Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Teacher Field Reports
J. Gallatin/Madison School: . . . . Tue, Aug 28, 4:38PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Destination 1 --- Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (Internet site-button button
Elevation 12 ft Latitude 34.44395 Longitude -119.78819 …………….. …….
…….. ……..
J. Gallatin/Madison School: . . . . Tue, Aug 28, 4:39PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Tuesday, July 17, 2001 Anthropology Exhibit: Two femurs from a female human
were found in Arlington Canyon on Santa Rosa Island. These 14,000 old bones
are the oldest human remains found in North America. 14,000 years ago, North
America was still covered with too much ice to allow humans to cross the land
bridge. It is now believed people came to North America by watercraft, and
settled along California. Different settlements would account for the 60 different
languages among the California Native Americans. button The Santa Barbara
Museum of Natural History has the second largest collections of baskets made
by the Chumash. button One basket, decorated with images copied from Spanish
coins, was made as a gift for the governor of Mexico. A dedication was later
added to the rim. . Tuesday, July 17, 2001
J. Gallatin/Madison School: . . . . Tue, Aug 28, 4:42PM PST (-0800 GMT)
button One of the unique characteristics of the Chumash basket is that baskets
were made always coiling to the right. The plant used for the structure of all
Chumash baskets was the juncus plant. The black coloring used to create the
stylized designs was made by burying the harvested juncus in mud. The darker
brown coloring comes from the lower portion of the juncus. ..
J. Gallatin/Madison School: . . . . Tue, Aug 28, 4:43PM PST (-0800 GMT)
J. Gallatin/Madison School: . . . . Tue, Aug 28, 4:44PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Dr. Johnson took us to the storage area where we saw the seven baskets that
the museum wishes to purchase from a private party. The acquisition of these
baskets will make the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum's collection of
Chumash baskets the largest in the world.
Lynda Bloomquist-Madison School: . . . . Fri, Aug 31, 12:04AM PST (-0800 GMT)
On Tuesday, July 17, we went to the Santa
Barbara Museum of Natural History. www.sbnature.org There were several areas
of interest to me in exploring life in early California. I am especially fascinated
with the Pygmy Mammoth… As a child I felt that everything that had been
discovered about prehistoric life was complete. I was always disappointed that
there was not much written about the discoveries in the United States. The
discovery of the Pygmy Mammoth has made me realize the dynamics of the
study of paleontology and anthropology. It is speculated that the mammoths
swam to the islands during the time before glaciers began to melt about 40,000
years ago. button Perhaps they were enticed to the islands by the scent of
vegetation. At that time the Channel Islands formed one large island referred to
as Santarosae.
Lynda Bloomquist-Madison School: . . . . Fri, Aug 31, 12:08AM PST (-0800 GMT)
button The distance between the mainland and the island was, perhaps, only
about ten miles. During the period between 40,000 years ago and 10,000 years
ago, the mammoth underwent a change in size. It is interesting to look at the
timeline to see when the first human life is evident as compared to the age of the
Pygmy Mammoth remains. The age of the last Pygmy Mammoth bones
discovered are about as old the oldest human bones that have been discovered.
Cressa, Miramonte: . . . . Wed, Aug 8, 11:24AM PST (-0800 GMT)
Museum of Natural History……
button Our
second destination was the Museum of Natural History. Here I visited the
Chumash room, Marine exhibit, Pygmy Mammoth exhibit and last, the butterfly
exhibit. When entering the Chumash room I pondered, “What might my
generation and the Chumash have in common. As I looked through the room and
read the inscription on each of the exhibits I discovered finally that we do have
one thing in common. We both use and have used the technology of our time to
adapt to our own environment. They developed bows and arrows to be more
effective hunters while we have developed self-service check stand to
accommodate the high volume of customers in convenient stores. Thus making
them more convenient. A camp internet resource connected to the Pygmy
mammoth is button
Wendy Morrison/Charles Mack Elementary: . . . . Wed, Aug 8, 11:57AM PST (0800 GMT)
Wendy Morrison………….. Field Report………………. Museum of Natural
History, Santa Barbara…………… On August 8, 2001, I visited the Museum of
Natural History in Santa Barbara. button This is a wonderful museum of many
different displays. My main focus is the Chumash Indian display. The Chumash
were wonderful for making baskets that were used to carry their food such as
acorns, fish, tuna, shell fish, nuts and plants native to the area. The Santa
Barbara Museum has the second largest collections of baskets made by the
Chumash. One basket was made as a gift for the governor of Mexico. One
interesting fact about the baskets were that they were made always coiling to the
right, made from the juncos plant.
