Tag Archives: Rock Art

The Economy of Direction and Sharing of Secret Places

Posted on January 8, 2025 by Jack Elliott

Clouds over the Santa Ynez Mountains, December 14, 2024. Akin to the asperitas clouds of November, 2023. “Rumours circulate about entry points which might give access to unseen spaces. Secrets are jealously guarded, closely shared. The subculture has its subcultures. … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Adventure, Anthropology, backcountry, Chumash, Hiking, Los Padres National Forest, Native Americans, Pictographs, Rock Art, Santa Barbara, Wilderness | 10 Comments

Mandalas Through the Looking Glass

Posted on January 6, 2025 by Jack Elliott

I lay simmering in a scalding hot puddle beneath a gurgling pipe, heart fluttering, riding a rocket of euphoria fueled by endorphins, winter’s slanted morning light illuminating Condor National Forest in an apricot radiance. Beads of stinky spring water on … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Chumash, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Mandalas, Native American, Nature, Pictographs, Rock Art, Santa Barbara, Wilderness | Leave a comment

The Plunder and Peddle

Posted on November 30, 2022 by Jack Elliott

“Pocketing potsherds is erasure. It is the worst of colonization, the taking of the land. If you believe the stealing has ended, it has not.” –Craig Childs Why Potsherds Matter On this, the last day of Native American Heritage Month. … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Adventure, Archaeology, Artifacts, backcountry, Chumash, History, Indians, Los Padres National Forest, Rock Art, Wilderness | 10 Comments

Native American Cupule Boulder Discovered

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Jack Elliott

Mortar No trail leads there. A careless body could fall along the way and be bloodied up, break a bone, die busted and splattered across the sharp angular stones of canyon rip-rap and jumbled boulders and bedrock slabs. Such has … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Adventure, Anthropology, Archaeology, Chumash, Hiking, History, Los Padres National Forest, Native Americans, Rock Art, Santa Barbara, Wilderness | 2 Comments

Koso Shoshone Native American Rock Art, Ghost Dance and Hunting Magic

Posted on April 3, 2019 by Jack Elliott

Trona Pinnacles. Enter, if ye dare. The Trip Out Yonder Some monstrous industrial ramrod ferociously hammered at long intervals some unseen target of progress, the metallic slamming a devilish metronome, the concussive impact reverberating off a pinch of rolling mountains … Continue reading →