The Chumash, who live on the idyllic Channel Islands, may be descendants of early Americans
My primary school class read Island of the Blue Dolphins about a little Indigenous girl shipwrecked on a California island. According to the book, the “Lone Woman of San Nicolas” remained alone on San Nicolas Island for 18 years in the mid-19th century after missionaries moved her native American clan to the mainland.
I attended school in the Santa Ynez Valley, 30 miles from the Old Mission Santa Barbara, where the “Lone Woman” (later renamed “Juana María”) docked in 1853 and died seven weeks later. The Mission offers a view of the Channel Islands, including San Nicolas, where Juana María resided. That novel has stuck with me for decades, but like many tales, I’ve learned that things aren’t always as they appear.
Many are astonished to learn that California has a cluster of islands. Catalina, the most visited island, has Avalon, a Hollywood celebrity hangout. The Channel Islands National Park, created in 1980 with the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, protects the islands’ biological richness and ocean.
A Torrey pine forest (one of only two on Earth), island deer mice, spotted skunk, island scrub jays, and the Channel Island dwarf fox are among the 145 unique plant and animal species on the Channel Islands, “the Galapagos Islands of North America”. The islands are a Unesco Biosphere Reserve because they are “one of the last examples of natural Mediterranean ecosystems in North America” with rainy, mild winters and dry, warm summers.
Despite their surroundings and Hollywood history, these remote islands’ past may be most intriguing. Archaeologist Phil Orr found human bones on Santa Rosa island in the national park in 1959. Nearly 40 years later, his successor Dr. John R Johnson employed radiocarbon dating to find that these bone remains are one of North America’s oldest human remains, dating back 13,000 years.
Visit Channel Islands
Island Packers ferries provide weekly voyages from Oxnard harbor to Anacapa Island and from Ventura harbor to Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, and San Miguel islands. In addition to Catalina, the only island having hotels, all five park islands allow year-round camping.
The “Arlington Man” raised numerous questions: who was he, how did he arrive to the island, and what happened to his descendants? The Chumash, an Indigenous population that formerly inhabited 7,000 square miles of the California coast and northern Channel Islands, may have the solution. Arlington Man’s radiocarbon dating supported a theory that the Channel Islands were a stopover during the earliest migration from northeast Asia to the Americas and reignited a debate among the 10,000 Chumash living along the California coast about reclaiming their history and honoring their heritage.
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History had Arlington Man’s bones for years. However, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians received his remains in April 2022 under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which returns Native American artifacts to their descendants.
Our first folks. The first inhabitants arrived on the islands, then the mainland. From there, we came. All Chumash tribes’ stories began there “Nakia Zavalla, cultural director for the Santa Ynez Band, states. “Unfortunately, discussing scientists’ opinions creates a timeframe. But our tales are ancient “she says.
Zavalla thinks repatriating these ancient Indigenous bones is a good start to righting past wrongs. As contemporary Chumash women, let’s discuss protection, accountability, human rights, and ethics. After colonization and the fur trade, the land’s history reflects disdain and horrors. The archaeology attitude requires permission. We need better permission and respect protocols.”
Eleanor Fishburn is the Barbareno Band of Chumash Indians chair and a Ventureño Band of Mission Indians tribe member. Her Ventura window overlooks the Channel Islands, where her family resided. Before anything else, she wants to explain regarding the Chumash and Channel Islands.
The islanders were Michumash,’makers of the shell bead money’. In the late 1700s, the mission system transported Indians to various missions, resulting in the tribes of Samala (Santa Ynez), Canalino (Santa Barbara), Mitskanaka (Ventura), and yak titʸu titʸu yak tiʂhini (San Luis Obispo). Everyone tries to group us together, but we’re not. She says we’re distinct tribes.
Fishburn, a former SBMNH employee researching anthropology and archaeology, offers a unique viewpoint on these topics.
To understand Chumash culture
- Explore Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park, preserving 1600s rock art.
- Join the Channel Islands Naturalist Corp, a volunteer team educating the public about the islands’ biodiversity.
- Explore Thousand Oaks’ Chumash Indian Museum and Santa Ynez’s upcoming Chumash Museum and Cultural Center.
“In the early 1900s, there was a big rush for anthropologists to interview us California Indians who were left,” she says. “That prompted a rush to dig up our ancestors’ artifacts and culturally sensitive objects. That wasn’t ethical, sensitive, or honorable. All these collections on repository shelves were unstudied. Did they know what to dig for? Why did they do it? No one researched it; they simply dug.”
“The new NAGPRA legislation altered everything. Due to the recent reorganization, Indigenous anthropologists have not had the chance to review the documents and collections from their viewpoint. I want to view their collections through our eyes, look at the documents they earned money from, and share our voice.”
Lone Woman of San Nicolas legends persist 60 years after Island of the Blue Dolphins.
She may not have lived alone on the island and only allowed herself be “rescued” after her son died. That doesn’t convince Fishburn. The Island of the Blue Dolphins tale is probably made up by docents. That woman suffered more. I call it fantasy “she says.
Although some Chumash people disagree to the islands’ dramatic history, most believe the Channel Islands are a beautiful area worth protecting for future generations.
The Northern Chumash Tribal Council recommended enlarging the marine reserve in 2023 to increase conservation. The goal is to conserve the many holy Chumash sites, marine environment, and animal migratory corridor and minimize offshore oil drilling, a sensitive topic along the Santa Barbara and Ventura coasts.
Educational and conservation initiatives on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary have relied on outreach coordinator Shauna Fry. In 1996, Fry launched the Channel Islands Naturalist Corps (CINC), a volunteer team of trained naturalists who teach the public about the islands’ great environmental variety and cultural legacy. The initiative promotes citizen research for whale protection and Channel Islands National Park and CHNMS missions.
“There are so many pieces to protect,” he explains. “The islands seem far away, yet you’re close to the mainland and one of Los Angeles’ major cities. Workers and supporters of the islands share that interest. It was recently recognized a whale historic site, adding to the islands’ education and protection.”
She says: “We must inform the people that these are Chumash territories. Today, Chumash are part of civilization and healthy. They are a vibrant culture that is passing on its traditions to the next generation.”
