Chumash traditional narratives facts for kids

The Chumash traditional narratives are amazing stories, myths, and legends passed down by the Chumash people. These people lived in what is now Southern California, along the coast of Santa Barbara and Ventura, and on the northern Channel Islands. These stories tell us a lot about their beliefs and how they saw the world.

For a long time, not much was known about Chumash stories. But in the 1970s, papers from a researcher named John Peabody Harrington were published. These papers showed that Chumash stories were more similar to those from central California than to stories from groups living further south.

Learning About Chumash Stories

Even though the Spanish were close to the Chumash, they didn't collect many of their stories. The Chumash people spoke about 8 different languages, like Obispeño, Ventureño, and Island Chumash. These were more like separate languages than just different ways of speaking. The Chumash weren't one big unified group; they were many independent villages. Most of what we know about their stories comes from studies by anthropologists, especially from Harrington's detailed notes.

What Makes Chumash Stories Special?

Like many Native American cultures, the Chumash believed their universe was ordered, but also a bit unpredictable. Things could happen because powerful supernatural beings decided them. These beings could be kind or mean, and sometimes they acted in ways that didn't make sense, just like humans.

Chumash stories have many different plots. But two common types are the "hero's journey" and the "trickster's story." In Western stories, heroes usually have clear reasons for what they do. But in Chumash tales, characters often act because of a strong, unclear feeling or a "must."

Magic and death are also very common in these stories. Conflicts often happen between beings who are born with magic and those who get their powers from special objects or helpers. When someone died in these stories, it was usually not forever. Death could often be undone with magic or special "medicines" that had supernatural powers.

Another interesting thing is "inversion." This is when the opposite of what you expect happens. For example, supernatural beings might only eat things that are poisonous. Or events that happen during the day in the human world might happen at night in the underworld.

Time isn't a big focus in Chumash folklore. There isn't much detail about how the universe began, and stories don't always follow a strict timeline. This suggests that the Chumash thought about time and progress differently than Western cultures. They believed the universe had changed only a little over time. One of the few big changes was the Flood. The Flood was thought to have turned the "First People" into the plants and animals we see today. Modern humans were created by supernatural powers, and death was introduced to prevent too many people from living at once. The Flood divided Chumash mythology into a long-ago, unclear past and the world we live in now. Chumash stories changed even more when Europeans arrived.

Just like Western fairy tales, Chumash stories often started and ended with special phrases. Phrases like "When Coyote was human" or "Momoy was a rich Widow" were like "Once upon a time." And instead of "happily ever after," they had a phrase that meant "I am finished, it is the end." Most stories were told at night, and some only in winter. Storytellers were highly respected. Some stories were only told to people of a certain social status. Chumash storytellers would even add stories from other cultures into their own beliefs. But even with that, Chumash stories are very different from those of their neighbors.

The Universe and Its Origins

The Chumash believed their universe had at least three different worlds and groups of beings.

The Middle World and the First People

The Middle World is where humans live. The world above is home to powerful supernatural beings like the Sun and the Giant Eagle. The world below is filled with monsters that come into the human world after dark. People could travel between these worlds, but it was very difficult.

Before the Flood, the First People lived in the Middle World. These people looked mostly human, but they also had features of the plants or animals they would become after the Flood. Unlike some other native groups, the Chumash didn't include many animals in their stories. Most of the animals mentioned are birds. Plants, reptiles, mammals, and insects appear sometimes. Fish are only mentioned once among the First People. Big animals like bears, rattlesnakes, elk, and whales don't appear as characters in Chumash stories.

Among the First People, Coyote appears most often in Chumash stories. He is like a hero and a trickster. Coyote can be seen as similar to humans; he has both good and bad qualities. He is often shown as an old man who is powerful and wise. But he wasn't born into a high social place like the Great Eagle.

Another important character among the First People was Momoy. She was shown as an old woman who turned into a plant after the Flood. She was a rich widow who lived far away, sometimes alone or with a daughter. She didn't have power over the universe herself, but she could see small parts of the future. She could tell people only what might happen if they did certain things. If someone drank the water Momoy used to wash her hands, they would fall into a deep sleep and see visions about their future or destiny.

According to legends, the Middle World was held up above the world below by two giant snakes. When these snakes moved, it caused earthquakes. The world above was held in place by the Giant Eagle. The Middle World was believed to be flat and round, with many islands floating on an ocean. The Chumash lived on the biggest, most central island. To the West was the land of the dead, where souls waited to be reborn. This land had three areas, like different places for souls to go: wit, ʔayaya, and Šimilaqša.

The Afterlife Journey

The Chumash believed the soul was separate from the body. But a person only felt their soul leave their body at least three days after death, or as a sign that death was coming. If a living person saw their own soul, they could avoid death by taking a special plant called Momoy or toloache. Right after death, the soul would watch its property being destroyed and visit places it went often in life. Then, it would travel West to the land of the dead as a ball of light.

First, the soul would meet two widows who lived by just smelling food and water. They bathed in a spring. Then the soul would go to a ravine. There, it had to pass two dangerous boulders and two giant ravens that tried to peck out the soul's eyes and replace them with poppies. Next, the soul had to pass a tall woman with a scorpion-like tail. She would clap to get attention and sting anyone who came too close.

Finally, the soul reached the ocean, which had a single bridge or pole crossing it. Underneath this bridge, which constantly moved up and down, were evil souls turned to stone from the neck down. Two monsters tried to scare the traveling soul. If the soul didn't have enough knowledge or power, it would fall into the sea and turn into a fish or amphibian. Souls that passed this last test would enjoy Šimilaqša. This was a land ruled by a chief in a crystal house, who was the Sun. Here, one would eat, sleep, and play forever, or until they were reborn.

Different Chumash groups had slightly different ideas about who entered Šimilaqša. For example, the Ventureño believed that the spirits of children and those who drowned did not go to Šimilaqša. Instead, they would be reborn after 12 years.

The First World Above and Supernatural Beings

The world above was home to powerful supernatural beings. These included the Sun, the Two Thunders, and the ʔelyeʔwun, or Giant Eagle. They usually looked like humans but had amazing powers. They didn't often get involved in human affairs, but they could be mean if they wanted to be. They had more control over the universe than any other beings.

The Sun was shown as a very old widower who lived with his two daughters in a crystal house. He wore only a feathered headband, where he kept the bodies of small children. He carried a torch made of bark to light the world below him. His daughters wore aprons made of live rattlesnakes. Every day, the Sun traveled around the world and returned to his daughters with bodies to eat.

Every day, the Sun played a game called peon with the Great Eagle against the Coyote of the Sky and the Morning Star. On the Winter solstice (the shortest day of the year), the Moon decided who had won the game for the year. If the Sun won, there would be a rainy year and lots of crops. If the Sun lost, more people would suffer and die. Some Chumash families would stay indoors all day during the Winter solstice.

The Great Eagle was seen as a leader who didn't get too involved in the daily lives of the First People. He spent most of his time in the first world meditating. His relatives, the falcon and two hawks, took a more active leadership role. The other First People didn't have a strict social order. Their roles reflected the social positions of the Chumash people themselves.

The Coyote of the Sky seemed to be one of the few supernatural powers the Chumash largely trusted. The Coyote of the Sky was believed to support the well-being of the First People and humans below. The Inezeño Chumash saw him as a father figure and prayed to him specifically.

However, the monsters from the world below were thought to be evil supernatural beings. They always posed a threat to humans. They were often described as ugly, active at night, and strangely shaped.