button The
Chumash did beautiful work on their baskets. The Chumash were the first
settlers here in the Santa Barbara area. They wore animal skins over the
womens bottom half of their bodies, and some jewelry. The Chumash did not use
clay pottery, they were pots used from soapstone. button
Hoover&NietoVic: . . . . Thu, Aug 9, 12:26AM PST (-0800 GMT)
DESTINATION #3 SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY FIELD
REPORT 08/09/2001 TEAM #9 JOE NIETO & HOWARD HOOVER Our third and
final destination during the Camp Internet training was the Santa Barbara
Museum of Natural History. There were many scientific aspects to discover in
this museum, but we were the most interested in the Chumash hall exhibit. There
was a wide array of exhibits pertaining to this particular Native American tribe.
Just outside the museum entrance was a whale skeleton display. It is believed
that the Lone Woman used such bones as building materials. The exact location
of the museum is as follows: Latitude = 34.44116° Longitude = -119.71488°
Elevation = 299 feet
The Chumash were
primarily a hunter and gatherer culture. There were abundant amounts of tuna,
acorns, seeds, bulbs, green plants, deer, bears, and pine nuts in the area. It is
also said that there were herds of antelope and elk to be hunted. There were
various preparation and storage containers on display in the museum hall. We
viewed baskets and large mortars and pestles that were used by the Chumash
for pounding food. Below is a sketching of a Chumash steatite pot used for
cooking.
The clothing and housing
of the Chumash people came directly from natural sources of hunting and
gathering. The loincloth type clothing consisted of animal hides and skins. The
babies appeared to be dressed in small game furs such as rabbit and fox. Their
homes were made of reeds that were gathered in the area. The dwellings are
circular in shape and look somewhat like a dome. The house is built by first
erecting a skeletal structure out of willow. This was covered with layers of
overlapping reed, starting from the bottom and working toward the top. There
was an opening left at the top so smoke could escape during the winter months
when fires where kept burning inside the dwellings for warmth.
For more information, log
onto the museum’s web page at www.sbnature.com
jzalom: . . . . Wed, Jul 18, 1:48PM PST (-0800 GMT)
.....We visited the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum (button and listened to
an interesting presentation by interpreter John Johnson about the Chumash way
of life. We observed the design and use of basketry and other tools for food
preparation and storage. We listened to the Chumash language which was
recorded in the early 1900's by an anthropologist who worked with the Chumash
people for many decades. Many records were preserved at the missions and he
used these to elucidate Chumash geneology.
Irene of SB High: . . . . Wed, Jul 18, 2:04PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Irene's visit to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History..... button here is the
exhibits page button is the website for the museum......The Chumash Hall had a
very good display of the materials that the Chumash used
.......
