The aboriginal territory of the Chumash was in the vicinity of present-day Santa Barbara, California. Their territory included three of the eight Channel Islands. According to the oral history of the Chumash, all of the people originally lived on Santa Cruz Island.
The Chumash were one of the largest Indian nations of California prior to the European invasion. They lived in large, permanent villages. The highly structured Chumash society was divided into a professional class and a workers’ class. The workers class included centuries-old basket-making and canoe-making guilds.
Language
At the present time, the Chumash language is considered to be a linguistic isolate within California. While Chumash has often been placed in the Hokan language family, linguists Kathryn Klar and Terry Jones, in an article in Anthropological Linguistics, report:
“Subsequent research, however, has not demonstrated a particular affinity of Chumashan languages with any of the other so-called Hokan languages, nor with any other known language group.”
Some linguists feel that Chumash may be a descendent of the oldest languages in California.
The Chumashan language group may have consisted of at least seven languages and are generally divided into three groups: Northern Chumash, Island Chumash, and Southern Chumash. These languages were once spoken by 10,000 people. Northern Chumash is profoundly different from the other groups. Linguists Kathryn Klar and Terry Jones propose the Proto-Chumash divided into Northern Chumash and Southern Chumash; Southern Chumash later divided into Island Chumash and Central Chumash.
In commenting about the language diversity among the Chumash, Eugene Anderson, in his book The Chumash Indians of Southern California, says:
“Persons from villages a few miles away had trouble understanding each other’s speech.”
Over a period of at least 2,000 years, Central Chumash developed into four languages: Purisimeño, Ineseño, Barbareño, and Ventureño. Island Chumash divided into three languages: Cruzeño, Roseño, and Migueleño.
Subsistence
Subsistence refers to how people obtained the calories which are needed to sustain life. Subsistence patterns are determined, in part, by the environment and the resources within that environment. In general, California Indians have been classified as hunters and gatherers, meaning that they tended to obtain food from hunting and from gathering wild plants. In his book The Chumash Indians of Southern California, Eugene Anderson reports:
“Living without agriculture, they had learned to draw on every available source for food, yet without exhausting any. They depended on a diverse and varied range of food sources; their lives were no limited by dependence on a single staple. Instead, they developed a highly sophisticated set of principles for exploiting the ecosystem.”
Eugene Anderson also reports:
“Chumash village sites were set about with mountains of shell, liberally interspersed with the bones of every conceivable kind of sea mammal, fish and seabird.”
In his 1925 book Handbook of the Indians of California, Alfred Kroeber writes:
“The Chumash are predominantly a coast people, and were more nearly maritime in their habits than any other California group.”
Alfred Kroeber also writes:
“Marine life along the Chumash shores is exceptionally rich, the climate far famed, and every condition favored the unusual concentration of population among a people living directly upon nature.”
Material Culture
Chumash houses were bowl-shaped structures made of poles and covered with thatched tules. A. L. Kroeber describes the structure this way:
“The structure was hemispherical, made by planting willows or other poles in a circle and bending and tying them together at the top.”
The house diameters ranged from four to seven meters. Next to many of the houses were temascal, smaller dome-shaped structures covered with mud which were used as sweat houses.
The Chumash also manufactured the flat shell beads which were used as a form of currency throughout California. Dentalium beads are particularly important and show strong connections to the Indian people of the Northwest Coast.
According to the Museum display:
“The Chumash were well known for their finely woven basketry from a very early period. The early Spanish explorers and settlers admired and collected their baskets.”
The Chumash carved steatite (soapstone) which they obtained from quarries on thee Gabrielino Islands. Eugene Anderson writes:
“Exceedingly beautiful bowls, carved swordfish and birds, and other sculptures were made from steatite. Pipes for sacred or secular use, charmstones, dishes and weights also came from this stone.”
With regard to clothing, Josephine Paterek, in her Encyclopedia of American Indian Costume, writes:
“Although nudity was prevalent in the warm climate, there was some use of warmer clothing for winter and an abundance of ceremonial attire, displaying considerable social significance.”
Josephine Paterek also reports:
“Men wore a wraparound buckskin kilt, when they wore anything.”
Bitumen
One of the substances gathered and used by the Chumash was bitumen, a naturally occurring type of tar from the Channel Islands. The Chumash used this as a kind of all-purpose glue. In an article in American Archaeology, Paula Neely reports:
“The Chumash gathered naturally occurring bitumen from numerous seeps throughout the islands. They used the gooey substance to waterproof canoes, line baskets used as water bottles, and to plug holes in shells that they used as food containers. They even chewed it.”
On the negative side, the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon toxins in the bitumen may have led to major health problems, such as cancer, damage to internal organs, and reproductive impairment. This may have also led to an overall decrease in Chumash stature of about four inches.
Bitumen was also used in clothing. Chumash women would often wear a skirt made of tule, sea grass, or shredded willow or sycamore bark. To hold the skirt down against the wind, they would attach small bitumen globules to the ends of the fibers.
