Santa Barbara's First People

For over 10,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Native American peoples of the South Coast lived close to nature in a bountiful land. From 15,000 to 20,000 people speaking Chumash languages populated over 150 towns of large, willow-framed houses thatched with tule. Each village had its own fishing, hunting, and gathering territory and was ruled by a hereditary chief, male or female. Superb craftsmen, the Chumash made fine basketry and tools and ornaments of stone, shell, bone, and wood. Their economic exchange system was based on shell bead money manufactured on the Channel Islands, and their tomol, or plank canoe, was unique in the New World. Within a few decades, their population was greatly reduced following exposure to European diseases. Aside from artifacts preserved in area museums, colorful, mysterious rock paintings keep their memory alive. The town of Syuxtun, meaning "Where the trail divides," was located on this site. About 500 people lived there, led by a powerful chief, and it was an important political and economic center for the surrounding region. The last known two chiefs of Syuxtun were Pedro Yanonali and Pablo Lihuisanaiset. Descendants of these chiefs and other people who lived at Syuxtun are residents of Santa Barbara County today.

Santa Barbara, California · United States