Tag Archives: Native Americans

The Mighty Chia Seed, Cuyama Badlands

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Jack Elliott

The Cuyama Badlands can be a wicked and terrible place for a human on foot with minimal supplies. Heaved aloft, scorched and desiccated, it’s a land clawed open and washed away by spotty cloudbursts that quench a sparse growth of piñon pine, juniper and sagebrush. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reference | Tagged Backpacking, Badlands, Chia, Chumash, Ethnobotany, Flora, Hiking, Native Americans, Nature, Non-fiction, Travel | 7 Comments

The Politics of Rock Art

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Jack Elliott

Santa Barbara County vintage making use of Chumash pictograph motifs. When one takes an interest in actively seeking out and visiting Chumash rock art paintings they soon learn that there is an emotional and contentious political subculture swirling around these archaeological … Continue reading →

Posted in Articles | Tagged Archaeology, Chumash, Hiking, History, Indians, Los Padres National Forest, Native Americans, Pictographs, Rock Art, Santa Barbara | 17 Comments

Chumash Indian Mortars and the Puzzle of the Midden

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Jack Elliott

We had set out to go spearfishing, but a south wind and a west swell combined to ruin conditions. We drove up the mountain from the beach and hiked down into the canyon, the creek within which drains into the … Continue reading →

Posted in Ventura County | Tagged Archaeology, Chumash, Creeks, Hiking, History, Indians, Midden, Mortars, Mussels, Native Americans, Writing | 13 Comments

A Treasure Hunt For Chumash Pictographs and the Vicious Protector

Posted on September 6, 2014 by Jack Elliott

A mural in Lompoc, Santa Barbara County depicting a seaside Chumash village scene. Little of what Bill said made reasonable sense. He stood on the other side of his termite infested, dry-rotted, wobbly fence, which was missing slats and had … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara County | Tagged Adventure, Archaeology, Art, Blog, Chumash, Native Americans, People, Pictographs, Rock Art, Santa Barbara, Travel, Writing | 12 Comments

Native American Rock Art (Kern County)

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Jack Elliott

This rock art panel painted on granite sits in a shallow canyon along the foothills of a mountain range on the edge of California’s Mojave Desert. More art adorns the underside of a natural shelter formed by the boulders, but … Continue reading →