Lisa: . . . . Wed, Jul 18, 2:07PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Trip to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History button ……… Yesterday
we visited the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. We were fortunate
enough to have John Johnson, Curator of Anthropology, as our guide. He is an
expert on the Chumash people and taught us a lot……….Many scientists believe
that the First Americans entered North America by an ice bridge that extended
the Bering Strait. They were then thought to have traveled south between two
receding ice sheets. Dr. Johnson told us about a theory that they may have
traveled down the coast, implying a need for a craft to travel on the ocean. A very
interesting idea……..The Chumash people were excellent basket weavers. Their
baskets were tightly woven and had beautiful designs and patterns. The museum
has a wonderful collection. We were even able to view several baskets the
museum is hoping to purchase. These baskets were so tightly woven that they
were able to hold liquids. Acorn mush was boiled in these baskets by hot rocks
that were added………I was also excited to learn about the Gabrielinos. They
were the Chumash who lived on the Channel Islands………
……… Check out this site for more info
on the Gabrielinos button
Irene of SB High: . . . . Wed, Jul 18, 2:09PM PST (-0800 GMT)
This is my report. Here’ the address of the museum button here’s a picture of the
chumash
Pam Shetler: . . . . Wed, Jul 18, 2:20PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Posting #3! Sorry. The Santa Barbara Museum has a wealth of
information
Its permanent collection
includes tremendous information on the Chumash Indians. button . The
Chumash did not make pottery. They hollowed out bowls from whale spinal
bones. They were additionally excellent weavers... Baskets were very important
in their lives for "gathering, storing, preparing and serving food, holding water,
keeping money and other valuables, measuring acorns for trade, carrying babies,
in gambling, as gifts, and for ceremonies." button ...The museum currently has an
excellent special exhibit on butterflies. There are areas specialized for children.
The most interesting exhibit is an outdoor 'aviary' of live butterflies. The museum
has planted butterfly attracting vegetation. The butterflies gently fly throughout
the area, occasionally lighting on the visitors....The Camp Internet website also
has tremendous information about the Indians of the Southwest, including the
Chumash. You can find that information here. button …The museum has a large
zoological collection as well. The information on the pygmy mammoths is
especially interesting. The museum store has a small book on the pygmy
mammoths and their interesting story for only $5.95.
Dante: . . . . Wed, Jul 18, 2:12PM PST (-0800 GMT)
At the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum, we had the opportunity to observe
the "behind the scenes" laboratory where the anthropoligists do their work. button
We learned the four tenants of anthropology, all of which are conducted at the
Museum: archeology, linguistics, ethnology, and alkdjfkljd. We saw samples of
baskets the museum is trying to buy from a private collector as well as shell
jewelery in the climate-controlled room.
Visit this site to see the entrance to the museum.
K Roberts at Hawaiian: . . . . Wed, Jul 18, 2:33PM PST (-0800 GMT)
TRIP TO SANTA BARBARA NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM button On
Tuesday, July 17, 2001, our Camp Internet group was given a tour of the
museum by anthropologist, John Johnson. He led us to many fascinating rooms,
buildings, and Chumash Indian exhibits ……..
……… My
favorite part of the whole day was visiting the live butterfly exhibit which was
housed inside a netted area that reminded me of a bird atrium I visited years ago
at the Palm Springs Wildlife Reserve. It was so beautiful just walking around
watching butterflies lick/sip nectar from the sunlit garden of flowers and dishes of
cut fruit with their long, hair-like unwound tongues. For quite a while, I sat on a
wooden bench just taking in the entire scene of hundreds of butterflies floating
around, with mothers and children and teachers expressing joy, awe, and thrill to
see so many unusual, tame creatures up-close. The docent volunteers were
more than happy to help me and others identify each butterfly that landed nearby
using a preprinted field guide sheet as they discussed this creature’s brief life
cycle: mating (which went on right before us); egg laying; caterpillar-ravenouseating and genetically-driven cocoon spinning; larva transforming to butterflies
which were finally brought to this flower filled, nectar abundant haven to start the
cycle all over again. It was a moment out of time, out of normal existence to sit
and watch. I wish I could have stayed there all day, but our schedule pulled me
away to reality and back to work.
