Chumash rock art offers insight into ancient native culture

[Adsos Letter]

Source: Ventura County Reporter
Chuck Graham




According to the U.S. Forest Service, there are at least 2,400 rock art sites in the Los Padres National Forest, spanning a rugged wilderness of sandstone canyons and outcroppings, meadows and mountaintops. The colorful and spiritual rock art of the Chumash Indians — scattered and hidden throughout 2 million acres of the forest — is some of the most unique in North America. These hidden troves of rock art are full of stories.

During the summers of 2006 and 2007, fires burned through the Los Padres, scorching old-growth chaparral that was more than 100 years old. The fires exposed old trails that led to long-hidden rock art sites, allowing the Forest Service to get to and catalog additional sites.

“We haven’t got back to all of it,” said Joan Brandoff-Kerr, an archaeologist with the Los Padres National Forest since 2001. “A lot of our trained stewards are going out there to look for sites and record them.”

The Chumash used natural pigments from resources found throughout the region to create three dominant colors in their rock art paintings. White paint came from ground seashells or diatomaceous earth. Black paint came from charcoal, burned graphite, asphaltum or oxidized ore, and red paint was produced from hematite, another oxidized ore.

http://www.vcreporter.com/cms/story/detail/if_the_sandstone_could_speak/6735/

[Hekate]

1. Cool! this is out where I live! The fires were terrible, but I'm glad some good came from them...

... besides cleaning out the old-growth chaparral, that is. It's great that the Los Padres National Forest still has some archaeologists who can catalog these paintings, and that there are still spiritual leaders like Adelina Padilla to help interpret them. I hope that they can be protected (from idiot humans) and preserved.

Hekate

[Ghost in the Machine]

2. The Northern Chumash Tribal Council Through Time and Space

The Northern Chumash Tribal Council (NCTC) is organized as a non-profit corporation under the guidelines of the state of California Senate Bill 18. NCTC is recognized by the State of California as a sovereign nation.

NCTC mission is to offer a foundation for the Chumash people of San Luis Obispo County to bring our culture and heritage back to life, create dignity with the people, educate the public that the Chumash have always been here we have not gone anywhere and we will always be here, one continuum. We are the Chumash of over 20,000 years of habitation in San Luis Obispo County.

Recently, we have discovered a Mastodon kill site in San Luis Obispo County. In this kill site are Native American Chumash weapons and tools. We believe that this site could be dated beyond 20,000 years. Currently pollen dating is being done on the pollen located around the bones, because it has gone beyond the capabilities of carbon dating of 47,000 years, and pollen dating can date much older items.

When we walk back in time and space to a time 25,000 years ago when we were in the last ice age, the coast line was 6 to 13 miles to the west from it's current position and 300 feel lower. Saber Tooth Tigers roamed the with the mega Lions, Mastodons, Mammoths, Buffalos, Eagles, Bears, Whales, Seal Lions, and many more animals that were very incredibly large. The Chumash people lived with these animals, they were part of our family. The land was covered with giant Redwoods and Oaks the temperature were cooler and the land was lush with all types of flora and fauna. For over 20,000 years the Chumash and other California Native American lived in peace and gave ceremony to the Great Mystery.

Water is in all things, water is ancient, its birth is in the stars. The Chumash understand that the water is in everything and is the force of life. Water is the communicator of life. Water is the most incredible essence in the Universe, respect it, protect it, and drink it.

Be Well

The Northern Chumash Tribal Council

http://northernchumash.org/

[stubtoe]

3. Kick for rock art