Tag Archives: Native Americans

Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: A Female Robinson Crusoe (1897)

Map of California coast showing Santa Barbara Channel Islands In 1835, a ship set sail from San Nicolas Island off the California coast, 78 nautical miles south by southeast of Santa Barbara, and headed for the mainland forcibly removing the … Continue reading

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Stumbling Upon Chumash Rock Art

Last week I spent twelve hours hiking around an area of the woods that I was not familiar with and stumbled across a Chumash pictograph site that I did not know existed, and which I had never seen photos of. … Continue reading

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Stumbling Upon Chumash Bedrock Mortars

Chumash bedrock mortar grinding stone in the Santa Barbara County backcountry. There are four different mortars visible in this photo, although hard to see except the deepest one at center frame. “In certain almost supernatural states of the soul, the … Continue reading

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Oil Seeps at Carpinteria, California

Oil seep at Carpinteria State Beach. “Cabrillo’s description of the Chumash of the Santa Barbara mainland is the oldest ethnohistoric document concerning California Indians.” —The Natural World of the California Indian, Robert F. Heizer & Albert B. Elsasser, University of … Continue reading

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Eating Fire Roasted Yucca

A yucca flower spike in full bloom. “There is a great deal of century plant of the species which the Mexicans call mescali. The mode of using it is as follows: they make a hole in the ground, fill it … Continue reading

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