The Chumash culture is more than 10,000 years old. They lived mostly in the tri-counties of the Central Coast of California. These counties are San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura. Most of the villages were close to the ocean. Their main food supplies were mussels, clams, crabs, fish and sea mammals. Shells were used as tools, weapons and bowls. The village was made up of the chief's house, a sweat house, a granary and other houses. It also had a temple made out of stone where the medicine men and priests did their magic. The priests and medicine men were second to the chief in the Chumash government. The chief was known as Wot. Wot was in charge of making all of the decisions for the tribe. He was also the only person who could declare war on other tribes. Some wars were settled by burning down the enemy's village. Most of the wars were resolved by talks between the chiefs. The Chumash had no written language so the parents would tell stories to their children. Many of the stories told were about floods, earthquakes and other natural events. Cave paintings told about the Chumash life.

Resources

Third Grade Santa Maria Curriculum Binder
Internet  www.sbnature.org

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