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The prehistoric and historic Chumash were a maritime culture, using long wooden canoes called tomols to fish far
more valuable than the land house. Only the rich could afford such a treasure and the craftsmen who fashioned it
formed a select guild and would let no one watch its manufacture except the apprentices. Among the Chumash, the
men who made and used the tomol belong to the Brotherhood of the Tomol, one of the many Chumash craft guilds.
Members of the Brotherhood of the Tomol called each other by kinship terms. The main activities of the
Brotherhood were to build canoes and to fish.
more valuable than the land house. Only the rich could afford such a treasure and the craftsmen who fashioned it
formed a select guild and would let no one watch its manufacture except the apprentices. Among the Chumash, the
men who made and used the tomol belong to the Brotherhood of the Tomol, one of the many Chumash craft guilds.
Members of the Brotherhood of the Tomol called each other by kinship terms. The main activities of the
Brotherhood were to build canoes and to fish.
The plank canoe, or tomol, was eight to 30 feet long and was made using driftwood or redwood. The heavy
one-piece floor had three or four rows of planks added to build up the sides. Each row of planks was glued in place
with yop, a melted mixture of pine pitch and hardened asphalt. After this glue dried, each plank was fastened to the
one below by drilling holes on each side of the seam and tying the boards together with plant fiber string made
from Indian hemp. The holes and seams were filled with more hot yop. Sanding was done using sandstone and
finished with shark skin. Last, the canoe was painted and decorated.
one-piece floor had three or four rows of planks added to build up the sides. Each row of planks was glued in place
with yop, a melted mixture of pine pitch and hardened asphalt. After this glue dried, each plank was fastened to the
one below by drilling holes on each side of the seam and tying the boards together with plant fiber string made
from Indian hemp. The holes and seams were filled with more hot yop. Sanding was done using sandstone and
finished with shark skin. Last, the canoe was painted and decorated.
The last Chumash tomols used for fishing were made about 1850. In 1913, an elderly Chumash man, Fernando
Librado, made a tomol for an anthropologist, John P. Harrington, to show how they were built. He had seen the last
tomols being built when he was a young man. This boat is now on exhibit in the Indian Hall at the Santa Barbara
Museum of Natural History. In the past twenty years several Chumash tomols have been made using John
Harrington's notes to guide their construction.
Librado, made a tomol for an anthropologist, John P. Harrington, to show how they were built. He had seen the last
tomols being built when he was a young man. This boat is now on exhibit in the Indian Hall at the Santa Barbara
Museum of Natural History. In the past twenty years several Chumash tomols have been made using John
Harrington's notes to guide their construction.
The typical plank canoe held a crew of three people. Large canoes could carry as many as ten people. One
member of the crew would act as bailer because seawater often seeped into the tomol. Sometimes a young boy
served as bailer.
The Chumash launched their canoes from open beaches. Tomols were very light (two men could carry one) and
seaworthy.They had great respect for rogue breakers and were prepared to wait patiently for a quiet interval. Then
they would carry the tomol into the water until she was just afloat. While the captain held her bow into the waves,
passengers and cargo would be positioned aboard. Then the crew scrambled in, while a fourth man held the
canoe, then gave her a sharp push offshore as the paddlers worked to take her beyond the breaker line.
Each paddler sat on his heels on a pad of sea grass, paddling with an even rhythm, using his shoulders to do the
work. Soon the tomol would be ewe 'alhoyoy'o, moving swiftly through the water. A skilled crew could keep up a
steady pace all day, paddling to a canoe song repeated over and over again.
Chumash seamen rarely made passages at night, but when they did they navigated by the stars.
member of the crew would act as bailer because seawater often seeped into the tomol. Sometimes a young boy
served as bailer.
The Chumash launched their canoes from open beaches. Tomols were very light (two men could carry one) and
seaworthy.They had great respect for rogue breakers and were prepared to wait patiently for a quiet interval. Then
they would carry the tomol into the water until she was just afloat. While the captain held her bow into the waves,
passengers and cargo would be positioned aboard. Then the crew scrambled in, while a fourth man held the
canoe, then gave her a sharp push offshore as the paddlers worked to take her beyond the breaker line.
Each paddler sat on his heels on a pad of sea grass, paddling with an even rhythm, using his shoulders to do the
work. Soon the tomol would be ewe 'alhoyoy'o, moving swiftly through the water. A skilled crew could keep up a
steady pace all day, paddling to a canoe song repeated over and over again.
Chumash seamen rarely made passages at night, but when they did they navigated by the stars.
The canoe / Courage! / You have the power to succeed in reaching the other side, so that you may get where you
want to go . . .
CHUMASH INDIAN CANOE SONG
want to go . . .
CHUMASH INDIAN CANOE SONG
Sea captain Sebastian Vizcaino explored the southern California coast in A.D. 1602, sixty years after the first
Spanish ships had ventured northward from Baja California. He sailed through the sun-drenched waters of the
Santa Barbara Channel, which the Chumash called "The Ocean-Where-the-Islands-Are-in-Front." He wrote, "A
canoe came out to us with two Indian fishermen, who had a great quantity of fish, rowing so swiftly that they seemed
to fly . . . After they had gone five Indians came out in another canoe, so well constructed and built that since Noah's
Ark a finer and lighter vessel with timbers better made has not been seen. Four men rowed, with an old man in the
center singing . . . and the others responding to him."
Spanish ships had ventured northward from Baja California. He sailed through the sun-drenched waters of the
Santa Barbara Channel, which the Chumash called "The Ocean-Where-the-Islands-Are-in-Front." He wrote, "A
canoe came out to us with two Indian fishermen, who had a great quantity of fish, rowing so swiftly that they seemed
to fly . . . After they had gone five Indians came out in another canoe, so well constructed and built that since Noah's
Ark a finer and lighter vessel with timbers better made has not been seen. Four men rowed, with an old man in the
center singing . . . and the others responding to him."
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