Mapping Chumash Communities -- Dr. John R. Johnson

Mapping Chumash Communities Dr. John R. Johnson - Curator Emeritus of Anthropology at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Following Cabrillo’s voyage in 1542, certain Chumash towns and villages began appearing on maps resulting from Spanish exploration. Mission records during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries provide crucial information on settlement locations and populations. Anthropologists, particularly Kroeber and Harrington, began working on comprehensive mapping of Chumash communities beginning in the early twentieth century. One of the sources that proved invaluable was placename lists recorded by a literate Ventureño man named Juan Estevan Pico. Interviewing elders whom he knew, Pico documented the names and locations of Chumash towns and villages along the coast between Point Conception and Malibu, inland areas of the Ventureño region, and the Channel Islands. Subsequent maps of Chumash rancherías have built upon and refined the work of Kroeber and Harrington by incorporating archaeological evidence, mission register data, and other sources. Having established the complete settlement pattern, other studies become possible, including determining population distributions, discerning geographic patterns of recruitment to the missions, and reconstructing intervillage sociopolitical relationships. Dr. John Johnson served 37 years as Curator of Anthropology at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and since retirement in 2023 holds the position of Curator Emeritus. He taught an anthropology course on Indigenous Peoples of California Indians for 18 years at UC Santa Barbara. Dr. Johnson’s written contributions include more than 100 studies regarding the cultures, history, and ancient past of California’s Native peoples, especially emphasizing the Chumash Indians of the Santa Barbara region. Presented to the Pacific Coast Archaeological Society (PCAS) on January 9, 2025. For additional information on the Pacific Coast Archaeological Society, see the PCAS website at www.pcas.org