Shalawa Meadow, also known as Hammond’s Meadow, is a small seaside meadow in Montecito that forms part of a much older Chumash cultural landscape along the Santa Barbara South Coast, one of California’s richest archaeological regions. Used as an ancient burial ground beside a former Chumash community, it holds both archaeological and spiritual importance. Twentieth-century estate building and later condominium development nearly destroyed the site, but three acres were preserved for public use after years of dispute and activism led in part by a Chumash elder, surfers, and local residents. Ceremonies still take place there, and it remains a rare protected sacred Indigenous site with continuing preservation debates.