Tag Archives: Native Americans

Fossil Falls, A Glacial Relic of the Pleistocene

David Stillman scrambling up familiar territory, through the gullet of Fossil Falls and over the slick, water polished basalt. Standing in the arid Owens Valley of California, beside an ancient dry riverbed that can barely be discerned amid cragged lava … Continue reading

Posted in Inyo County | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Swordfish Cave, Earliest Chumash Rock Art On California’s Central Coast

“The people venerated the swordfish because they sometimes chased whales ashore and thus the people had a lot of meat.” —Luisa Ygnacio (c. 1835-1922) “All, whatever there is in the ocean is just like everything that is here on this … Continue reading

Posted in Santa Barbara County | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Chumash Indian Rock Art Pictograph

Little Ms. E and I ventured out for a short hike Wednesday morning to a pictograph site. This is the fifth Indian rock art site I’ve taken her to and it required the longest and most strenuous hike for her … Continue reading

Posted in California | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Wild Cucumber, Trout and Pictographs

Wild cucumber (Marah macrocarpus, previously called Echinocystis macrocarpa), also known as Manroot or Bigroot, was called molo’wot’ in Barbareño Chumash and chilicote in Spanish. Got it? “And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah; for … Continue reading

Posted in Reference | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Manzanita Flower Tea

Manzanita flowers. Manzanita is flowering at the moment. The Chumash Indians ate manzanita berries or fruits by preparing them in a variety of different ways and other Native Americans used the leaves for medicinal purposes. The wood was used by … Continue reading

Posted in Reference | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments