of California have been maintaining their food practices in various ways for a very long time.<ref>''New archaeological evidence reveals California’s Channel Islands as North America’s earliest seafaring economy''. Smithsonian Insider. (n.d.). <nowiki>https://insider.si.edu/2011/03/californias-channel-islands-may-have-once-held-north-americas-earliest-seafaring-economy/</nowiki></ref>

===Herbalism===

Herbs used in traditional Chumash medicine include [[Eriodictyon crassifolium|thick-leaved yerba santa]], used to keep airways open for proper breathing;<ref>{{cite journal|author=James D. Adams Jr, Cecilia Garcia|title=Palliative Care Among Chumash People|journal= Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine|year=2005| doi=10.1093/ecam/neh090|pmid=15937554|pmc=1142202|volume=2|issue=2|pages=143–147}}</ref> [[Malosma|laurel sumac]], the root bark of which was used to make a [[herbal tea]] for treating [[dysentery]];<ref name="ReferenceA" /> and [[Salvia mellifera|black sage]], the leaves and stems were made into a strong [[sun tea]]. This was rubbed on the painful area or used to soak one's feet. The plant contains [[diterpenoid]]s, such as [[aethiopinone]] and [[ursolic acid]], which are known pain relievers.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://wildfoodplants.com/file_download/26| title=Palliative Care Among Chumash People| format=PDF| publisher=Wild Food Plants| access-date=2007-07-14

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071006174719/http://wildfoodplants.com/file_download/26  |archive-date = 2007-10-06}}</ref>

The Chumash formerly practiced an initiation rite involving the use of ''[[Datura wrightii|sacred datura]]'' (''mo'moy'' in their language). When a boy was 8 years old, his mother would give him a preparation of it to drink. This was supposed to be a spiritual challenge to help him develop the spiritual well-being required to become a man. Not all of the boys survived the poison.<ref name="Garcia">{{cite book | author=Cecilia Garcia, James D. Adams | title=Healing with medicinal plants of the west – cultural and scientific basis for their use | publisher=Abedus Press| year=2005 | isbn=978-0-9763091-0-9}}</ref>

~~[[File:Petroglyphs at Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park, high above Santa Barbara, California LCCN2013631567.tif|thumb|Chumash Petroglyphs at Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park]]~~

===Rock art===

~~Remains of a developed Chumash culture, including~~ [[~~pictograph|rock paintings]] apparently depicting~~File:Petroglyphs ~~the~~at ~~Chumash cosmology, such as [[~~Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park, high above Santa Barbara, California LCCN2013631567.tif|thumb|Chumash petroglyphs at Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park]]~~, can still be seen.~~

Remains of a developed Chumash culture, including [[Pictograph|rock paintings]] apparently depicting the Chumash cosmology, such as [[Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park]], can still be seen.

===Scorpion tree===

A centuries-old [[oak]] tree in California is considered to have a Chumash [[arborglyph]], a carving of a six-legged creature with a headdress including a crown and two spheres. Previously thought to have been carved by cowboys, it was visited in 2007 by [[paleontologist]] Rex Saint Onge, who identified the three-foot carving as being of Chumash origin and related to other Chumash cave paintings in California. Further studies have led Saint Onge to believe these are not simply the work of Chumash, but by Chumash [[shamans]] who were conscious observers of the stars, and used these carvings to calibrate the Chumash calendar.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1960661,00.html |title=A Tree Carving in California: Ancient Astronomers? |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=2010-02-11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100212102157/http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1960661,00.html |archive-date=2010-02-12 |date=2010-02-09 |last1=Kettmann |first1=Matt }}</ref>

== Notable people ==

This is a list of notable Chumash people:

* [[Lorna Dee Cervantes]] (born 1954), an award-winning feminist, activist, poet and [[Chicana]] of Chumash descent<ref name=":0">{{~~Cite~~cite book|title=Chicana Ways: Conversations With Ten Chicana Writers|last=Ikas|first=Karin Rosa|publisher=University of Nevada Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-87417-492-2|location=Las Vegas|pages=[https://archive.org/details/chicanawaysconve0000unse/page/27 27–28]|chapter=Lorna Dee Cervantes|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/chicanawaysconve0000unse/page/27|access-date=2019-12-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215182647/https://archive.org/details/chicanawaysconve0000unse/page/27|archive-date=2019-12-15|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{~~Cite~~cite news|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2012/05/09/nominees-announced-for-northern-california-book-awards/|title=Nominees announced for Northern California Book Awards|last=Manuel|first=Bruce|date=May 9, 2012|work=The Mercury News|access-date=May 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528052316/https://www.mercurynews.com/2012/05/09/nominees-announced-for-northern-california-book-awards/|archive-date=May 28, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