margo mccormick johnson school: . . . . Wed, Jul 18, 2:34PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Margo's report from Santa Barbara Natural History Museum. 7-18-01... There
website is: button
Now lets get started
DrJohns is a wealth of information. I found it amazing that the Northern Channel
Island inhabited by the Chumash spoke a very different language that the natives
of the Southern Islands . The chumash created tightly woven baskets which are
extremly rare, currently there are three tribal members who are trying To revive
this craft...Next we learned about the oldest fossil remains found in the North
American. These remains of a woman were found on Santa Rose Island next to
a pigmy mammoth. button The museum was a wondrous place to just explore
and quietly set by mission creek and imagine how the chumash lived. It would
have been interesting to visit one of the Island to understand how the chumash
embraced Their environment.
Gaby: . . . . Wed, Jul 18, 2:34PM PST (-0800 GMT)
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History,
has a huge variety of learning
resources. As well as the exhibits of the history and anthropology of the
Chumash Indians, button there is a changing exhibition, such as the butterflies
showing now, and an extensive library of books on California social
studies................The exhibit on the Chumash Indians will be most useful to me
when I begin teaching the 4th graders in my class about the history of California
and how they fit into the geography of the Earth. How the first humans came to
the continent of North America is clearly visualized in pictures and words. This
concept was even more clearly realized by the map John Johnson showed. He
said that the most recent theory says that the first humans to migrate from Asia
to N. America came along the coast, probably in sea craft. This has been
supported by the discovery of the Santa Rosa, woman who must have had some
type of sea craft to get to the island where she lived 13,000 years ago. button
………………………The exhibit also shows the cultural changes that the
Chumash society experienced to the present time including examples of the oral
language and a phonetic version researched by John Harrington, one of the
foremost scholars of the Chumash. Some examples of objects in the exhibit are a
boat made with the help of a man who made boat as a boy, cooking vessels and
baskets made by the Chumash. Clothes and houses, beads made of olive shells
which were used for money and a wide variety of other things.
. . . . Wed, Jul 18, 2:36PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Howdy All! I want to welcome you to the latest report from the WAKE Center in
Goleta. We have been asked by out fearless leaders to write a field report about
our adventures yesterday at the Museum of Natural History. Check out their web
site, it’s really cool. button While we were at the museum
we were with a scientist by the name of
Dr. Johns. His field of expertise is anthropology, with emphasis in the history of
the Channel Islands and it’s in habitants. His is passionate about the Chumash
Indians, their genealogy, cultural history, and much more. While he was giving us
the tour through the museum a women walked in. He greeted her and she him,
then he introduced her to us and explained that she was Chumash. She then
greeted us and began to share with us about her personal story and how she
new very little about her culture until she was well into her twenties. button She
was teaching a Chumash cultural class for kids, kind of a summer day camp.
Irene: . . . . Wed, Jul 18, 3:30PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Irene’s report from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History… The website
of the museum is button The Chumash Hall has a representation of the history,
materials, and life of the Chumash Indians
There were a number of examples of
food gathering, preparation and storage containers such as milling slabs, hand
stones, metates, woven baskets, mortars and pestles, stearite pots for cooking,
and abalone shells….Some of the cooking vessels were made from carved
soapstone. The items that were used for clothing included, feathers, fur, skins,
and items for ornamentation…. The housing consisted of round huts made of
willow or sycamore for the frame and tule for thatch…. The location of the
museum was N. 34.44099. latitude and –119.7104 longitude. The elevation was
220 feet… Juncus textillis is the scientific name for the basketry rush that the
Chumash used for their finely woven baskets… The museum is currently raising
money to purchase more baskets for their collection which all have right coiling
with a principal band and rim ticking The museum currently has a collection of
baskets that is second only to the Smithsonian. Dr. John Johnston of the
Anthropology section was our guide. He provided a wonderful insight into the
history of the Chumash…..
