Chumash Ethnobotany

Jan Timbrook

 

This is a terrific resource for acquiring a sense of Chumashan interactions with the plant world. It contains about two hundred pages of listings of individual plants with their Chumashan names, Latin names, common English names, and Spanish names, and discussion of the plants’ roles in life, supported by citations. The book includes dozens of illustrations, a map of Chumashan and neighboring territories, and a description of the local environment, with emphasis on the flora. Attention is given to plant uses for food, medicine, and production of shelter, tools, utensils, clothing, and religious items. The individual plants are discussed not just in terms of their places in material culture, but also in thought, philosophy, and perspective, including in stories associated with them. This is not a foragers’ guide and the author discourages using it for that purpose. The main sources are the notes of John C. Harrington during his work together with Chumashan people. Julie Tumamait-Stenslie and others carefully reviewed the manuscript prior to publication. The book includes charts of the plants and plant parts discussed. Jan Timbrook, the author, was Curator of Ethnography at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History at the time of publication.