Chumash Indian Museum is a Native American Interpretive Center in northeast

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown. It is named af ...

. It is the site of a former Chumash village, known as Sap'wi (meaning "House of the Deer"). It is located in Oakbrook Regional Park, a 432-acre park which is home to a replica of a Chumash village and thousand year-old Chumash pictographs. The pictographs by nearby Birthing Cave are not open to the public, but can be observed on docent-led tours. Chumash people inhabited the village 10,000 years ago. It became a designated archaeological zone in 1971 after the discovery of nearly twenty caves at the property. It was designated Ventura County Historical Landmark #90 in 1983. It is designated Thousand Oaks City Landmark No. 5.Sprankling, Miriam and Ruthanne Begun (2006). ''Historical Tour of the Conejo Valley''. Newbury Park, CA: Conejo Valley Historical Society. Page 14. . The museum is home to exhibits of various Chumash artifacts, paintings and historical items. Dedicated to preserving the cultural and historical legacy of the Chumash people, the museum was established in 1994 and is operated by the nonprofit Oakbrook Park Chumash Indian Corp. It is owned by Conejo Recreation and Park District. The museum grounds were severely damaged by the 2018 Woolsey Fire.

Pictographs

The cave paintings are found in two nearby rock shelters. The two shelters comprise a few panels, each of which contains one or more red motifs. Notable paintings include that of a broadbill

swordfish Swordfish (''Xiphias gladius''), also known as broadbills in some countries, are large, highly migratory predatory fish characterized by a long, flat, pointed bill. They are a popular sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordfis ...

, which until recently, was a common species in local waters. The swordfish was one of the few fish species associated with the

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

. The pictographs most likely represent a Swordfish Shaman’s spirit helper. Swordfish shamanism was truly practiced at the cave for thousands of years. The pictographs are between 4000–6000 years old, and can be viewed on docent-led tours.

Exhibits

Indoor

Interior parts of the 5,400 sq. ft. museum contains locally retrieved artifacts such as tools used for grinding acorns, murals, instruments, and games. It also features a reconstructed ''tomol'' (Chumash canoe),

mockup In manufacturing and design, a mockup, or mock-up, is a scale or full-size model of a design or device, used for teaching, demonstration, design evaluation, promotion, and other purposes. A mockup may be a ''prototype'' if it provides at leas ...

s of cougars and other wildlife, as well as a

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as military vehicle mode ...

depicting life before the Spanish arrived. Items are routinely on loan from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, including woven bowls, grinding tools, and other artifacts.

Outdoor

Outdoor exhibits include several gardens, a reconstructed Chumash village, and a traditional Chumash playing field, known as a ''malamtepupi''. Furthermore, it contains miles of hiking trails, as well as a massive oak tree rumored to be the oldest and possibly largest in the city of Thousand Oaks. It has a 12-foot trunk diameter, a height of 30 feet, and a canopy spread of 60 feet. It is home to 11 archeological sites clustered along the stream-bed, including ancient pictographs and bedrock mortars utilized for grinding acorns and other foods. Behind the museum is a 25-acre nature preserve in a canyon following the

Conejo Creek Arroyo Conejo (Spanish for “Rabbit Creek”) is the longest creek in the Conejo Valley, sprawling over the cities of Thousand Oaks and Camarillo, and the communities of Newbury Park, Casa Conejo and Santa Rosa Valley. Arroyo Conejo is the prim ...

. The shaded trail follows groves of old oak trees dating back 200–300 years, as well as mortar holes, the reconstructed Chumash village, and dramatic rock formations. The trail also goes by the remains of a former house with a brick oven. This was the site where Lang Ranch’ caretaker lived, dating back to the early 1900s. Weather-carved

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

formations can be found after passing Bear Flats Oak Grove and crossing over Crystal Spring. Prominent formations include Elephant Rock, a finely etched rock with a trunk; and Calm Rock, shaped in the form of a partly opened clam.

Ethnobotany Gardens

Four gardens featuring native flora with interpretive signs can be found near the museum. Funding for the gardens was provided by Edison International, Eagle Scouts of Troop 787, and museum volunteers.The source used is the booklet ''Guide to the Ethnobotany Garden'', which is published and distributed by Chumash Indian Museum. The booklet lists its sources on page 1 as: http://calscape.org/ and the book ''Chumash Ethnobotany: Plant Knowledge Among the Chumash People of Southern California'' (2007) by author Jan Timbrook, . * Riparian/Basketry Garden: represents species found along the edge of a creek. Many of these plants were utilized for basketweaving and in making fibers. Species represented include Giant Wild Rye ( Ventureño: shakh), Basket Rush (Ventureño: mekjme’y),

Soap Plant The common names soap plant, soaproot and amole refer to the genus ''Chlorogalum''. They are native to western North America, with some species in Oregon but they are mostly found in California. Common names of the genus and several species deri ...

(Ventureño: pash),

Mugwort Mugwort is a common name for several species of aromatic flowering plants in the genus ''Artemisia.'' In Europe, mugwort most often refers to the species '' Artemisia vulgaris'', or common mugwort. In East Asia the species '' Artemisia argyi'' i ...

(Ventureño: molɨsh),

Milkweed ''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to humans ...

(Ventureño: ‘usha’ak), Horsetail (Ventureño: kɨwɨkɨw), and

Yerba Mansa The monotypic genus ''Anemopsis'' has only one species, ''Anemopsis californica'', with the common names yerba mansa or lizard tail. It is a perennial herb in the lizard tail family (Saururaceae) and prefers very wet soil or shallow water.Flo ...

