Missionizaition

The Chumash Indians

The Chumash Indians were different from other Indians because they did not plant crops instead they just hunted for their food. They ate wild plants and shellfish. They also made the shellfish into soup and ate fish, lobster and crabs.

Did you know that the Chumash Indians used shells for their money and the bigger the shell the more it was worth. They used their money to trade useful things among themselves like food or hunting gear.

The dome of their huts were made out of trees called willow poles, the poles were bent at the top to make a dome. Then they covered the outside of the dome with cattails or bulrush. But at the top of the dome there was a hole for the smoke to come out when they had fire.

Some of the paintings from the Chumash Indians are almost 1,000 years old. The colors they used were red, white and black and most of these colors are minerals. The red was from iron oxide called hematite, the white is made out of gypsum and the black is made out of charcoal. These paintings still remain sacred to the Chumash people today.

They also made cornbread by gathering acorns and then they got a big shell and a rock to mash them then they put clean water over it and then they baked it.