Contemporary Chumash Religion

An empirical study of how indigenous tradition is constructed through religious beliefs and practices

This project investigates how indigenous tradition is constructed and maintained through religious beliefs and practices among the Chumash Indians in south-central California. The project employs sociological and anthropological methods and is based on a field study among the Chumash.

The Chumash community is highly heterogenous and fragmented as a result of its history. More than 90% of the Chumash population died from European diseases during the Spanish colonisation in 1769-1821. After California was annexed by the United States in 1850, the indigenous population was discriminated against and many were assimilated into the Mexican working class. At the turn of the century, Chumash culture was on the verge of extinction. Since the 1960s-70s, Chumash culture has been revitalised and a large number of people have rediscovered their ethnic roots. Research has shown, however, that an influential group of rediscovered Chumash does not descend genealogically from the indigenous population. This situation has led to bitter feuds over cultural authenticity.

In this environment, religion has become an important factor for legitimisation and confrontation, and religiosity is therefore highly diverse among the various groups. Today, only scattered information about pre-Catholic Chumash religion has survived through fragmented family traditions and incomplete historical and ethnographic sources. The surviving local traditions are combined with elements from Catholicism, New Age religion, and pan-Indian spirituality in various different blends. In spite of the diverse religion, most Chumash share one communal ritual, namely the Bear Ceremony, which is the central ritual in a popular pan-Indian religious movement in California. I focus on this ceremony because individuals from the different Chumash groups often participate side by side. Thus, the ceremony seems to represent a common foundation despite the highly fragmented situation in the community.