Diversity Newsletter: Happy Native American Heritage Month!
- Aute Porter, LMFT
- Nov 3
- 9 min read
This month, we learn from the Chumash people, honoring their lands, culture, resilience, and ongoing contributions to collective healing in our community 🍂
Haku haku,
As we observe Native American Heritage Month this November, we are called to deepen our understanding of the Chumash people, the original peoples of the ancestral lands we continue to occupy.
The Chumash
Cosmology and Creation Stories
The Chumash believed that there are three worlds: the underworld, middle world, and the upper world. ‘Itiašup, or the middle world, is the world we live in, on a big island held by giant snakes, who sometimes get restless and move, causing earthquakes. Supernatural beings with scary powers live in ċoyinašup (the underworld), and sometimes venture to the middle world at night. The upper world, ‘alapay, is where the Sky People of great power live, including Kaqunupmawa (the sun), the Morning Star (the moon), Slow (Sky Eagle), and Šnilemun (Sky Coyote). The Sky People play a game of chance called peon every day, and tally up the score on the Winter Solstice. If Kaqunupmawa wins, it will be a dry year, and if Šnilemun wins, it will be a wet year with plenty of food to harvest.
For thousands of years, ‘itiašup existed without plants and animals, but after a great meeting, the Sky People decided to create humans, and discussed what the Chumash would look like. Šnilemun was adamant that the Chumash should have paws, like him, and was set to place his paw on a perfect rock that would embed the print of his paw forever, helping to establish the features of the Chumash. However, the moment when Šnilemun was about to place his paw into the rock, Lizard, who had been quietly listening to the Sky People, quickly snuck his hand into the rock first, and therefore created the human hands of the Chumash people.
— Excerpt from Puchuk Ya ‘ia’c (Alan Salazar), Chumash Stories: A Collection of Traditional Chumash Legends & History
Another creation story that many of us may already be familiar with is the story of the Rainbow Bridge, detailing the journey of the Chumash from Limuw (Santa Cruz Island) to Chismahoo (Carpinteria). Here is Chumash elder, Julie Tumamait-Stenslie sharing the story:
Chumash Land & Civilization
The Chumash are one of the oldest peoples in Turtle Island, with evidence pointing to their presence in the Channel Islands (Limuw) at least 13,000 years ago, and theories suggesting they have been present for much longer. Chumash land extends between 7,000 square miles: as far south as Malibu (Muwu and Humaliwo) and as far north as San Luis Obispo (Pismu’), with inland areas, such as Cuyama (Kuyam) and Ojai (‘Awha’y), as well as four of the Northern Channel Islands. Santa Barbara County today includes the sites of numerous Chumash villages, with one of the largest being Syuxtun, located at West Beach. The 101,1, and 126 highways were originally Chumash trails, often paths used for trade.
Settling mostly in coastal areas, the Chumash formed their villages to make use of the land, beaches, and ocean to survive. Villages included ‘ap (homes), food storage, and a cemetery, alongside areas devoted for ceremonial dance (siliyik), games, tool making, and sweathouses for bathing. Chumash society was elaborate, with a hierarchical clan structure formed upon shared matrilineal ancestors. Clans, which live on today, are named after an animal. Each village had at least one wot, and a group of 'antap, consisting of astrologers, singers, doctors, and dancers. Trade and enterprise was a huge part of Chumash life. The name Chumash is derived from ‘anchum, the word for Olivella shell money, which were formed into strings. They traded with many tribes: the Tongva, the Yokuts, the Mojave, and the Shoshone, to name a few, trading for materials such as obsidian, soapstone, pottery, pelts, hides, skins, and food. The Chumash developed a number of technological feats, such as through their woven baskets, constructed so tightly that they could hold water and be used for cooking. They also created waterproof tomol, or canoe, made from redwood that would drift south from Northern California. Tomols aided the Chumash in travel and with their mastery of fishing.
Chumash Healing & Spirituality
Like many native cultures, the Chumash believe that the mind, body, and spirit are interconnected, and are all important facets of the healing process. In the times of the ancient Chumash, sweathouses were sometimes the source of cures, as well as the use of a dream helper. A dream helper, which could be a plant, animal, star, or planet, may help with a problem or task. With the help of a shaman, the person would either fast or take a hallucinogenic plant, hopeful to receive an ‘atishwin (talisman) if successful. People of higher stature (like wots or ‘antap) often had several dream helpers, showcasing their power. Chumash believe that power can be central to everything, but that it could be dangerous too, and thus ceremonies aim to keep power in balance, particularly in honoring the Sky People, who hold great influence on ‘itiašup. Traditional Chumash healing practices have continued today, with prayer used to invite a higher power (Xoy) into the healing space, alongside the burning of white sage. Plant medicines, touch, heat therapy, and laughter are also used, alongside the use of pictographs and symbology. It is thought that paintings, such as those at Painted Cave, were completed for healing and ceremonial purposes. The Datura plant (momoy; California Jimsonweed) in particular has been used in ceremonies, such as for a rite of passage for young boys in learning their future. Like many collectivistic cultures, healing was and is not an individualized process, as the village becomes invested and involved in a person's healing.