Trade
Chumash villages did not exist in isolation and many different kinds of goods flowed between them in a trade network that brought in goods from hundreds of miles away. Jennifer Perry writes:
“The significance of trade among the Chumash is best exemplified by the variety of products transported between the mainland and the islands. Among them, shell beads, dried fish, and groundstone were exported from the islands, whereas acorns, basketry, deer bone, and obsidian were obtained from the mainland.”
Eugene Anderson reports:
“Trade was of the utmost importance to the Chumash, who in their extensive trading and use of money were the capitalists of Southern California. The island settlements, comprising hundreds of people, were literally dependent on trade with the mainland.”
Eugene Anderson also writes: “
Distribution of foods within Chumash territory and trade of money and manufactures with farther peoples seems to have been vital to Chumash life.”
Within the California trade networks, clam-shell beads strung onto thongs functioned as a standardized medium of exchange.
Water Transport
In the Santa Barbara Channel area, the Chumash made plank canoes, called tomol. In an article in Archaeology, Blake Edgar writes:
“For the Chumash people, who inhabited the southern California coast as well as several islands across the Santa Barbara Channel, the sewn-plank canoe, or tomol, anchored both their identity and economy.”
In her chapter in The Oxford Handbook of North American Archaeology Jennifer Perry writes:
“Stitching and gluing planks of redwood and pine together, the Chumash assembled ocean-going watercraft that were used for trade, transportation, and offshore fishing. Tomols required greater labor investment than other boat technologies; each one entailed approximately six months of effort by an experienced group of boat makers, as well as large quantities of driftwood, cordage, asphaltum, pine pitch, and chert drills.”
These canoes were about 25 feet in length, 3-4 feet wide, and about 3 feet in depth. To make a canoe, planks were split from driftwood logs and then soaked for hours in boiling water to make them pliable. The planks used in these canoes were tied on all four sides by sewing rough drilled holes with waxed milkweed twine. The bow and stern of the canoe were elevated which made landing in the surf easier. The canoe was caulked with asphaltum which was applied hot. Finally, the canoe was sanded with sharkskin and sealed with red ocher. The bow was decorated with white seashells. The canoes held 8-12 people.
With its higher sides the tomol is seaworthy in open water and it has a large carrying capacity. They were used for hauling cargo as well as serving as offshore fishing platforms. They are relatively easy to paddle, and a crew can maintain a speed of six to eight knots in calm conditions.
The Chumash tomols wove the coastal and island villages together into a system of trade, travel, and fishing. With these ocean-going boats the Chumash voyaged to the Channel Islands, Santa Catalina Island, and San Nicolas Island (65 miles off-shore). The tomols were under the guidance of the Brotherhood of the Canoe, a kinship-based society. Those who owned tomols commanded wealth and prestige and they wore bearskin capes to mark their status.
The Chumash words for the sewn-plank canoes are not consistent with their own language, but instead appear to be of Polynesian origin. Terry Jones and Kathryn Klar write:
“Southern California is the only place in Native North America where sewn-plank boat technology was present, yet this technique was common throughout Polynesia and it seems likely, in light of the linguistics, that the Chumash and Gabrielino learned the technique from Polynesian seafarers.”
In his book Indians, William Brandon reports:
“These plank canoes were unique in North America, and only known elsewhere in the hemisphere at a spot on the coast of Chile.”
Government
There was no single Chumash tribe, no governmental structure that united all of the Chumash villages. In terms of governmental structure, each village was an autonomous, self-governing unit. The designation Chumash refers to shared cultural elements. Jennifer Perry writes:
“Although specific villages were bound together through ceremonial obligations, marriages, and alliances, most operated independently from one another with respect to subsistence activities, political authority, and social identity. Chumash society is most commonly characterized as a simple chiefdom organized at the village level, with a few examples of paramount chiefs who exerted regional influence.”
The Chumash chief – called wot – was a position which was inherited through the patrilineal line—that is, it was inherited from the father. While Chumash leaders inherited their positions patrilineally, there were some instances in which daughters or sisters became chiefs.
The primary duties of the wot were caring for the elderly and the indigent. Larger Chumash communities, such as Syuhtun and Shisholop, had several wot whose duties included the assigning of hunting and gathering areas and making sure that supplies were set aside for special occasions, such as religious and social festivals.
The Chumash wot were assisted by special messengers –the ksen – and by ceremonial officials – the paxa. The paxa would oversee religious ceremonies such as the winter solstice rites and the fall acorn harvest festival.
Social Organization
Eugene Anderson writes:
“Society was organized into patrilineal lineages, and these in turn into moieties; everyone belonged to one or the other moiety, splitting each village into halves.”
A patrilineal lineage is an extended family group in which people are born into their father’s lineage. A moiety is a division of the society into two discrete groups.
While everyone was involved in harvesting food,there was some part-time trade specialization and Chumash society may have been divided into two or more distinct social classes. Eugene Anderson describes it this way:
“There was the hereditary aristocracy of the chiefs; there were the captain-owners of canoes, who seem to have formed a separate and prestigious group; there were skilled craftsmen in various media; and there were several kinds of religious functionaries—the shamans or ‘medicine men.’”