* [[Deborah A. Miranda]] (born 1961), a writer and poet of Chumash-[[Esselen]]-[[France|French]] descent<ref>{{~~Cite~~cite news|url=https://donnamiscolta.com/2013/03/04/an-interview-with-deborah-miranda/|title=An Interview with Deborah Miranda|last=Miscolta|first=Donna|date=March 4, 2013|website=Donna Miscolta|access-date=May 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528133252/https://donnamiscolta.com/2013/03/04/an-interview-with-deborah-miranda/|archive-date=May 28, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{~~Cite~~cite web|url=https://www.wlu.edu/english-department/faculty-and-staff/profile?ID=x216|title=Deborah A. Miranda - Professor of English|website=Washington and Lee University|access-date=May 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815163343/https://wlu.edu/english-department/faculty-and-staff/profile?ID=x216|archive-date=August 15, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

* [[John Olguin]] (1921–2011), former director [[Cabrillo Marine Aquarium]], founder of the Cabrillo Whalewatch, and founding member of the [[American Cetacean Society]]<ref>{{~~Cite~~cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-john-olguin-20110103-story.html|title=John Olguin dies at 89; director of San Pedro's Cabrillo Marine Museum|last=Thursby|first=Keith|date=January 3, 2011|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=May 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216025149/http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-john-olguin-20110103-story.html|archive-date=February 16, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{~~Cite~~cite news|url=http://ranchopalosverdes.patch.com/articles/salute-on-sand-draws-1000-plus-to-john-olguin-rites|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131015236/http://ranchopalosverdes.patch.com/articles/salute-on-sand-draws-1000-plus-to-john-olguin-rites|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 31, 2013|title=Salute on Sand Draws 1,000-plus to John Olguin Rites|last=Vinsel|first=Arthur|date=January 23, 2011|work=Palos Verdes Patch|access-date=May 27, 2018}}</ref>

* [[Rafael Solares]] (1822–1890), a Samala chief, captain of Soxtonoxmu, capital village in the Santa Ynez Valley who shared cultural knowledge with anthropologists in the 1800s<ref>Gibson, Robert O. ''The Chumash (Indians of North America)'', Chelsea House Publications, 1990, {{ISBN|978-1-55546-700-5}}</ref><ref>{{~~Cite~~cite web|url=https://calisphere.org/item/c33bc4c7ea156037d7cebfd2a86737b7/|title=Image / Rafael Solares (1822-1890), Chief of the Inéseño Chumash Community of Zanja de~~ ~~ ...|website=Calisphere - University of California|year=1878|access-date=May 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528052611/https://calisphere.org/item/c33bc4c7ea156037d7cebfd2a86737b7/|archive-date=May 28, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{~~Cite~~cite web|url=https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13030/tf3q2nb39d/|title=Image / Rafael Solares, a Santa Inez Chumash man, 1878. Hayward & Muzzall, photographic~~ ~~ ...|website=Calisphere - University of California|year=1878|access-date=May 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528052532/https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13030/tf3q2nb39d/|archive-date=May 28, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

* [[Maria Solares]] (1842-1923), worked with [[John P. Harrington]] to help preserve the Chumash language and culture.

* [[Fernando Librado]] (1839–1915), [[North American Indigenous elder|elder]], master ''[[tomol]]'' builder, craft specialist, philosopher, and storyteller.<ref name=":02">{{cite journal |last=Johnson |first=John R. |date=1982 |title=The Trail to Fernando |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1j17p1td |journal=Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology |volume=4 |pages=132–37}}</ref>
* [[Mary Yee|Mary Joachina Yee]] (1897–1965), linguist and last known speaker of the [[Barbareño language]]<ref name="poser2004status">{{~~Cite~~cite journal |last=Poser |first=William J |year=2004 |title=On the status of Chumash sibilant harmony |url=http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/dm/featgeom/poser-chumashnew.pdf |journal=Ms., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia |access-date=May 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922192009/http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/dm/featgeom/poser-chumashnew.pdf |archive-date=September 22, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{~~Cite~~cite journal|last=Grant|first=C.|year=1978|title=Chumash: Introduction|journal=Handbook of North American Indians|volume=8|pages=505–508}}</ref>

