Location: Central California, from Estero Bay in the north to Malibu Canyon in the south, and from Carizzo Plain in the east to the Santa Barbara Channel Islands in the west. The Northern Chumash called themselves Stishni and were in some ways distinct from other Chumash people.

History: The Chumash originally did not cultivate. They relied on hunting wildlife and marine animals including, fish, shellfish, whales, seals, sea otters, shark, sea birds, albacore, tuna, sardines, deer, wild game, grizzly and black bear, mountain lion, fox, coyote, badger, quail, pigeons, and doves.  The Chumash Indians also used animals for a variety of tools, such as needles, fishhooks, and sandpaper.  They also made spear-throwers, atl-atl, bow and arrows and fishnets. Plank canoes (tomal in Chumash or cayuco in Stishni) made out of redwood or pine were the most important tool for the Chumash, because they were used for fishing, and travel between different tribes along the coast and neighboring islands.  Domed houses approximately 30 feet in diameter were their shelter. At the time of missionaries (about the 1700s) the population was ten to twenty thousand, but the turn of the 20^th century the population had dwindled to two hundred descendents.  The Chumash Indians also minted their own bead money (anchum) made from the Olivella shell (also known as the Purple Olive) but only the Indians that lived on the Channel Islands specialized in making the money.  The Chumash also had a creative side, they made rock art in caves and on overhangs, the most abundant rock art is found in Los Padres National Forest. They are thousands of years old.

Best Known Feature:The Chumash Indians have many legends about the creation of man, and how the earth was made and also of  “The Lone Woman of San Nicholas Island” which a woman was left on an island for twenty years until about 1835 when she was brought to Santa Barbara where she stayed until she died of dysentery seven weeks later. 

Daily Life: The Chumash Indians also wove baskets and gathered nuts, fruits, and plants for rituals and spiritual healing.  These “healings” would be performed by a doctor of the tribe and he would “heal” the Indians that would be sick or need spiritual healing.

Though this page has been carefully researched, the author does not claim expertise on the Chumash.