Gambling
Gambling was a common activity among California Indians. There were a number of gambling games which involved dice and games which involved guessing which handheld a marked stick or bone. In his chapter on the Chumash in the Handbook of North American Indians , anthropologist Campbell Grant reports:
“The Chumash were great gamblers and the men were constantly wagering shell money, which they kept strung around their topknots.”
Winter Solstice
For the Chumash, the winter solstice was a particularly dangerous time as this was when they needed to restore harmony and balance to the world so that the sun would begin to move north again. During this time there were both public and private rituals which honored the dead and paid homage to the sun.
On the first day of the winter solstice ceremonies, all debts would be settled so that the new year would start fresh and clean.
On the second day of the ceremony, the sun was spiritually pulled to the north. To do this, a hole about 12-18 inches across would be dug in the plaza. About 3:00 PM a sunstick would be erected in this hole. Twelve dancers would circle the sunstick carrying feathers. The leader would then strike the sunstick twice to release its spiritual power and then he would give a ritual speech.
Chumash sunsticks were made with small disks of stone which were inserted in a shaft of wood. The stones were painted green or blue and would have a black crescent representing the moon. The sunstick as a whole represented the axis of the world.
That night the people would dance around the sunstick in a clockwise (sunwise) direction until mid-way through the night. At this time, they would reverse the direction and dance in a counter-clockwise direction. During the dance, a man could choose any woman, married or not, by singing to her. When his song was over, she would go with him to engage in sexual intercourse.
Healing
Among the Chumash there were many kinds of doctors. With regard to these different kinds of doctors, called ‘Antap in Chumash, James Adams and Frank Lemos, in an article in News from Native California, report:
“The ´Antap were the specialists in complex and dangerous medical procedures.”
One of the schools for the ´Antap was located at a lake known as Kashtuk in the Tejon Pass.
Among the Chumash, jimsonweed (Datura) was used as an anesthesia when setting bones. In addition, it might be ingested when treating bruises and wounds. In his chapter in Sacred Realms: Essays in Religion, Beliefs, and Society, John Baker reports:
“Datura was taken internally to ‘freshen the blood’ and to treat alcohol-induced hangovers (a post-contact innovation) and applied externally to treat hemorrhoids.”
John Baker also reports:
“It is clear that the Chumash use of Datura was based upon a thorough empirical knowledge of the effects of the plant.”
Specialists understood both the dosages needed to achieve different ends as well as the preparation and environmental factors which can influence outcomes.
Shamans
The Chumash had several different kinds of shamans, including weather shamans who controlled rain, shape-shifting shamans who could become bears, and shamans who could drive fish into shallow water they could be easily harvested. Chumash shamans were able to see the future and to find lost object. Eugene Anderson reports:
“Only males could be shamans and their power was connected closely with visions induced by drinking the poisonous and hallucinogenic decoction known (in Spanish) as toloache, made from the Jimson weed (Datura meteloies).”
Rock Art
The Chumash are also known for creating abstract polychrome pictographs. Eugene Anderson reports:
“Their rock art decorates many caves and rock walls in the mountains of their country. Brilliant reds, blues, white, yellow, green and black were used to create huge symbolic designs. Geometric patterns and monstrous animals cover whole rock walls, especially in the most highly scenic, remote and craggy spots.”
The locations of the pictographs suggest that their creation may have been a spiritual act. In their book The Natural World of California Indians, Robert Heizer and Albert Elsassar write:
“Perhaps we can attribute these pictographs to shamanistic practices, probably in connection with healing or with promoting the general welfare of the local group.”
The designs may have been made by individuals who were using hallucinogenic substances, such as datura. Eugene Anderson reports:
“The resemblance of the rock art to the ‘psychedelic’ art of our times is striking: vivid colors, dramatic swirling and angular shapes, intricate patterns, vague beings.”
Death
Very little information about Chumash beliefs about death has survived but there is some information about their funeral practices. Alfred Kroeber reports:
“The Chumash, alone among their neighbors, buried their dead.”
The corpse was buried in a flexed position. Widows mourned for a year during which time there were food restrictions. The funeral ceremony including dancing around the cemetery. Alfred Kroeber reports:
“The cemeteries seem to have been inside the villages, and were marked off with rows of stones or planks. For prominent men, masts bearing the possessions of the dead were erected, or tall boards bearing rude pictures.”
More tribal profiles
Indians 101: A Very Brief Overview of California's Achumawi Indians
Indians 101: A very short overview of California's Cahuilla Indians
Indians 101: A very short overview of Oregon's Kalapuya Indians
Indians 101: A very brief overview of the Osage Indians
Indians 101: A very short overview of the Wichita Indians
Indians 201: A very short overview of the Tututni Indians
Indians 201: A very short overview of the Kiowa Indians
Indians 201: A very short overview of the Lenni Lenape Indians
Note: Indians 201 is an expansion of an earlier essay.