‘Walk with the Chumash’

Palisadians can walk a mile in the shoes of the Chumash Indians with volunteer naturalist Arthur Hoyle Saturday, Dec. 21 at 3 p.m. at Temescal Gateway Park.

The interpretive program guides participants to discover how ancestral Chumash Indians used indigenous natural resources for thousands of years to create a sustainable way of life.

“This is a chance to go for a gentle walk and get to experience hands-on Chumash artifacts,” said Hoyle, who lives in the Highlands. “We will talk about the Chumash use of the plant community for food and medicine, clothing and shelter and religious ceremonies.”

Along the walk, Hoyle points out plans that would have been used in Chumash culture while discussing specific aspects of their culture, including plant use, how homes were built and how the community was organized.

According to Hoyle, who has led the program for two years, the focus is on the Chumash culture prior to contact with European explorers and their successful adaptation to the Southern California resource base, stretching back to 8,000 B.C.

“For me, the takeaway from learning about the Chumash is how they model a healthy relationship to the environment,” Hoyle said. “They lived in harmony and balance and that is how their culture survived for 10,000 years.”

According to Hoyle, the Stone Age people were hunter-gatherers but because they lived in a Mediterranean climate of Southern California they were able to settle villages and developed a more advanced culture than nomadic groups were able to.

“They lived on the land and used its resources without exploiting it, using it up or laying it to waste. Today, that is becoming more and more of a critical issue as our population is growing and our needs as a species are weighing on the planet and threatening to disrupt a lot of life patterns.”

The program, supported by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, is free and suitable for all ages. Street and paid parking is available at Temescal Gateway Park.

“These people lived in ecological harmony with the planet and that’s a lesson that our civilization needs to learn,” Hoyle said. “And it’s one we can learn from the Chumash right here.”