Mikiw was a Native American village of the

Chumash people The Chumash are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the central and southern coastal regions of California, in portions of what is now Kern County, California, Kern, San Luis Obispo County, California, San Luis O ...

located in the modern-day county of Santa Barbara,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 1602, the

Sebastián Vizcaíno Sebastián Vizcaíno (c. 1548–1624) was a Spanish soldier, entrepreneur, explorer, and diplomat whose varied roles took him to New Spain, the Baja California peninsula, the California coast and Asia. Early career Vizcaíno was born in ...

expedition stopped by the Goleta Valley and the nearby Chumash village of ''Mikiw''. The village was situated on the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

coast, at the site of the current Dos Pueblos in the present day city of

Goleta, California Goleta ( ; ; Spanish for "schooner") is a city in southern Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It was incorporated as a city in 2002, after a long period as the largest unincorporated populated area in the county. As of the 200 ...

. To its east, across the Dos Pueblos Creek, was the adjacent coastal village of Kuya'mu. The two settlements on either side of Dos Pueblos Creek, at the ocean's edge, undoubtedly impressed Crespi. In August 1769, the Spanish missionary and explorer

Juan Crespí Juan Crespí, OFM (Catalan language, Catalan: ''Joan Crespí''; 1 March 1721 – 1 January 1782) was a Franciscan missionary and explorer of The Californias, Las Californias. Biography A native of Majorca, Crespí entered the Franciscan ord ...

recorded that Mikiw and Kiya'mu were "very large villages with vast numbers of people and a great many houses in each, where they have their towns at the very edge of the sea."

References

Chumash populated places Goleta, California Former Native American populated places in California History of Santa Barbara County, California {{NorthAm-native-stub