Trish at Lake Gregory: . . . . Wed, Aug 15, 12:01AM PST (-0800 GMT)
Field Report for Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History…. On Tuesday,
August 14, 2001 our group from Camp Internet consisting of Kristy Miller, Nancy
Manning, DeeDee Zetlmaier, Lu Knowles, Mark Bear, Mark Cornejo, Julie
Davies, and myself, Trish Russell visited the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural
History, located at N34.44122 and W119.71504. The museum was established in
1916, making it the oldest museum in the Santa Barbara area. It’s buildings,
exterior and interior, reflect Santa Barbara’s architectural history.
button
Kristy, Lake Gregory: . . . . Wed, Aug 15, 12:01AM PST (-0800 GMT)
Field Report……August 14,2001 Trish, Dee Dee, Kristy, Mark, Mark, Lu,
Nancy,and Julie visited the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum. In Chumash
hall we saw the second largest collection of Chumash baskets. The plant used to
make these baskets was called the Juncus plant. Different colors in the baskets
were achieved by using mud to darken it. The Chumash houses were called Aps.
They were made of Sycamore and were formed in the shape of a large basket.
This was because Chumash life was centered around the baskets that they
created.
Mark Los Berros: . . . . Wed, Aug 15, 12:07AM PST (-0800 GMT)
The Chumash ate many kinds of wild plants and seafood. One of there most
important foods was acorns. Dried and shelled were ground to a powder with a
stone mortar and pestle. The tannic acid was leached with water. Then the flour
was mixed with water and cooked with hot stones placed into the mixture.
ddzetl at Lake Gregory Elem.: . . . . Wed, Aug 15, 12:07AM PST (-0800 GMT)
Field Reports Tuesday - August 14, 2001 Santa Barbara Natural History
Museum. Our team visited the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum. Our fist
stop was the Chumash Hall. We learned many fascinating facts about the
Chumash Indians. The baskets that the Chumash made were woven from the
juncus plant and were waterproofed with a tar like substance called asphaltum.
The also used this asphaltum to seal their canoes call “tomols”. The Chumash
home was called an Op. The domed house had a framework of bent sycamore
and were covered in tule reeds.
jdavieslosberros: . . . . Wed, Aug 15, 12:05AM PST (-0800 GMT)
Santa Barbara Natural History Museum: This is a photo of the front entrance of
the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum.
A map of the museum grounds is at this
address. button Chumash Exhibit Web Address: button Food Gathering: The
Chumash Indians were more food gathers than farmers. Their main sources of
food were hunting of meat. Examples of these might include: deer, fish, and other
migratory animals that they might fine. The Chumash also were gathers. They
gathered acorns, various other nuts, berries, and other edible native plants. The
coordinates of the bench in front of the hall at the Santa Barbara Natural History
Museum is North 34.44121, West 119.71461 with an elevation of 31.1 feet
Clothing: The mild and comfortable weather of the Central Coast allowed the
Chumash to wear little or no clothing. The men often wore a belt of tools
appropriate to whatever they were doing. Women tended to wear a skirt. This
skirt was either made of deerskin or tule. The tule skirt often had on its tips, a bit
of asphalt. This caused the skirt to have a “swishing” sound as the women
walked, according to the Spanish. The asphalt wads found from a seep in what is
not Carpinteria. This also was of value in trade. Sunscreen: Both sexes also had
red shoulders. This perhaps was the original California sunscreen. It was made
of Red Ochre and bear grease. It also kept bugs off of them. This was another
item in the complex trade of the Chumash. Whale: Outside the front of the
museum is a whale skeleton. People may walk inside the whale and observe the
world from the viewpoint of Jonah. The location of the whale is North 34.44108
and North 119.719511.
