It also allowed them to stay connected with towns and villages on the on the Channel Islands, off the coast of California. The tomol allowed Chumash mariners to travel far up and down the coast of California, hunting, fishing and trading with other tribes. People would call on the shaman to cure illnesses or bring good fortune, or to try and bring misfortune to their enemies. The shaman was often associated with a particular animal, such as rattlesnake or grizzly bear.

They also had people known as shamans, who represented to the spirit world to their people and could perform important rituals and ceremonies. They had at least one god, whom they referred to as Sup or Achup. Chumash Religionīefore adopting Christianity, the Chumash had certain places that they considered sacred, and would go to those places to pray or make offerings for. Many of the place names in the Santa Barbara area come from Chumash words, like Cuyama, Ojai, Castaic, Lompoc and Malibu.

Today many scholars believe that Chumash languages belong to their own language family. This includes languages spoken by the Salinan, Esselen, Pomo, Yuma and Washo. Linguists believed that different Chumash groups spoke a variety of what linguists call “Hokan” language. They also lived on the Santa Barbara Channel Islands: San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and Anacapa. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, the Chumash’s home region was the coastline from San Luis Obispo in the north to Malibu Canyon in the south, and east as far as the western edge of the San Joaquín Valley. Later groups were named based on the mission territories they occupied ( Obispeño, Barbareño, Purisimeño, etc.). Each of the groups had names for themselves.

They also called the natives of Santa Cruz Island Mi-tcú-mac. The name was chosen by explorer and linguist John Wesley Powell, from a word used by the Coastal Chumash to refer to the Indians of Santa Rosa Island, Tcú-mac. The name Chumash refers to several groups of California Indians who originally lived near the south-central coast of California, including the Channel Islands, and who spoke similar languages.

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