(Ventureño: ‘onchoshi). Basket Rush is mainly represented here as it was the primary component of woven baskets, while Horsetail stems were utilized as sandpaper for wooden arrows and bowls. Roots of Yerba Mansa were boiled into tea, while the Chumash often ate seeds from

Miner's Lettuce ''Claytonia perfoliata'' ( syn. ''Montia perfoliata''), also known as miner's lettuce, Indian lettuce, winter purslane, or ''palsingat'' (Cahuilla), is a flowering plant in the family Montiaceae. It is an edible, fleshy, herbaceous, annual plan ...

. Dried stems of Giant Wild Rye were used to make cigarettes, paintbrushes, knives, arrow shafts, and game counter sticks. * Chaparral Garden: represents species found on surrounding hillsides in

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

- and

coastal sage scrub Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is w ...

habitats. Plant species represented include

Chaparral Honeysuckle ''Lonicera interrupta'', commonly known as chaparral honeysuckle, is a species of plant found in the western United States. It is native to chaparral and mixed forest habitats in the foothills and mountain ranges of California, and to some mount ...

(Ventureño: chtu’iqonon), Island Ironwood (Ventureño: wɨ’lɨ), Toyon/Christmas Berry (Ventureño: qwe), Islay/Holly-Leaved Cherry (Ventureño: ‘akhtatapɨsh), Coffeeberry (Ventureño: chatɨshwɨ’i khus),

Big Berry Manzanita ''Arctostaphylos glauca'' is a species of Arctostaphylos, manzanita known by the common name bigberry manzanita. It is native to California and Baja California, where it grows in the chaparral and woodland of coastal and inland hills. Descriptio ...

(Ventureño: tsqoqo’n), Coastal Sagebrush (Ventureño: wewe’y),

California Buckwheat ''Eriogonum fasciculatum'' is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names California buckwheat and flat-topped buckwheat. Characterized by small, white and pink flower clusters that give off a cottony effect, this species grows vari ...

(Ventureño: tswana’atl ‘ishup), and various other species. Numerous species provided food, such as berries of Laurel Sumac (Ventureño: walqaqsh) and seeds of Lemonadeberry. Wood from the Island Ironwood (''Lyonothamnus floribundus'') were used for constructing harpoons and canoe paddles, while wood from the Green Bark Lilac (Ventureño: washiko) were used for offertory poles, digging sticks, awls, plank canoe wedges, and fencing. * Desert Garden: represents species found in drier

scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, Herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or ...

s, including the Coast Prickly Pear (Ventureño: khɨ’ɨl), chia sage (Ventureño: ‘itepesh), Thistle Sage (Ventureño: pakh),

White Sage ''Salvia apiana'', the white sage, bee sage, or sacred sage is an evergreen perennial shrub that is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, found mainly in the coastal sage scrub habitat of Southern California and Baja C ...

(Ventureño: khapshɨkh), Toloache/Jimsonweed (Ventureño: momoy), and Chaparral Yucca (Ventureño: shtakuk). Seeds from species such as Thistle Sage and Chia Sage were eaten, while fruits were eaten and paint pigment made of the Coast Prickly Pear. The highly toxic roots of Jimsonweed were ponded, soaked and strained in order to make a hallucinogenic drink for initiation rituals and the

. * Fruits and Flower Garden: located by the museum entrance is a garden featuring endemic plants from Chumash lands that produced flowers and/or fruits. Species include Hummingbird Sage (Ventureño: pakh),

Three-Leaved Sumac ''Rhus trilobata'' is a shrub in the sumac genus (''Rhus'') with the common names skunkbush sumac, sourberry, skunkbush, and three-leaf sumac. It is native to the western half of Canada and the Western United States, from the Great Plains to Ca ...

(Ventureño: shuna’y),

California Blackberry ''Rubus ursinus'' is a North American species of blackberry or dewberry, known by the common names California blackberry, California dewberry, Douglas berry, Pacific blackberry, Pacific dewberry and trailing blackberry. Description ''Rubus ursin ...

(Ventureño: tɨhɨ),

Yerba Buena Yerba buena or hierba buena is the Spanish name for a number of aromatic plants, most of which belong to the mint family. ''Yerba buena'' translates as "good herb". The specific plant species regarded as ''yerba buena'' varies from region to regi ...

(Ventureño: ‘alaqtaha),

Snowberry ''Symphoricarpos'', commonly known as the snowberry, waxberry, or ghostberry, is a small genus of about 15 species of deciduous shrubs in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae. With the exception of the Chinese coralberry, '' S. sinensis'', whi ...

(Ventureño: chtu ‘iqonon), California Wild Rose (Ventureño: watiq’oniq’on), Coast Live Oak (Ventureño: kuw), and Western Virgin’s Bower/Creek Clematis (Ventureño: makhsik). Fruits were eaten raw from a variety of these species, including Golden Currant,

Gooseberry Gooseberry ( or (American and northern British) or (southern British)) is a common name for many species of ''Ribes'' (which also includes currants), as well as a large number of plants of similar appearance. The berries of those in the genu ...

, California Blackberry and California Wild Rose (the rose hips). The Coast Live Oak was a preferred source of acorns, but its wood was also used for stirring paddles, firewood, and shoots for the hoop in hoop-and-pole game. Leaves from Hummingbird Sage and Western Virgin’s Bower were rubbed on the skin to treat sores or cure illness by sorcery.

References