Connected Spirits: The Chumash and Their World

This permanent exhibit explores the connections between the lives of the Chumash people and the natural world around them, before European contact. Ventura County’s first people crafted every item they used in their daily lives from natural materials carefully gathered and prepared. The exhibit is organized by materials used: Bone, Shell, Plants, Animal, and Stone. Artifacts from the Museum’s collection, as well as authentic replicas, illustrate how raw materials were transformed into tools, instruments, clothing, baskets, and jewelry.

Before the Spanish arrived in 1769 to establish Missions in Alta California, the Chumash lived in large villages, relied on plentiful natural resources for food and materials, and had extensive trade routes throughout California. They developed a complex culture over thousands of years. Although they did not have a written language, their spiritual beliefs and history were passed down from generation to generation through songs and stories.

Two cases of artifacts from Mission San Buenaventura illustrate the connections between the materials and skills the Chumash brought to the Mission from their villages and the items they created at the Mission. Stone work, leather tanning, painting, and woodworking were all skills that the Chumash brought to the Mission.