Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What can you tell me about the 'Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island' and her tribe? The Island of San Nicolas was home to a people who spoke a language in the Uto-Aztecan Linguistic Family. This family of languages was widespread in California, the Great Basin, the American Southwest and down into Central Mexico. The Indians of San Nicolas were not related to the Chumash of the Northern Channel Islands, but they traded with them. The last Indians on San Nicolas Island were removed in the mid 1830s, except for the Lone Woman. She was discovered about 1853 and was taken to Santa Barbara. The Chumash Indians there could not understand her language. She died within a few weeks from dysentery. She was given the Spanish name, Juana Maria, by one of the priests at Santa Barbara Mission. There are several books and historical articles that describe what is factually known about the Lone Woman. The book, Original Accounts of the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, edited by Robert Heizer and Albert Elsasser, may be available through a College or University Library in your area. References Regarding the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island Where did Chumash Indians live? The Chumash Indians lived along the coast, in adjacent inland valleys, and also on the Northern Channel Islands between the town of Malibu and northward to about Paso Robles. They lived in about 150 independent towns with a total population of about 18,000 people speaking several related but mutually unintelligible languages. Their neighbors were the Gabrielino (Tongva) on the south, the Tataviam (Alliklik) on the southeast, the Yokuts on the east, and the Salinan on the north. How did the Chumash build their houses? The Chumash used tule or bulrush (Scirpus sp.) as thatching for their houses ('ap). Willow and sycamore were used for the frame. These domed houses were quite spacious, 30 feet or more in diameter (not simply small huts, as they are sometimes inaccurately portrayed). On the Channel Islands, seagrass (Phyllospadix sp.) was gathered from tidepools and used as thatching instead of tule. For further information and pictures, consult Vol. 2 of The Material Culture of the Chumash Interaction Sphere by Travis Hudson and Thomas Blackburn (see Recommended Publications or for ordering information see Anthropology Publications for Sale). What kinds of weapons, hunting tools, and fishing gear did the Chumash Indians use? The Chumash used the bow and arrow for their weapons. The bow and arrow began to be used by them about 1,500 years ago. Before that, they used the spear thrower. They also used a harpoon with a detachable foreshaft for spearing large fish. They made curved, circular fishhooks from abalone and mussel shells for catching smaller fish. Their most famous manufactured item was their canoe (called tomol) made from pieces of driftwood that were worked into planks and sewn together with cordage made from the hemp plant. The seams between the planks were sealed together with tar that was gathered from oil seeps. What tool was the most important one for the Chumash? It is hard to say which tool was most important, because so many tools were used in their daily lives and all were useful. One of the most important tools was their plank canoe called the "tomol." Tomols were used in ocean-fishing and to travel back and forth between coastal towns. These watercraft also were very important in trade between the islands and mainland. How many people could fit in a canoe? The typical canoe, called "tomol," held three people. How long did the canoes last? We don't really know how long their canoes might last after they built them. It probably depended on how often they were used an how much wear and tear they experienced. The last Chumash tomols used for fishing were made about 1850. In 1913, an elderly Chumash man, Fernando Librado, made a tomol for an anthropologist, John P. Harrington, to show how they were built. He had seen the last tomols being built when he was a young man. This boat is now on exhibit in the Indian Hall at our museum. In the past twenty years several Chumash tomols have been made using John Harrington's notes to guide their construction. What was their money made out of? The bead money was usually made from small disks shaped from the Olivella shell (also called the Purple Olive, a marine snail). The Indians who lived on the Channel Islands specialized in making the bead money. They were the "mint" for the Chumash Indians who lived on the mainland. The name Chumash comes form the name that the mainland Indians gave to the island Indians. Chumash and 'anchum' are related words, apparently Chumash originally meant somehething like 'bead money makers'. What was their money worth? The value of the money depended on the labor invested to make it and the rarity of the shell that was used. The disk beads made from the callus (the thick part of the shell near its opening) were worth twice as much as the disk beads made from the wall of the shell, because many more beads could be made from the wall, so they were less rare. They would measure a strand of beads according to how many spans of a person's hand it would wrap around. How long did Chumash Indians live? Their lives were not as long as ours. The average life expectancy may have only been about 35, or even less, although mission records document that some elders survived into their 70s and 80s. After California became a Spanish colony, diseases were introduced that had a devastating effect on the Chumash, especially on very young children. Not too many people survived childhood, so the Chumash population declined rapidly. The worst epidemic of the Mission Period was a measles epidemic in the winter of 1806. It took many lives all up and down California. The Chumash had never experienced measles before the coming of the Europeans, so it was a deadly disease to them. Were there doctors? The Chumash had several kinds of doctors. They believed that disease resulted from problems with a person's spiritual state, so they concentrated on healing the spirit. More information about Chumash medicinal practices are contained in a book, Chumash Healing (see Recommended Publications or for ordering information see Anthropology Publications for Sale). What was the Chumash Indians medicine made out of? Many kinds of plants were used to make medicines. One of the most powerful was called chuchupate. It was a root in the Carrot Family that grew high in the mountains. It was chewed to give a person strength and ward off disease. What does the medicine look, feel, taste and smell like? There were many kinds of medicine. Besides bark, roots, and flowers of various kinds of plants, minerals were sometimes ground up and used by mixing with animal fat. Sea water was used as a purgative to clean the digestive system. Certain kinds of treatment required swallowing live red ants.