Cultural Resources
The earliest residents of this region are the Northern Chumash Native Americans, also sometimes called the Obispeño. The Northern Chumash have been here for more than 10,000 years with the dunes continually serving as an important component of their ancestral homeland, cultural identity, and heritage. Historically, the Northern Chumash utilized their knowledge of their homeland, to manage and use the natural resources in this coastal habitat sustainably and strategically.
A sophisticated society, the Northern Chumash had a system of governance and spirituality. They engaged in regional trade involving unique coastal and interior resources, such as shell beads or fine-grained stone tool materials, which would occur among villages and other California Native groups. Craftsmanship is seen in their artifacts of long ago and today. Northern Chumash basketry is stunning and beautiful, containing intricate details created with mathematical precision.
Today, descendants of the Northern Chumash tribe yak tityu tityu yak tilhini continue to live amongst the same places as their ancestors, carrying on their language and traditions and contributing important traditional ecological knowledge into current cultural and natural resources protection and conservation.
For more information visit:
The website for the yak tityu tityu yak tilhini (ytt) Northern Chumash Tribe of San Luis Obispo County and Region: (www.yttnorthernchumash.org/).
The Northern Chumash Tribal Council website (https://northernchumash.org/).