Chumash India Population
The Chumash are Indians that reside in southern California and were primary social agents after the European invasion and colonization. They made choices to the traditions that they maintained despite the significant changes that occurred in their lives. However, archeologist history has explained that the Chumash continued to hold big ceremonial feasts with vast quantities of food that they considered to be traditional to them. The foods were prepared in large oversized vessels and pots. The persistent and elaboration in the patterns of food behaviors among the Chumash served as a symbol of cultural identity to maintain and expand social networks that were in extension over the more expansive southern California. This paper, therefore, discusses the significant Chumash identity change after the European colonization and what effects it brought to the identity of the Chumash.
Feasting
The Chumash population had a history of feasting that was In persistent even after the European contact. Pieces of evidence suggest that the Chumash had the habit of staging lavish feasts for community members that participated in expeditions. The European colonizers objected to many of the Chumash behaviors, such as allowing women and children to be out in the dark. Still, they did not oppose the holding of the feasts that the Chumash considered very important in their tradition, and the Europeans used that as a way of gathering many people together. There was a shift of power after the Spanish colonization because there was a power shift, and the chiefs and religious leaders were baptized and moved to the mission centers. This, therefore, led to the drastic changes in the indigenous practices that the Chumash practiced. But the food culture was maintained and served as an identity of the Indians in southern California.
Gender
There were gender roles during the European invasion of the Chumash. However, the women were not responsible for the decision of the foods that were prepared during the feast, and therefore they did not gather or process the foods. When the feasts happened, the women were busy making food and making the cooking and serving vessels. The women were responsible for making the woven baskets that the Chumash used to serve food. The Chumash women continued to make the baskets up to the 20th century, and the manufacture of the woven baskets continued after the colonization by the Europeans.
Archeological example
There exist only two examples of the possible feasting events of the Chumash after the colonization by the Spanish. One of the examples is the prisoners in the Santa Cruz harbor, where the bones of the abalone stratum were present as a result of public feasting or a series of events that probably happened. The other example is from a small site in Santa Cruz island. There was the discovery of high-quality cut dolphins and sea lion meat together with shells and glass beads, suggesting a possible historical fasting period. Archeologists, however, believe that the food of the Chumash is mainly comprised of subsistence items, and the foods are rare, for example, swordfish.
Conclusion
Interestingly, the Chumash were able to maintain their religious feasts and other traditional practices despite the missionization of the community. The Chumash were also social agents of the Spanish, and they chose to use the Spanish technology when they considered that the technologies were helpful to them. The women, however, were not involved in the preparation of feasts. it is essential to note that the Chumash avoided European foods and maintained their traditional food