Baskets:
According to the Natural History Museum: “The Chumash used both twined and
coiled weaving techniques. It is for their beautiful coiled baskets -- trays, bowls of
all sizes, treasure baskets and hats -- that the Chumash are most renowned. The
coiled baskets have a spiraling foundation of three slender rods of juncus rush,
wrapped and sewn together with split strands of the same material. “
Examples of their basketry are
numerous in the artifact storage room at the Museum. Clay baskets, also called
stetite, came mainly from Catalina Island. It did not absorb water thus making it
extremely useful in cooking. The clay was found there and was desired by all
other groups and a trade item. The shape was called ovah.
: . . . . Wed, Jul 18, 2:13PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Mrs. Schoenfeld's SB Museum field trip report. The Museum's website is located
button Yesterday I went to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. The
museum had many exhibits that were full of fascinating information, facts, and
history. I visited the Chumash Hall with has a collection of artifacts dating back as
many 9000 years ago. I was also able to listen to a Chumash woman who had
her voice recording in the 1950s to leave a auditory record of what their language
sounded like. button I was also able to view many different items that they used
in their daily lives. John Johnson also showed us the museum archives where
they are currently housing some Chumash baskets which they are trying to
acquire as part of the museum collection. If they make the acquisition they will
have the largest Chumash basket collection in the world.................. As well as
learning about the Chumash Indians he showed us the library, which anyone can
visit to further their knowledge on a variety of subjects............The last thing that I
saw was the butterfly exhibit. I was able to walk through and view butterflies, up
close and personal. ........It was a nice to learn so much and I hope to be able to
get back with my own children some time soon.........
Other links: button button
Chris # Pastor: . . . . Wed, Jul 18, 2:15PM PST (-0800 GMT)
The Santa Barbara Museum is a very beautiful place. I really enjoyed the library.
I have a passion for old books. I really like the history that went to that room.
When you walk in you feel like you are in an old house.... button ..... It is a new
experience for me to have come and experienced this area. I love this area. It
would be nice to retire here but the cost of living is high.
I really enjoyed the library. I have a
passion for old books. I really like the history that went to that room. When you
walk in you feel like you are in an old house.... button ..... It is a new experience
for me to have come and experienced this area. I love this area. It would be nice
to retire here but the cost of living is high.
…… The butterfly pavilion is also a
great place. It is fun to have the butterflies come and sit on you. The big thing is
that you have to be able to get them off before you leave. I took some great
pictures of the butterflies sitting on flowers……. button At this site you can learn
about pottery. I think that this is really great. I would love to go on a dig
sometime. I think it is fun.
gluna/sbaca: . . . . Wed, Jul 18, 2:15PM PST (-0800 GMT)
On Tuesday, July l7, 2001, we arrived at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural
History and met with John Johnson for a private tour of the museum. The
museum was founded in 1916 and was devoted to the study of "ology" the study
of eggs. Mr. Johnson took us to the museum's library where we met Marie
Holmes, the assistant librarian. We were informed that as teachers we were
welcomed to use the resources button located in the library. www.sbnature.org
Here is a picture of the entrance to the museum
.......... .... Next we went to the Chumash Hall and enjoyed seeing all the artifacts
of the early Native Americans. We heard Chumash language being spoken and
sung. We saw tools, clothing and baskets used by these people. Mr. Johnson
noted that the baskets were made with Indian rush noting that the brown color
came from the base of the plant and the black color was created when the
Chumash covered them with mud. It was also noted that Santa Barbara has the
best collection of Chumash baskets, with the exception of the Smithsonian, in the
world. Some other interesting facts that we learned were that the styles of tools
for the culture did not stay static changing from mano, metate to mortar and
pestal. The Chumash did not make pottery and the soapstone pots found were
thought to be from soapstone found in Catalina. Mr. Johnson then took us to view
the pygmy mammoth exhibit. We were able to see a casting of a pygmy
mammoth found on Santa Rosa Island in l994. This mammoth is fondly known as
"Rosie." button
....To conclude our tour, we were taken to the
archives where we enjoyed seeing more rare artifacts such as a bowl made from
a whale bone, some seeds, and some shells and a seagrass skirt.
