The Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation

 The Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation (CBCN) is a sovereign nation of Indigenous Peoples whose ancestors lived in the San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and other Counties within central and southern California. The Chumash Nation were the first human inhabitants of the Channel Islands and Santa Monica Mountains. One band of Chumash, the Santa Ynez band is a federally recognized tribe, and the other fourteen bands of the Chumash people are enrolled in the federally recognized Tejon Indian Tribe of California. The CBCN applied or recognition in 1981. Of the fourteen different Chumash bands, the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation historically inhabited the most amount of territory along the coast of California. The peoples are known to have lived here for thousands of years; numerous archaeological sites have been uncovered in the past decade some of which date to 15,000 years. 

The Chumash Nation historically inhabited the central and southern Coastal regions of California including San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles counties. They also occupied three of the Channel Islands: Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel. Some modern locations with Chumash origins include Cayucos, Malibu, Nipomo, Lompoc, Ojai, Pismo Beach, Lake Castaic, and Simi Valley.

Given that the CBCN were the first to inhabit the channel island, Santa Barbra was a very important location that provided a base for trading between the different communities established around Santa Barbra and the Islands.

At one point in time when sea levels were much lower, the water width separating the islands from the mainland was considerable less, making colonization and human transport across the channel much easier. In more recent times the Chumash navigate these waters in small watercraft allowing communication and trade between the mainland and other villages.

Chumash Worldview is centered around the belief that all things are alive, intelligent, dangerous, and sacred. According to Thomas Blackburn Author of "Decembers Child" a book and Chumash Oral Narratives. There are tree worlds, one above, one below and this one. We live in the center on the biggest island. There are two snakes that move below and cause earthquakes and and an eagle in the sky that stretches its wings to cause phases of the moon. While oral narratives like these are passed down through generations, the Chumash do not have a creation story like many other tribal nations. Instead they believe that the universe in its three layers have always been here. Humans and spirits would dwell in the middle region also known as 'Antap, but all three layers were interconnected as it was with all life.

Chumash Baskets were greatly admired for their beauty and culture. Many baskets were traded for or purchased and eventually taken by ships to the east coast. The Chumash used a method called twining and coiling in their basketry. Most baskets were traditionally red and black with white or golden backgrounds. Two of the finest Chumash basket collections are located at the Smithsonian in DC and the Museum of Mankind in Paris. The Largest Collection resides locally at the Santa Barbra Museum of Natural History.

The Coastal Chumash Band was at the center of a large regional trade network between other bordering communities. Beads made from Olivella shells were manufactured on the Channel Islands and used as currency by the Chumash. The beads were traded to neighboring groups and have been found all over regions bordering California. Over the course of Chumash history millions of shell beads were manufactured and traded on Santa Cruz Island.

Given their location along the coast of California, the Chumash historically consumed many different marine species. Some of these species include abalone, clams, oysters, and snails. Along with this they also gathered herbs for food and medicine. Leaves from plants such as laurel sumac, black sage, and thick leaved yerba santa were used to make different kinds of teas. Acorns were also a main find supply to the Chumash.

The Chumash were complex hunters and gatherers. To survive they lived off the land and learned what natural plant species were safe and useful. To them the natural landscape was their grocery store. One main food source of the Chumash were acorns which were collected from oak trees and carefully prepared over the course of a few weeks. They would live off the land and utilize land and resource management practices, like pruning, tilling and replanting plants that were important food sources. Like many other indigenous groups the Chumash utilized controlled burns to to get rid of sections of land and encourage native plant species to grow. They even had the knowledge to know that these burnings were helpful to the pollination of certain plant species.

One of the many unique things about the Chumash is their currency and their shell economy. It was based on shells found on the beach that were manufactured into beads. This currency was used in all parts of the coastal region and even parts of the desert and mountain regions. The Chumash would pay for different goods or services with these shells and the bigger and fancier the bead was the more it was worth. They were worth more depending on how hard they were to make and how often it could be used. They were great traders and always looking for a good bargain. The Chumash were the main supplier of the shell economy, most of which were made on the Channel Islands. Being the supplier of currency the Chumash had luxuries that others didn't such as amazing canoes.

Harrington, John Peabody, and Thomas C. Blackburn. December's Child: a Book of Chumash Oral Narratives. University of California Press, 1980. 

“Chumash History.” Wishtoyo Chumash Foundation, www.wishtoyo.org/cp-chumash-history. 

“History.” COASTAL BAND OF THE CHUMASH NATION, A SOVEREIGN NATION, coastalbandofthechumashnation.weebly.com/history.html. 

Richardpheller. “The Worldview of the Chumash People.” RICHARD PETTINGER HELLER, 21 Feb. 2019, richard-pettinger-heller.org/2019/02/21/the-worldview-of-the-chumash-people/. 

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, www.sbnature.org/collections-research/anthropology/chumash-life/. 

“Chumash.” Chumash Native American Indian Baskets, Basketry - Gene Quintana Fine Art - Indian Baskets || GeneQuintana.com, genequintanafineart.com/catalog/?catalog=indian_baskets&category=chumash. 

“Chumash Trade & Economy - California Indians.” Google Sites, sites.google.com/site/californiaindianshistory/chumash-indians/chumash-trade.