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Description
Chumash, any of several related North American Indian groups speaking a Hokan language. They originally lived in what are now the California coastlands and adjacent inland areas from Malibu northward to Estero Bay, and on the three northern Channel Islands off Santa Barbara. The Chumash were among the first native Californians to be encountered by the Spanish-sponsored explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (1542–43).

At the time of colonization, the Spanish named the major Chumash groups the Obispeño, Purismeño, Ynezeño, Barbareño, and Ventureño (for the Franciscan missions San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, La Purísima Concepción, Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara, and San Buenaventura, respectively), the inland Emigdiano and Cuyama, and the Isleño.

Traditionally, the majority of the Chumash population lived along the seashores and relied for food largely on fish, mollusks, and sea mammals and birds. They also collected a number of wild plant foods; most important among these were acorns, which the Chumash detoxified using a leaching process.

Description
Chumash, any of several related North American Indian groups speaking a Hokan language. They originally lived in what are now the California coastlands and adjacent inland areas from Malibu northward to Estero Bay, and on the three northern Channel Islands off Santa Barbara. The Chumash were among the first native Californians to be encountered by the Spanish-sponsored explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (1542–43).

At the time of colonization, the Spanish named the major Chumash groups the Obispeño, Purismeño, Ynezeño, Barbareño, and Ventureño (for the Franciscan missions San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, La Purísima Concepción, Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara, and San Buenaventura, respectively), the inland Emigdiano and Cuyama, and the Isleño.

Traditionally, the majority of the Chumash population lived along the seashores and relied for food largely on fish, mollusks, and sea mammals and birds. They also collected a number of wild plant foods; most important among these were acorns, which the Chumash detoxified using a leaching process.