70° and Clear
Image
Photo: TK
Unveiling Ceremony: Witness the grand reveal of the tomol mural and learn about the inspiration and creation process from the Chumash artist Matt Dominguez.
Chumash and tomol paddler community members are encouraged to attend!
June 8th, 1pm.
Chumash Indian Museum (@chumashindianmuseum) • Instagram photos and videos
Join a museum educator for a guided tour on the first Saturday of every month. Topics change monthly. We discuss and learn about topics such as Chumash village life, Chumash cave rock art and cosmology, hunting practices, traditional Chumash toys and games, and more.
Background of tomols
Each day, commercial and private boats take visitors across the Santa Barbara Channel to the shores of the Channel Islands. Can you imagine making that same journey in a canoe? It might take an entire day and would require tremendous physical strength to forge through the rough waters.
Hundreds of years ago, the native island Chumash traveled these ancient waters for hunting, fishing, and trading. They built canoes, called tomols, from redwood trees that drifted down the coast, fastening the cut planks together with animal sinews and sealed with a tar-like substance called yop. Yop is a combination of pine pitch and asphaltum which occurs naturally in the Channel and along the coast from oil seeping into the water from below the earth’s surface. The tomol remains the oldest example of an ocean-going watercraft in North America
Chumash Tomol Crossing - Channel Islands National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
Chumash Indian Museum
3290 Lang Ranch Parkway
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
United States