Colonization of ‘Itiašup (The Middle World)
The Chumash historically have been attacked by a number of groups, starting with the Russian American Company, who utilized Native Alaskan hunters to hunt sea otter populations in the Channel Islands. Records show that violent conflict between the Chumash on San Nicolas Island (Xalašat) and the Native Alaskans occurred prior to the forced removal of Chumash from the island. After the Russians left, Spanish missionaries fully infiltrated Chumash land following Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s first expedition in the area in 1542. Spanish missionaries returned to Chumash land in 1770, forming colonies where villages once stood, and creating the Missions: Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Buenaventura, Santa Ínes, and La Purísima. Some accounts claim that padres (priests) were “successful” in converting Chumash to Christianity without acknowledging that force and capture were likely tools involved. Separating families was common, as was forced labor, confinement, and slavery. To quote Pilulaw Khus, Chumash elder, “What the [Spanish] ruthlessly went after was the heart of our people, our spirituality.” Culturally, Chumash were taught Spanish and given Spanish surnames, alongside the total destruction of the traditional Chumash clan structure, economic structure, as well as food and medicinal resources. Death rates rose and birth rates fell, with a loss of an estimated 20,000 people. Historians often attribute this to disease from the Spanish, though complete explanations of these losses have remained a mystery.
When the land became Mexican territory in 1821, the government initially promised to return the land to the Chumash laboring at the missions, which was a promise left unfulfilled. Missions were transferred to Mexican elites, with Chumash needing to work as vaqueros, field hands, or again in forced labor. The Chumash revolted in 1824 in response to abuse, where 500 Chumash successfully took over La Purísima mission, and then Santa Barbara mission the following day (read more here). Power changed hands again in 1848, when California became a U.S. state, with another unkept promise made to return land to the Indigenous. At this time, it was federally outlawed to practice Native traditions. Some Chumash were evicted due to not having land titles, and others were displaced, eventually leading to the formation of the Santa Ynez Chumash Reservation in 1901. Chumash children were sent to boarding schools, historically known for abuse, and Chumash objects and remains became artifacts that were collected by anthropologists and archeologists.
Chumash Resilience
The “vanishing Indian myth” is a common narrative of the American frontier, painting Native American people as existing in a token role, and only in the past. A Chumash example of this being the character of Karana of the Island of the Blue Dolphins, a wildly popular children's book. While signs of the Chumash, past and present, exist if you pay attention, the erasure of Chumash presence has largely continued post-colonization. Some common forms of resistance came in moving away and inland, “pretending” to be Catholic, or in becoming freedom fighters. A significant form of resilience has been in reconnection: the healing act of coming together to form bands, and re-membering and re-tending to land, tradition, ceremony, language, and practices. Thankfully, some important cultural components were able to be passed down orally, alongside language, despite immense loss. Many Chumash today are tracing the exact lands of their family's origin, or “coming out”/discovering Chumash lineage after identifying as Chicano/Mexican for generations for survival.
The revival of the Brotherhood of the Tomol in 1976 is another triumph, alongside the occupation of Point Conception (Humqaq, or the sacred land of the Western Gate) in 1978, which successfully protected the land from becoming a liquid natural gas factory. In 2024, the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary officially received designation, which includes Humqaq, and holds the goal of protecting the area longterm. Following NAGPRA, both the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and UCSB returned remains and objects to the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash in 2022. The opening of the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum & Cultural Center in May 2025 puts the power and story-telling of the Chumash into Chumash hands, as it should be.
Continued efforts for Chumash rematriation exist! Folks can help by endorsing rematriation (land back) efforts, language revitalization, and movements for Indigenous sovereignty. Current rematriation needs for the Northern Chumash Tribal Council (San Luis Obispo) is shared here.
Decolonizing “Thanksgiving”
With Thanksgiving taking place this month, it’s important to recognize the myths of peace and gratitude that this holiday has historically advertised, and instead acknowledge the harmful stereotypes, profound grief, and native erasure that this day often conjures for Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island (North America, Canada, and Mexico). Many Indigenous observe this day as "The National Day of Mourning,” both in protest against historical revisionism, and in remembrance, fighting to ensure that the suffering of their ancestors, and their own continued hardships, do not remain invisible.
One way to decolonize this holiday is to prioritize real relational gratitude: for this land, for it’s ancestors, and to continuously learn and uphold the Indigenous experience.
Read reflections and resources on how to decolonize Thanksgiving by Native voices here and here. Learn more about the Wampanoag, and the truth of Thanksgiving here and here.
Resources
Chumash
Chumash Stories: A Collection of Traditional Chumash Legends & History by Alan Salazar
The Chumash People: Materials for Teachers and Students by the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
Earth Wisdom: A California Chumash Woman by Yolanda Broyles-González and Pilulaw Khus
Šmuwič Chumash Language School - Wishtoyo Chumash Foundation
SBCC Chumash Ethnobotanical Preserve & Chumash Signage Project
Juana Maria | The Lone Woman of San Nicolas (Xalašat) - Podcast Episode from Ill Repute
My Chumash Ancestry by Julie Tumamait-Senslie
Turtle Island (North America, Canada, Mexico)
Decolonizing Trauma Work: Indigenous Stories and Strategies by Renee Linklater
Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples by Linda Tuhiwai Smith
Native Land - Learn to identify the native land you live on
In addition to Native American Heritage Month, November is also National Family Caregivers Month and National Veterans and Military Families Month, amongst these culturally significant dates:
November 1: National Stress Awareness Day
November 2: Dia de los Muertos
November 9: World Adoption Day
November 19: International Men’s Day
November 20: Transgender Day of Remembrance
November 27: National Day of Mourning
I attempted to use Chumash sources as much as possible, yet recognize that some sources may be less ideal. I acknowledge that dialect discrepancies of the Chumash language are likely, as is the possibility for incorrect information. If you have a correction, question, or would like to expand on anything stated here, please reach out to SBCAMFT Diversity Director, Aute Porter, at diversitydirector@sbcamft.org.
Kaqinaš (thank you),
Aute Porter, MMFT, LMFT #153925
(she/her)
Director of Diversity, Santa Barbara Chapter of CAMFT
Located on the unceded lands of the Chumash-Barbareño people.
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