* [[Ernestine Ygnacio-De Soto]], Chumash activist and historian, working on reviving the Barbareño language.<ref name=":03">{{~~Cite~~cite book|last=Kennedy|first=Frances H.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_khgtBPZZyYC|title=American Indian Places: A Historical Guidebook|date=2008|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|isbn=978-0-395-63336-6|pages=298|language=en}}</ref>

* Semu Huaute (1908–2004), medicine man, actor, and alleged last full-blooded Chumash<ref>{{~~Cite~~cite web|url=https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/photos-from-the-vault/article39475008.html|title=Native American settlement near Santa Margarita draws scrutiny|last=Middlecamp|first=David|date=2 May 2014|website=SanLuisObispo.com|access-date=11 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227014214/https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/photos-from-the-vault/article39475008.html|archive-date=27 February 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{~~Cite~~cite web|url=https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/community/cambrian/cambrian-opinion/article56846888.html|title=Frey's passing brings back memories of '70s concert|last=FitzRandolph|first=John|date=27 January 2016|website=SanLuisObispo.com|access-date=11 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190303001502/https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/community/cambrian/cambrian-opinion/article56846888.html|archive-date=3 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

* [[Rosario Cooper]] (October 7, 1845 - June 15, 1917), last known fluent speaker of the tiłhini language who shared cultural and linguistic information with linguist and ethnographer John P. Harrington.<ref>{{~~Cite~~cite web |title=Yak Tityu Tityu Yak Tilhini Northern Chumash (YTT) |url=https://yttnorthernchumashtribe.com/language-development |access-date=2023-07-04 |website=YTT Northern Chumash Tribe |language=en-US}}</ref>

* [[Petra Pico]] (c. April 29, 1834 – September 7, 1902), a skilled basket weaver and previous figurehead of the [[Ventureño language|Ventureño Chumash]] Community.<ref>{{~~Cite~~cite web |last=Bardolph |first=Dana N. |date=2018-12-01 |title="A Song of Resilience": Exploring Communities of Practice in Chumash Basket Weaving in Southern California |url=https://danabardolph.com/publication/brown-timbrook-bardolph-2018-jcgba/ |access-date=2023-11-23 |website=Dana N. Bardolph Ph.D. |language=en-us}}</ref>

== Places of significance ==

[[File:~~Chumash_indian_museum_thousand_oaks_landmark_plaque~~Chumash indian museum thousand oaks landmark plaque.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Chumash Indian Museum]] in [[Thousand Oaks]]]]

Places of significant archaeological and historical value.<ref>Lynne McCall & Perry Rosalind. 1991. ''The Chumash People: Materials for Teachers and Students''. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. San Luis Obispo, CA: EZ Nature Books. {{ISBN|978-0-945092-23-0}}. pp. 72–73.</ref>

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* [[Shalawa Meadow, California]]

== ~~Notes~~ References==

==Further ~~References~~ reading==

* Arnold, Jeanne E. (ed.) 2001. ''The Origins of a Pacific Coast Chiefdom: The Chumash of the Channel Islands''. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.

* {{cite journal | last1 = Arnold | first1 = Jeanne E. | year = 1995 | title = Transportation Innovation and Social Complexity among Maritime Hunter-Gatherer Societies | journal = American Anthropologist | volume = 97 | issue = 4| pages = 733–747 | doi=10.1525/aa.1995.97.4.02a00150}}

* Black Gold Library System, 1997, ''Native Americans of the Central Coast'' (historic photographs). Ventura, CA, Black Gold Libraries▼

* {{cite journal | last1 = Brittain | first1 = A. | last2 = Evans | first2 = S. | last3 = Giroux | first3 = A. | last4 = Hammargren | first4 = B. | last5 = Treece | first5 = B. | last6 = Willis | first6 = A. | year = 2011 | title = Climate action on tribal lands: A community based approach (resilience and risk assessment) | journal = Native Communities and Climate Change | volume = 5 | page = 555 }}

* {{cite journal | last1 = Brown | first1 = Alan K. | year = 1967 | title = The Aboriginal Population of the Santa Barbara Channel | journal = University of California Archaeological Survey Reports | volume = 69 | pages = 1–99 }}

* Cook, Sherburne F. 1976. ''The Conflict between the California Indian and White Civilization''. University of California Press, Berkeley.

