Island Life from Long Ago By John R. Johnson, Ph.D. Based on archaeological evidence, it appears that American Indians first arrived on the Channel Islands at the end of the last Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago. At the time they encountered conditions much different than exist today. The islands were united in one mega-island, called Santarosae by geologists (see fall 1993 Alolkoy), which was much closer to the mainland than the present chain. The climate was cooler, and an extensive pine forest covered much of the islands. Pygmy elephants once roamed there, having evolved from imperial mammoths that swam the Channel. Were the first people to arrive on the Channel Islands the ancestors of the Native American group that we know today as the Chumash? More than 10 millennia passed before Europeans first encountered the Chumash islanders; conceivably population migrations and replacements took place during the intervening centuries. At the time Spanish settlement began in the late 18th century, there were an estimated 3,000 islanders. They spoke a Chumash language akin to that spoken on the mainland, yet as distantly related as English is to German. This indicates many centuries of separation as distinct language communities. "Chumash" is a term used by anthropologists to designate not one tribe but rather a family of related Indian languages spoken in south central California. The name was derived from the word 'anchum, which meant "bead money," because the Chumash islanders manufactured the Olivella shell disc beads that circulated as a medium of exchange throughout much of southern California. In the early 19th century, Spanish missionaries reported the existence of 10 Chumash towns on Santa Cruz Island, seven on Santa Rosa, and two on San Miguel. Anacapa Island was not permanently inhabited but was visited for ceremonies and to collect shellfish. Only the largest island towns had chiefs, and one of the towns on Santa Cruz Island was governed by a chief who was recognized as having authority over the other chiefs of the island. The largest of the island towns may have been composed of 50 domed houses, thatched with seagrass, which held from four to seven people each. The chief's house was the largest and served also as a meeting place for the village leaders. The smallest island towns only consisted of a few households. Most island men were fishermen. They built sewn plank boats caulked with tar for fishing and transportation. Ethnographic evidence suggests that canoemen belonged to a special guild that cut across village affiliation, called the Brotherhood of the Canoe. The chief, by means of his wealth, seems to have subsidized the making of shell bead money, perhaps by older people, which was then exchanged for resources and manufactured items from mainland towns that were unattainable on the island. Women collected plant foods and shellfish and wove baskets used as containers and for cooking. Women held a high rank in Chumash society and sometimes became chiefs. Chumash traditional history records that a princess was the first to unify all the villages on Santa Cruz Island into one political group. Usually men moved to their wife's town when they married. This fact may be determined by reconstruction of family patterns in baptismal and marriage records kept by the missionaries. What happened to the Chumash after the Mission Period ended in 1834 is the subject of another story. [Originally published in Alolkoy: The Publication of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, Vol. 7, No. 4, Winter 1995, pp. 3-5] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John R. Johnson is curator of Anthropology for the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. For questions or comments send E-mail to the following address.