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Chumash Healing
The Chumash saw the spirit, mind and body as inseparable entities that could not be treated
separately in disease. All healing involved the spirit, the mind and the body.
participate in the healing process. Prayer came in many forms and could be as simple as the patient and healer
praying together. Prayer sometimes involved smudging with white sage (Salvia apiana). The healer,( 'antap in
Chumash), or an elder from the village, put a small branch of dried white sage in a suitable container such as a
seashell, typically an abalone shell. The white sage was ignited with fire. The flames were blown out allowing the In
the Chumash village, all healing started with prayer. Prayer invited God (Xoy in Chumash, pronounced Hoy) to
prayers to God. The healer prayed for the health of the patient while moving the seashell to allow the smoke to
touch every part of the patient's body including the soles of the feet. The healer sometimes touched the patient's
back with an eagle or hawk wing to draw out harmful spirits (nunasus). The wing was then flicked down to send the
harmful spirits back into the underworld where they originated. Smudging with white sage is still practiced by
Chumash people today.
The beautiful Chumash pictographs were used primarily as healing images. Most were
painted in caves located by a stream. The ailing would come to the cave to be healed. They
would relax and gaze on the images, releasing stress, allowing the body to heal.
The Chumash also used pictographs to explain the human body. A
woman concerned about conceiving a child would be shown an image of
a uterus, to further her knowledge and understanding.
The Chumash used many local plants in healing. White Sage (Salvia apiana) was considered by the Chumash to
be integral to all healing, a crucial starter herb that enabled the other herbs to do their work.
Mugwort (Artemisia douglasiana) was a Chumash cure for hot flashes and all other
menopausal symptoms, menstrual difficulties and even the severe pain, heavy bleeding and
cramps associated with dysmenorrhea. It was also used as a sleep aid and to treat skin
cancer.
Yerba santa (Eriodictyon crassifolium or E. trichocalyx) was used as part of a
treatment for all breathing problems, even including the tuburculosis that beset
Chumash tribes in later years when they were living at the Spanish missions. It was
also used to treat small cuts and scrapes.
Brown kelp (Fucus vesiculosus) was used in the treatment of edema, which is the potentially life threatening
swelling of the body, particularly legs and feet as a result of the body’s inability to regulate its own fluids. Chumash
healers took the long brown kelp leaves in natural form, and loosely wrapped them around the afflicted area as
long as it was on the lower part of the leg.
Chumash Healers  also used breathing therapy and counseling to keep patients involved in daily life and to avoid
depression. Among  the Chumash, sweat lodges, natural hot springs and warm rocks were used for heat therapy.
Poison oak provided an effective and readily available treatment for skin disorders. The
Chumash used poison oak to treat warts, cankers, and skin cancer. Warts and cankers
were treated by breaking a stem and spreading the juice on the sore. The treated skin
turned black, and when it healed the wart or canker was gone. A similar treatment using
poison oak was used to staunch blood flowing from an open wound.
Poison oak was also used in conjunction with mugwort to treat skin cancer. First, a small patch of dried mugwort
was placed on the cancer, set afire, and allowed to burn down to the skin. Following this, poison oak would be
applied to any cancer that remained. The poison oak was applied during spring, when the stems were full of sap.
The skin turned black, and when it healed the cancer was gone.
Other medical problems were treated with milder herbal remedies. The petals of wild rose were boiled for two or
three minutes and the resulting wash used to soothe irritated eyes or the gums of teething babies. Wild tobacco
was mixed with lime from burned shells and used as a purgative for stomach pains and intestinal parasites.
The dark green foliage and white, trumpet-shaped flowers of Datura are a common sight
on the Central Coast, especially in places where the soil has been disturbed. Datura,
also known as jimsonweed or thornapple, contains several powerful alkaloids which can
be highly toxic. Hallucinations of flying, dancing, and bodily dissolution are common
symptoms of Datura ingestion. In Chumash oral literature, Datura was personified as an
old woman named Momoy. Chumash shamans used Datura to enter a hallucinogenic
trance, during which they would consult with spiritual beings and diagnose serious
illnesses.
Datura was also used as an anesthetic for setting broken bones and treating severe wounds.
Besides bark, roots, and flowers of various kinds of plants, minerals were sometimes ground up, mixed with
animal fat and painted on the sick person. Sea water was drunk as a purgative to clean the digestive system.
Certain kinds of treatment required swallowing live red ants.
Nettle was used as a treatment for rheumatism and paralysis. The shaman would make a bed of cut stalks then
the patient would lie down and actively roll around; or by taking a handful of nettle stalks, the doctor would whip the
body of the afflicted individual.
One of the most powerful plants was called chuchupate. It is a root in the Carrot
Family that grows high in the mountains. It was chewed to give a person strength and
to ward off colds, flu, and upper respiratory infections. The common Mexican name for
the plant, chuchupate, is said to be an ancient Aztec term meaning "bear medicine."
Bears respond to the herb like cats do to catnip. They will roll on it and cover
themselves with its scent. Males have been seen to dig up the roots and offer them to
females as part of courting.