* Cook, Sherburne F. 1976. ''The Population of the California Indians, 1769–1970''. University of California Press, Berkeley.

*{{cite journal | last1 = Coombs | first1 = G. | last2 = Plog | first2 = F. | year = 1977 | title = The conversion of the chumash Indians: An ecological interpretation | jstor = 4602423 | journal = Human Ecology | volume = 5 | issue = 4| pages = 309–328 | doi=10.1007/bf00889174~~| doi-broken-date = May 3, 2024~~ | s2cid = 153680246 }}

* Cordero R. The Ancestors Are Dreaming Us. News From Native California [serial online]. Spring2012 2012;25(3):4–27. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 22, 2014.

* {{cite journal | last1 = Dartt-Newton | first1 = D. | last2 = Erlandson | first2 = J. M. | year = 2006 | title = Little Choice for the Chumash: Colonialism, Cattle, and Coercion in Mission Period California | journal = American Indian Quarterly | volume = 30 | issue = 3/4| pages = 416–430 | doi=10.1353/aiq.2006.0020| s2cid = 161990367 }}

* {{cite journal | last1 = Erlandson | first1 = Jon M. | last2 = Rick | first2 = Torben C. | last3 = Kennett | first3 = Douglas J. | last4 = Walker | first4 = Philip L. | year = 2001 | title = Dates, demography, and disease: Cultural contacts and possible evidence for Old World epidemics among the Island Chumash | journal = Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly | volume = 37 | issue = 3| pages = 11–26 }}

* {{cite journal | last1 = Gamble | first1 = Lynn H. | year = 2002 | title = Archaeological Evidence for the Origin of the Plank Canoe in North America | journal = American Antiquity | volume = 67 | issue = 2| pages = 301–315 | doi=10.2307/2694568| jstor = 2694568 | s2cid = 163616908 }}

*Gamble, L. H., & Enki Library eBook. (2008). The chumash world at European contact (1st ed.). Us: University of California Press. Retrieved from http://sjpl.enkilibrary.org/EcontentRecord/11197

* Glassow, Michael A., Lynn H. Gamble, Jennifer E. Perry, and Glenn S. Russell. 2007. Prehistory of the Northern California Bight and the Adjacent Transverse Ranges. In ''California Prehistory: Colonization, Culture, and Complexity''. Terry L. Jones and Kathryn A. Klar, editors. New York and Plymouth UK: Altamira Press.

* Hogan, C. Michael. 2008. [http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18502 ''Morro Creek''.]. Ed. A. Burnham.

* Hudson, D. Travis and Thomas C. Blackburn. 1982–7. ''The Material Culture of the Chumash Interaction Sphere Volumes I–V''. Anthropological Papers No. 25-31. Menlo Park, CA: Ballena Press.▼

* Hudson, D. Travis, Thomas Blackburn, Rosario Curletti and Janice Timbrook. 1977. ''The Eye of the Flute: Chumash Traditional History and Ritual as Told by Fernando Librado Kitsepawit to John P. Harrington''. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.▼

* Hudson, D. Travis, Janice Timbrook, and Melissa Rempe. 1977. ''Tomol: Chumash Watercraft as Described in the Ethnographic Notes of John P. Harrington''. Anthropological Papers No. 9, edited by Lowell J. Bean and Thomas C. Blackburn. Socorro, NM: Ballena Press.▼

* {{cite journal | last1 = Jones | first1 = Terry L. | last2 = Klar | first2 = Kathryn A. | year = 2005 | title = Diffusionism Reconsidered: Linguistic and Archaeological Evidence for Prehistoric Polynesian Contact with Southern California | journal = American Antiquity | volume = 70 | issue = 3| pages = 457–484 | doi=10.2307/40035309| jstor = 40035309 | s2cid = 161301055 }}

* King, Chester D. 1991. ''Evolution of Chumash Society: A Comparative Study of Artifacts Used for Social System Maintenance in the Santa Barbara Channel Region before A.D. 1804''. New York and London, Garland Press.

