Tag Archives: Native Americans

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

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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

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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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