Subsistence
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As is true for most gathering-hunting-fishing cultures, the southern coastal nations divided labor along sex lines. Men did most of the heavy but short-term labors, along with hunting and fishing, as well as assisting in some plant gathering &processing activities, as well as carrying out most trading ventures. Women did most of the collecting of plant foods along with preparing both plant and animal food resources. A brief synopsis of subsistence patterns among the various south coast nations follows.
Chumash
The Chumash relied on plants for food than on any other single item, with
three-quarters of their diet consisting of plants. They used many different
parts of the plants they gathered, including the flowers, leaves, seeds,
roots, berries, &bulbs, each of which was available at a different season
of the year. Fresh leaves and underground bulbs and roots were harvested
during the winter and early spring, a time when fresh clovers, mustard greens,
and other herbs were first sprouting new growth. As the weather turned warmer
&drier, many plants, including red maids and chia, began to produce
edible flowers and seeds. During the summer manzanita berries, from which
refreshing drinks were made, were available in abundance. With the coming
of fall many bushes and trees produced nuts and berries: acorns, pine nuts,
wild strawberries, laurel berries, madrone berries. Of these, acorns were
the most important and were found in vast numbers in the oak forests. At
the appropriate time, hundreds of women, men, &children would converge
at selected oak groves where they worked cooperatively to collect thousands
and thousands of pounds of acorns.
Although plants formed the bulk of Chumash diet, meat was also consumed with the men hunting a wide variety of both large and small animals: elk, antelope, and especially deer, along with rabbits and squirrels, turtles, frogs, various kinds of lizards and snakes and birds.
The ocean's resources were also exploited: fish and several types of sea mammals including seals, sea lions, otters, and dolphins along with several dozen different types of shellfish, especially abalone, mussels, and clams.
Gabrielino
Large land mammals were hunted with bow &arrow, while smaller game were taken with deadfalls, snares, and traps. Rabbits were taken in communal hunts with nets, bow &arrows, and throwing clubs. For hunting sea mammals harpoons, spearthrowers, and clubs were used. Most fishing was done from shore or along rivers, streams, and creeks, using line and hook, nets, basketry traps, spears, bow and arrow, and where deep, still pools were found, the use of vegetal poisons. Deep-sea fishing or trading expeditions between mainland and island were undertaken from boats made of wooden planks lashed and asphalted together.
Luiseño
The principal game animals were deer, rabbit, jackrabbit, woodrat, mice &ground squirrels, antelope, valley and mountain quail, doves, ducks, &other birds. Coastal marine foods included sea mammals, fish, crustaceans, and mollusks (especially abalone). Trout &other fish were caught in mountain streams.
Acorns were the single most important food source: six species were used. Villages were located near water resources necessary for the leaching of acorns. Grass seeds were the next most abundant plant food, along with seeds from manzanita, sunflower, sage, chia, holly-leaf cherry, prickly pear, and pine nuts. The leaves and stems from a wide variety of annual plants served as greens, either eaten raw or steamed. Bulbs and roots also were important in the Luiseño diet and, where available, cactus pods and fruits.
Tipai-Ipai
Tipai-Ipai people subsisted mainly on plant foods, supplemented with more
small than large game, and, in places, fish. Women &girls were the major
collectors and processors while men were responsible for hunting. Most meat
came from rodents, rabbits, along with lizards, snakes, insects, and larvae.
Individual bands followed a seasonal round, following the ripening of major
plants from canyon floors up to higher mountain slopes, then returning to
their winter campsites in the canyons. Occasionally, foothill bands would
travel to the coast where they would join with coastal groups to fish.
For additional information on the Southern
Coastal Region,
please select a topic most applicable to your interests:
Languages | Settlement Patterns | Sociopolitical Organization | Religion
Northwest
Coast | Northeast | Central
Coast and Central Valley
East of the Sierra Divide | Interior Desert | Southern Coastal
Native Peoples of California - Topics
To comment on this page please send email to Chuck Smith at crsmith@cabrillo.cc.ca.us.
Page last updated: 23 August 1999