Trish at Lake Gregory: . . . . Wed, Aug 15, 12:11AM PST (-0800 GMT)
Museum collections range from one of the oldest human remains, to a Pygmy
Mammoth skeleton, to a live butterfly exhibit, to the largest Chumash Indian
artifact collection outside the Smithsonian. The museum offers student and
teacher programs, including teacher kits, artifacts, and books for loan. Their
Chumash website, button has extensive information available to the public.
Trish at Lake Gregory: . . . . Wed, Aug 15, 12:11AM PST (-0800 GMT)
In the Chumash Hall the life of the Chumash is on display. The Chumash
benefited from the warm climate and abundance of resources. Men typically wore
no clothes. They may have worn deerskin pouches for the storage of fishhooks
and other tools attached to themselves with thin deerskin or sinew. Women
typically wore only skirts made of either deerskin or tulle reed. Often the women
would attach bits of asphalta to the ends of the tulle, giving the skirts a nice
swinging motion when the women walked. Men often wore their hair up held by a
bone hairpin. Women usually wore their hair down with bangs cut. For sunscreen
they covered their skin with red ochre. Men wore feathered headdresses for
ceremonial purposes. Shell beads were the Chumash’s form of money. They
wore their wealth around their neck. When cool weather befell them they were
deerskin cloaks.
mbear: . . . . Wed, Aug 15, 12:12AM PST (-0800 GMT)
August 15, 2001 Mark Bear Camp Internet Field Report A. The Chumash Indians
collected acorns, fruits, berries and nuts in woven baskets. The woman pictured
in the diorama at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is shown
cleaning acorn meal. Fish, deer and other small mammals were also part of the
Chumash diet. The Chumash used all parts of the animal including bones for
tools and the skins for clothes.
B. The Chumash Indians wore very little
clothing during warm weather. Men usually wore no clothes or a cape if the
weather got cold. Women wore small dresses made from deerskin. The woman
in the diorama had tassels on her dress.
C. Using the GPS unit we found the
latitude of SBMNH to be approximately N 34.44122 and the longitude to be W
119.71504. Visit Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History by clicking on the
link. www.sbnature.org
mbear: . . . . Wed, Aug 15, 12:18AM PST (-0800 GMT)
August 15, 2001 Mark Bear Camp Internet Field Report A. The Chumash Indians
collected acorns, fruits, berries and nuts in woven baskets. The woman pictured
in the diorama at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is shown
cleaning acorn meal. Fish, deer and other small mammals were also part of the
Chumash diet. The Chumash used all parts of the animal including bones for
tools and the skins for clothes.
B. The Chumash Indians wore very little
clothing during warm weather. Men usually wore no clothes or a cape if the
weather got cold. Women wore small dresses made from deerskin. The woman
in the diorama had tassels on her dress.
C. Using the GPS unit we found the
latitude of SBMNH to be approximately N 34.44122 and the longitude to be W
119.71504. Visit Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History by clicking on the
link. www.sbnature.org
Todd@Cypress: . . . . Wed, Aug 15, 12:18AM PST (-0800 GMT)
On August 14, 2001, myself and four other teachers, Arlyn Sams, Diane Bruns,
Susan Heiligman, and Marsha Halquist, visited the Santa Barbara Museum of
Natural History. There, we learned about the Chumash Indians, geology, plant
and animal life of California, and there was a fascinating exhibit with live
butterflies. Here is a photo of the butterfly habitat.
Kristy, Lake Gregory: . . . . Wed, Aug 15, 12:18AM PST (-0800 GMT)
The pygmy mammoth skeleton was discovered on Santa Rosa Island in 1994. It
was the first complete pygmy mammoth skeleton found. It has been dated by an
accelerator-mass spectrometer radiocarbon technique and was found to be
12,840 years old! It is believed that mammoths went to the islands to look for
food by swimming from the mainland when the ocean level was shallow.
