CALIFORNIA'S NATIVE PEOPLE

THE SOUTHERN COASTAL REGION

Religion

Shamanism

Shamans were found among all the south coastal nations and many kinds of people were recognized as healers possessing special knowledge of the natural and supernatural world. Some could make or stop rain, prevent snakebite, locate lost objects, transform themselves into non-human animal forms. Others could foretell the future, cure the sick, or bring about death. However, the chief function of the shaman was the curing of disease through the use of herbal medicines, singing, and sucking out of the patient's body the disease-causing object. A shaman's power was derived from a guardian spirit that appeared to him during a trance or vision.

Some nations had several categories of shamans. For example, among the Chumash there were:

• 'alalxiyepsh = healers who used herbs. These were regular or curing doctors who were not considered sorcerers, and who was paid for effecting a cure.
• 'altip'atishwi = masters of herbs and keepers of poisons. They participated in major ceremonies and were said to be sorceres with many herbs, as well as chemists who were able to make substances that could be used to cure or kill.
• 'alchuklash = smoke doctors. They used tabacco as their principal curing herb; also served as astrologers who interpreted the skys at childbirth to foretell a baby's future, and gave the infant its name.
• 'alaxtut'uch = sucking doctors. They extracted disease or disease-causing objects from patients by sucking on the patient's skin.
• ant doctor = usually an old woman. Red ants (probably Pogonomyrmex californicus ) were administered internally as an emetic, externally by allowing the ants to bite the skin. Sometimes the ants were swallowed to induce an hallucinogenic trance

Like other southern California shamans, Gabrielino shamans possessed the ability both to cause as well as cure illness. Their power was obtained directly from the supernatural through dreams or visions, often caused by the ingestion of datura. When called upon to cure they used a number of techniques (herbal therapeutics, body manipulation, bloodletting, sucking, blowing smoke, hypnosis) and a wide variety of magical, power-invested paraphernalia. Among the more important items used was a board to which were attached rattlesnake rattles and worn around the shaman's neck, dried animal skins, curiously shaped rocks, plant roots, sparkling stones, rare minerals, and surgical implements such as obsidian blades. These objects not only were considered as having power in and of themselves but also were felt to be particularly efficacious in concentrating power in a particular area.

Luiseño shamans cured dis-eases by either sucking or rubbing or blowing on the body part which pained the patient. Sometimes a shaman wouldshake a feather wand or a wand of rattlesnake rattles over the patient . Some Luiseño shamans had the power to kill, through supernatural means, other humans. One method involved making a small image of the person and then performing incantations over the image. Or the shaman could acquire something belonging to the intended victim's body (hair, nail clippings, blood, etc.) and perform the incantations over these items.

Among the Tipai-Ipai, as among the Chumash, there were various categories of shamanic healers. Some who were more broadly trained might concentrate on herbalism and possessed formidable pharmacopic powers. It was not uncommon for shamans to specialize in certain types of diseases as well as refer patients to other specialists as appropriate.

?antap Religion

• Distribution - Chumash speaking nations
• Main Features - Purpose was to acquire &exercise supernatural powers necessary to maintain the balance of the universe. Through its rituals, the religion integrated the Chumash with their celestial, physical, &social environments. All Chumash elite (chiefs &their families, shamans, other high-status individuals) were required to join. Initiates taught an esoteric language, special dances and songs, oral history &mythology &poetry, &how to acquire supernatural power. ?antap members officiated at important ceremonies. Within the caldendric cycle, the Chumash believed that during certain months illness, disease, and death posed the greatest threats and and special rituals were undertaken by ?antap officials to influence the ascendant zodiacal being on behalf of the community.

  ?antap members were selected to practice different kinds of healing. Training was received from older shamans and instruction may have begun by ingesting hallucinogens (e.g., datura) or red ants as a means of gaining supernatural power. Associated with the quest for supernatural power was the memorizing of formulae and songs, learning to manipulate cult objects, &acquiring the necessary cult paraphernalia. Finally, initiates were tutored by experience shamans on the use of therapeutics and pharmaceutics.

• Comments - Was both a religious and political organization. In addition to ceremonies centering on the ?antap cult, throughout the year the Chumash held other ceremonies, including: harvest festivals; ones honoring the Earth and the Sun; and mourning ceremonies, held in honor of the dead.

Chengiichngech Religion

• Distribution - Gabrielino, Luiseño-Juaneño, Ipai-Tipai. Believed to have diffused from Pubunga (near Long Beach) in Gabrielino territory where a shamanlike hero named Chengiichngech taught a new body of beliefs that became syncretized with preexisting beliefs &practices.
• Main Features - (1) construction of a sacred enclosure, the entering of which placed one in the realm of the sacred and in contact with Chengiichngech. Inside the sacred enclosure was a figure representing Chengiichngech; (2) a number of commandments (laid out by Chengiichngech) which people were to follow. These covered numerous situations, including ritual observances, obedience to authority, economic reciprocity, family and social obligations, child rearing, and hygiene. These laws were enforced through the agency of Chengiichngech's "avengers." Respect for authority was expected &demanded and punishment for disrespect or disobedience could be severe &might include execution. People were expected to share the proceeds of economic activities. For example, hunters were prohibited from eating their own kill &fishers from consuming their own catch; instead they were to "gift" them to other members of their community.

  Chengiichngech's commandments also covered many family &social interactions. Incest was punished by death; respect among siblings was mandatory; and cleanliness &hygiene were demanded: people bathed once a day and homes were kept spotless.

• Comments - Several theories as to the origins of the Chengiichngech religion: (1) it was a relatively recent phenomenon resulting from contact with the Hispanic Catholic culture - Alfred Kroeber suggested that the spiritual being Chengiichngech was a "a reaction formation ... an imitation of the Christian God of the missionaries, whom they took over and furnished with a native name and added to their own beliefs." (2) the rise of the religion is attributable to the direct influence of Europeans who were perhaps stranded or shipwrecked along the California coast in the 16th century - thus, Chengiichngech may have been a traveler with a background in one of the European and/or Asian religions; (3) the religion arose as an indigenous reaction to the social stresses brought about in Gabrielino society by European diseases introduced by the Spaniards in the 16th century (a somewhat similar explanation has been suggested for the emergence of the ?antap religion among the Chumash).

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Page last updated: 23 August 1999