They left their mark on the landscape, in remote locations and on sacred mountains.  They suffered almost complete annihilation at the hands of missionaries, and left behind a legacy of missions with the labor of their own hands.

Who were the Chumash?  What happened to them?  Where are they now?

Despite the challenges California natives faced with the conquest of the New World, a handful managed to survive. Most of them bear Spanish surnames today.  Most of us know they exist because of the casino which bears their name.  Many of them are taking steps to keep their culture alive by learning their language, ceremonies and social customs, and passing those on to the next generation.

Much of Chumash tribal culture was lost, but not all of it.  And today, the ancestors of California’s first inhabitants are celebrating their heritage and their place in the history of their land.

They are revitalizing their traditional ways with the tomal, a sailing vessel constructed of wood planks, unique to North American Indian culture.  California nations are the only ones who construct their ocean-going vessels from wooden planks; vessels strong enough to transport numerous people across the Pacific and to the coastal islands which the Chumash originated from.

In their creation story, their voyage began not with a boat, but by crossing a rainbow bridge from the islands to the mainland.  And according to the Chumash, like many other native nations, human beings were among the last inhabitants of the Earth to be created.

In a time when animals conversed amongst each other much as we do today, there was a great council meeting among them.  They spoke of how humans should look, and what kind of hands they should have. 

Coyote made a strong case for hands like his own, and most of the animals agreed.  Coyote was about to place his own print into a rock and forever seal the fate of humans to be created with paws, but just before he did, a lizard rushed past him and placed his own hand print there…a hand with five fingers much like our own.

California boasts some twenty one beautiful Spanish missions along its coastline.  Their architecture and design suggests that these were created by the Spanish, but this is only part of the story.  The actual labor force who forged the clay into bricks, erected the structures and finished them with a covering of adobe was comprised of Native Americans who were the subjects of the missionaries themselves. 

They were little more than slaves to the Spanish; taken by force from their villages and remote homes and brought to the missions, where they were converted to the Catholic faith, forbidden the use of their own language, and forcefully discouraged from practicing their own cultural ways.  In a single generation, many Chumash and many other California tribes lost the better part of their heritage.

Disease also took a heavy toll on native populations.  The Spanish brought with them new diseases, such as smallpox, which were foreign to California’s natives, and to which they had no resistance.  Even less deadly and more common ailments proved fatal to native peoples.  It is said that some died not of disease, but of broken hearts.  Others were put to death if they sought escape or revolt from the mission system.

Today’s Chumash people cannot be categorized as a single entity.  They were and remain a number of diverse but culturally similar bands of people spanning an area from Kern County to the southernmost regions of Ventura County and beyond.  Their artwork and ceremonial sites have been located throughout southern and central California, extending east into Los Angeles County and northeast to Bakersfield. 

A cultural revival for Native American people began in the late 1960’s, in the turbulent years following the occupation of Alcatraz and the formation of the American Indian Movement.  From these often painful and chaotic beginnings, native people found the strength and the desire to embrace their cultures and to preserve what was left of their language, art and ceremonies. 

In 1978, by an act of Congress, religious freedom was granted to native people.  Before that time, American Indian spiritual ceremonies were forbidden by law in America.  What people came to America seeking, they denied to the original inhabitants of the land.  At last, it was no longer against the law to be Indian.  Native people could now openly pursue their culture and heritage.

Today, it is increasingly common to see Chumash people dancing in public.  The Powwow, a native cultural celebration with its roots in Plains Indian culture, wasn’t a part of Chumash tradition.  Dance, ceremony and song, however, was very much a part of their lives.  Gradually, California’s first nations have integrated their presence into these gatherings, which are usually held on their own ancestral lands.

Time brings change.  Today’s Chumash people are much like the rest of us in many ways.  They are consultants, advisors, construction workers, aerospace technicians, teachers, council members, judges, and residents of every county in the state.  They are also culture bearers, keeping alive the memories and values of their ancient societies, and passing on an understanding of how people should relate to and care for the land, the waters and all of earth’s inhabitants.

This knowledge and understanding was a part of daily life for the Chumash before European contact.  Today, it is something that often needs to be re-learned and re-awakened as our society moves ever farther from and earth-centered awareness.  Individually and collectively, California’s first inhabitants are taking on that responsibility.

Corina Roberts, Founder

Redbird

www.RedbirdsVision.org

P.O. Box 702

Simi Valley, CA 93062

(805) 217-0364

Email: redbirds_vision@hotmail.com