A Chumash dialect spoken by the Barbare帽o/Venture帽o Band of Mission Indians thousands of years ago is alive and thriving with a new online Chumash language dictionary hosted by 海角社区CI.
Venture帽o Chumash, also called mitsqanaqan, is one of six (some say seven) documented Chumashan languages, each named after one of the 21 missions built along the California coast by Spanish missionaries from 1769 to 1833. There have been other Chumashan dictionaries; however, this is the first online dictionary specific to the Barbare帽o/Venture帽o Chumash, who lived in Ventura County and the northern Channel Islands for thousands of years.
Matthew Vestuto, Chairman of the Barbare帽o/Venture帽o Band of Mission Indians (BVBMI) Tribal Council, has been working for years to get an online presence for the mitsqanaqan dictionary, which was first developed in print and released in 2019 by Cal State Fullerton Linguistics Lecturer Timothy Henry-Rodriguez.
鈥淔irst and foremost are the various Chumash speakers who, despite oppressive social conditions and economic constraints, still understood the importance of recording their language and the urgency to do so,鈥 Henry-Rodriguez wrote. 鈥淭heir bravery and strength truly inspire me continually.鈥
Map of the Chumashan languages in Southern California.
Map source: (Robert F. Heizer, ed. 1978. California.
(Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 8.) Washington: Smithsonian Institute.)
Words in mitsqanaqan say a lot about the Chumash people鈥檚 daily life, and they are heavy on verbs or actions. For example, there is a word for 鈥渇ood鈥 (鈥檜飞尘耻), but there are also words for being full of food (aqkum), or giving food (补虫补办拧).
Because the Channel Islands were central to Chumash life, there are many words describing places and activities there. For example, Anacapa Island was 鈥檃苍测补辫补虫, Santa Rosa Island was wima, and a settlement on the south side of Santa Rosa was liam Liam.
The language began to disappear when the Spanish missionaries arrived, who forced the Chumash to work for them and introduced European diseases to which the Chumash had no natural immunity. The Chumash way of life鈥攁nd their language鈥攃hanged.
鈥淭he age-old American story is that when Indigenous people went to boarding schools, they were taught their language was savage and not worthy and to not speak it,鈥 Vestuto said. 鈥淭hat affects people. For a university to say, we hold your language in high esteem鈥攖o say it鈥檚 something we want to support鈥攁lso affects us, but in a good way.鈥
Vestuto and fellow researcher and tribal secretary Salvador Tumamait-Ambriz were guests at a recent on-campus event at which the first phase of the dictionary was rolled out. Additional phases will follow in the future.
At the event, President Richard Yao emphasized the campus tradition of honoring the
place where the University now sits, and the people who lived here.
鈥満＝巧缜鳦I has the responsibility and desire to maintain strong relationships with the
BVBMI,鈥 Yao said. 鈥淎nd together we share a commitment to working in collaboration
to be stewards of the land and its natural and cultural heritage.鈥