Trish at Lake Gregory: . . . . Wed, Aug 15, 12:19AM PST (-0800 GMT)
Food was plentiful. The Chumash diet consisted of deer, fish, shellfish, and acorn
mush. Baskets of many types were used for gathering, preparation, and storage.
The baskets were thought to be a metaphor of life itself, representing the layers
of the universe. They were woven of juncos plant. Acorns were prepared using a
basket, hopper, and mortar system. Food was cooked either in baskets using hot
stones or in bowls made of steatite (soapstone). Steatite bowls came from
Catalina. Water containers were baskets lined with asphalta. The museum’s
basket collection consists of baskets for sale. One such basket for sale that we
saw was purchased by the museum for $20,000.
lu losberros: . . . . Wed, Aug 15, 12:30AM PST (-0800 GMT)
Chumash Indians had to depend on gathering much of their food supply. Acorns
were a popular gathered food, and they were pounded by a stone mortar until it
was in a crumbled form and then water was used to leech out the acorn meal.
Other food items gathered were grains, and Red Maid seeds were gathered and
then roasted and were probably used for seasoning foods. The Indians also
gathered fish and other foods from the ocean, lakes and rivers. There were
several preparations and storage containers displayed at the SBMNH. There
were beautifully woven tule baskets, deerskin containers, whale vertrbrae,
swordfish vertebrae (paint cups), stone and claypots,and steatite carved bowls.
Thule huts (thatched roofs and
shelters made out of small, pliable branches with a small , pliable branches with
tule rushes placed over the frame with a small door opening) were the shelters
used by the Chumash. The males usually wore nothing or just a small covering of
their privates. The women usually wore an animal skin skisrt with fringes that had
asphalta on the ends. The babies were wrapped in animal furs and the toddlers
usually ran naked. button
nancy at lge: . . . . Wed, Aug 15, 3:47PM PST (-0800 GMT)
One of the most interesting paleontological finds on the Channel Islands was the
discovery in 1994 of the fossil remains of a pygmy mammoth. This find
represented a species of mammoth that coexisted with humans 12,000 to 13,000
years ago. These fossil bones were found on Santa Rosa Island and they can
now be see at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
Dee Dee at Lake Gregory: . . . . Wed, Aug 15, 3:48PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Field Reports ………. Field Reports Tuesday - August 14, 2001 Santa Barbara
Natural History Museum. Our team visited the Santa Barbara Natural History
Museum. Our fist stop was the Chumash Hall. We learned many fascinating facts
about the Chumash Indians. The baskets that the Chumash made were woven
from the juncus plant and were waterproofed with a tar like substance called
asphaltum. The also used this asphaltum to seal their canoes call “tomols”. The
Chumash home was called an Op. The domed house had a framework of bent
sycamore and were covered in tule reeds. house had a framework of bent
sycamore and were covered in tule reeds. sbmnh-8_14-02.JPG button Click this
button to view a Chumash women grinding acorn meal.The Chumash men wore
no clothes, but had a leather strap with a pouch around their waist for tools. The
women wore a skirt of grass or deer skin, but went topless. Men, Women and
children covered their shoulders with a red substance called Orker to protect
them from sunburn. Our next stop was the Mammal Hall where we saw the
Pygmy Mammath. The Pygmy Mammath bones were found in 1994 on Santa
Rosa Island. When he was found the bones they were just embedded in a
hillside. They thought at first it was a cow, but later saw its tusk. The pygmy
mammoth was much smaller than the wholly mammoth. They may have
coexisted with the Native Americans on the island and that may have caused
their extinction.
Next we went to the
museum Archives. It was very cool. They keep the temperature 68 degrees and
low humidity to keep all the artifacts preserved. In the archives were giant sliding
shelve lockers that house all the artifacts. There were bowls make from whale
vertibae and paint cups made from swordfish vertibra. We saw the shells that the
Chumash would trade and deer bone that they got in return.