How Humans Got Their Ears A long time ago, when the wind whispered in the trees, and the stars twinkled in the sky, the world was a different place. Many things were different about the world. For example, humans didn’t have ears. They couldn’t hear a thing. And this definitely caused problems. Because they couldn’t hear anything, everyone had to communicate with hand signals, sort of like the sign language that we use today. When one tribe of Indians was trying to communicate with another tribe, they would say something, and another tribe would think that they said something else, because one hand signal would have more than one meaning. For example, the sign that you use that means peace, meant goodbye, hello, and plant. It was very easy to confuse something with another thing. And it was because of this that people started noticing that something must be done. They had to find a way to communicate. And that is when they developed the written language. They communicated in pictures and symbols. Very few people knew how to use this language, but it soon spread throughout the tribes. But it still was hard to always understand what someone else was saying. For example, one tribe could be saying, “Don’t go past this tree!” or they could be saying, “Don’t take the fruit from this tree!” because the word for fruit and tree were the same. Things were still getting confused, and it brought about new problems and difficulties. The animals around them started to notice this. The crows decided that they would find something to do about it. The crows would SQWAUUUKKK every day, and they could all hear everyone else’s SQWAUUUKKK. They decided that since the crows were the ones that had to handle the situation, then the humans would have crow ears. All the other animals didn’t agree about this! They didn’t want the humans looking strange. But the crows were not happy about this. They wanted to have the humans look like them! And so one night, when all the animals were sleeping, the crows went out and found the sleeping humans. They pulled on the sides of their heads, until ears were formed. When the humans woke up, they were so mad at the crows for ruining their faces, that they started to yell and scream. They then realized that they could hear! They were still angry at the birds for giving them those hideous lumps, though. And that is why humans detest crows to this day. By:Fidelity Ballmer

The Beautiful Girl Once long ago there was a girl named Ulape, and she was beautiful with long black gorgeous shiny hair, but nobody liked her because she was mean and so judgmental. Ulape was always making fun of the girls in her tribe, because they were less beautiful than her, and all they wanted was for Ulape to know what it felt like to always be rejected. That night something mysterious happened. A white light shot across the starry sky (that some Chumash believe was a god) but no one can be sure. The next morning she woke up as a hideous, slimy, wart faced toad. Ulape was shocked because she was always the prettiest, and now she’s an ugly toad. Ulape was so shocked that she snuck out of her tribe and went to the nearest pond. When she got to the pond she hopped on lily pad. The lily pad sailed all the way across the pond, until she notice that it wasn’t a lily pad, it was a tortoise, so she hopped off and almost left, but then she heard “Hello” so Ulape turned around and said, “What did you say?” I said, “Hello” said the tortoise, “But why would talk to me? I’m a hideous toad!” “You’re not hideous, you’re beautiful inside and out!” said the turtle. “Why thank you, so are you,” said the toad. Then she noticed something that the tortoise had said, and hopped away to her tribe. When she got to her tribe, she said sorry to all the girls, and said that they were all beautiful in the inside and out. Then she turned into a beautiful girl, and she was so happy, but she remembered that she didn’t say thank you to the tortoise, so she went to the pond, and said thank you. By: Bianca M. Barajas Resources: Briana L. Barajas Credit image to www.wikipedia.com

Chumash Lifestyle: 1. They eat fish, herbs, roots, abalone, acorns, nuts, and seeds. 2. There houses (aps) were made out of drift wood, mud, and tall strong grass. 3. They lived on Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel. 4. The Chumash made their own clothing including, baskets, canoes, and weapons. 5. The Chumash used, Basin, Ground Acorns, Nuts, and Seeds to make tall their supplies. 6. They used Stone bowls and pots to cook their fish and food. 7. They wore Sea Otters and Seal skin to keep themselves warm. 8. They used Whale ribs and Turtle shells to hunt by throwing or beating the animals. 9. Chumash would have a ritual by singing and dancing around a fire. 10. Chumash would use roots and herbs for medicine. By: Bianca Resources: http://www.chumashindian.com/music_and_dance.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumash_(tribe) http://www.sbnature.org/research/anthro/chumash/daily.htm http://www.ask.com/bar?q=how+did+the+chumash+live+&page=1&qsrc=2106&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sbnature.org%2Fresearch%2Fanthro%2Fchumash%2Fhealth.htm http://www.ask.com/bar?q=Chumash+Clothing&page=1&qsrc=6&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chumashindian.com%2Ffood-medicine-clothing.htm

Chumash The Chumash were a great culture that lived in peace and thrived in harmony. They built their homes and shelter with plant and wood from the islands ,and hunted on the islands for their food. They lived happy lives, until the Europeans came, and started taking them to the mainland, and made them change their culture, to believe the Spanish culture. They also took their children away from them, so they could speak Spanish, and make the parents come to the missions, to learn Spanish too. Eventually, the Spanish took over the Islands too. They put all their cattle and wild pigs on the islands, so they could go over to the, to get their food. The animals overgrazed, and took the other animals that lived there. The Chumash started dying because of the diseases that the Europeans brought with them too. All the Chumash language was lost and the Europeans thrived instead. Today their culture is struggling to survive and find their language again.