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* Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. {{ISBN|978-0-19-513877-1}}.

* Pritzker, Barry M. (2014). Chumash. In The American Mosaic: The American Indian Experience. Retrieved February 25, 2014, from http://americanindian2.abc-clio.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/

* Sandos, J. Christianization among the Chumash: an ethnohistoric perspective. American Indian Quarterly [serial online]. ~~Winter91~~Winter 91 1991;15: 65–89. Available from: OmniFile Full Text Mega (H. W. Wilson), Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 22, 2014.

* ''Santa Barbara Independent''. (2010, December 15). [http://www.independent.com/news/2010/dec/15/chumash-foundation-10000-grant-helps-foodbank-serv/ Chumash foundation $10,000 grant helps food bank serve healthy meals.]

* {{cite journal | last1 = Timbrook | first1 = J. | last2 = Johnson | first2 = J. R. | last3 = Earle | first3 = D. D. | year = 1982 | title = Vegetation burning by the chumash | jstor=27825120 | journal = Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology | volume = 4 | issue = 2| pages = 163–186 }}

* [http://www.indianz.com/IndianGaming/2015/04/08/chumash-tribe-and-leaders-sued.asp Chumash Tribe sued over casino expansion ]

~~==Further reading==~~

▲* Black Gold Library System, 1997, ''Native Americans of the Central Coast'' (historic photographs). Ventura, CA, Black Gold Libraries

▲* Hudson, D. Travis and Thomas C. Blackburn. 1982–7. ''The Material Culture of the Chumash Interaction Sphere Volumes I–V''. Anthropological Papers No. 25-31. Menlo Park, CA: Ballena Press.

▲* Hudson, D. Travis, Thomas Blackburn, Rosario Curletti and Janice Timbrook. 1977. ''The Eye of the Flute: Chumash Traditional History and Ritual as Told by Fernando Librado Kitsepawit to John P. Harrington''. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.

▲* Hudson, D. Travis, Janice Timbrook, and Melissa Rempe. 1977. ''Tomol: Chumash Watercraft as Described in the Ethnographic Notes of John P. Harrington''. Anthropological Papers No. 9, edited by Lowell J. Bean and Thomas C. Blackburn. Socorro, NM: Ballena Press.

==External links==

* [http://www.santaynezchumash.org/ Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians]

* [http://www.chumashlanguage.com Inezeño Chumash Language Tutorial]

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120316214015/http://www.coastalbandofthechumashnation.com/ Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation]

* [http://avim.parks.ca.gov Antelope Valley Indian Museum] at [[California Department of Parks and Recreation]]

* [http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/maritime/cultures.html Native Cultures and the Maritime Heritage Program], [[NOAA]]

* [http://www.BarbarenoChumashCouncil.com/ Barbareno Chumash Council] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120071613/http://www.barbarenochumashcouncil.com/ |date=January 20, 2022 }}

* [http://www.NorthernChumash.org/ Northern Chumash Tribal Council]

* [http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=602 Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park]

* [http://www.rain.org/video/tumamait.html Chumash Singer and Storyteller Julie Tumamait-Stenslie] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090102145745/http://www.rain.org/video/tumamait.html |date=2009-01-02 }}

* [http://www.chumashindianmuseum.com Chumash Indian Museum, Thousand Oaks, CA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121126023841/http://chumashindianmuseum.com/ |date=November 26, 2012 }}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150401012137/http://www.sbnature.org/research/anthro/chumash/local.htm Map of Chumash towns at the time of European Settlement]

* {{cite web|title=Wishtoyo Foundation's Chumash Discovery Village, Malibu, CA|url=http://www.wishtoyo.org/projects-cultural-nc-chumash-discovery-village.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121222032137/http://www.wishtoyo.org/projects-cultural-nc-chumash-discovery-village.html|archive-date=2012-12-22}}

*{{Cite web

~~|title = Wishtoyo Foundation's Chumash Discovery Village, Malibu, CA~~

~~|url = http://www.wishtoyo.org/projects-cultural-nc-chumash-discovery-village.html~~

~~|url-status = dead~~

~~|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121222032137/http://www.wishtoyo.org/projects-cultural-nc-chumash-discovery-village.html~~

~~|archive-date = 2012-12-22~~

}}

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