Chumash Cosmology Rocked By Air Force Launches

The Chumash call it Humqaq, The Raven Comes, and regard it as one of the most sacred sites

not only in Chumash territory, but in all of North America, the "western gate" of the continent. Though were the coastline, just north of Santa Barbara, lies in a distinct east/west direction it's known today as Point Conception. It is an area of strategic importance to both cultures. The American space industry ironically is using the same site used for thousands of years as a departure point into the Milky Way by the Chumash souls of the dead ­­ as a technological departure point into space. For the Chumash it is spiritually strategic as the spot where the souls of the dead depart for Shimilaqsha, Chumash realm of the dead. For the US, nearby Vandenberg Air Force Base is perhaps the most militarily strategic location on the Pacific coast, from where inter­continental ballistic missiles safely avoid land mass and are launched out into the ocean, and rockets into space.

The image above right is that of a raven's head, one of hundreds of figures painted on this panel. You can see the circle around his eye and his beak pointing to the right side. Standing under the panel looking south you can see Point Conception.

Though the Chumash culture persists in disparate corners of the south­central coast of California, the words of anthropologist Alfred Kroeber in 1925 still ring true: “There is no group in California that once held the importance of the Chumash concerning which we know so little.” Most scholars, however, have surmised the remarkable pictographs found in remote caves, hidden crevasses, and massive rock formations from the Channel Islands to the Santa Barbara and Ventura backcountry, may have been associated with the ritual use of the sacred plant Datura, which can induce spirit­helper “‘atishwinic” dreams and visions. . . “I've been intimately involved in both,” Randy Eady notes and quickly adds “at the same time!” Eady, an anthropologist and balance and movement disorder rehabilitation specialist, was the consulting subject matter expert for Vandenberg AFB’s Environmental Team from 1990­1994. He frequently conducted tours of the Nocto Village/Nocto Village Cliff, Window Cave and Swordfish Cave Sacred Sites. Scattered communities of Chumash who lived along the California coastal areas now live in close proximity to coastal military installations. Since the coast was heavily populated by small villages which obtained their subsistence from the ocean and river tributaries, the chances of accidentally uncovering a location on military coastal lands that would be held as sacred, at least insofar as burials are concern, remains reasonably high. “Since both the Indian tribes and the state agencies are relatively aggressive about dealing with cultural and religious matters, military base commanders generally have good working relationships with these people,” Eady points out. Vandenberg Air Force Base, specifically, has a number of locations sacred to the Chumash which were used as Sacred/Power locations, and progress is being made to deal with access more of these locations

According to Chumash lore, the world was reborn every winter solstice. As the sun sets on this day, the beam of sunlight climbs the wall and eventually comes to rest on the fertility symbol. The new world is thus conceived, and life will continue for another year. The Chumash were skillful observers of the night sky who developed myths to explain the conjunctions and relative motions of the celestial bodies. The study reveals the major drive of astronomer­priests was not scientific understanding of the sky, but prediction and justification of Earth events. Celestial objects were cast in the role of powerful, competitive sky beings. Their struggles in the heavens reflected conflicts and insecurities the priests themselves experienced. The behavior of the sky beings was believed to affect the outcome of human affairs, and, indeed, the balance of the entire universe. These deities were frequently indifferent to man; for example Mars was identified as an aloof and sometimes threatening being, invested with awesome supernatural power.

In addition, the Legacy program in California is substantially ahead of the national DoD trend, having a number of existing projects that are making a contribution to the resolution of the sacred sites question. Those installations projects are: Vandenberg AFB ­ Worship/Ritual Sites and Burial Sites; Legacy Project # 35, FY10; Legacy Project # 447, FY11

About the author: Randy Eady, an anthropologist and balance and movement disorder rehabilitation specialist, was the consulting subject matter expert for Vandenberg AFB’s Environmental Team from 1990­1994. He was also a Federal Special Observance Committee Chair for American Indian Heritage Month for the USAF. He frequently conducted tours of the Nocto Village/Nocto Village Cliff, Window Cave and Swordfish Cave Sacred Sites. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Integral Health from CIHS/AU.