With the advent of the Spanish missionaries, who intended to convert the Native Americans to Christians, the Chumash people moved out of their villages and settled in the missionaries. Cabrillo died in the expedition but his diary containing a list of the population for the Chumash villages was preserved by his men. They were leading a secluded life for a long time and only came in contact with the western world not before 1542 as two vessels steered by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo reached the Mexican coast. However, most experts who extensively researched with the Chumash have rejected this claim. Certain researches have also opined that the Polynesians might have been exposed to the Chumash people from AD 400 to AD 800, approximately 1000 years ago prior to Christopher Columbus’ visit to America.
History andĪrchaeological evidences reveal the existence of the Chumash tribes to be 11,000 years ago. At present the modern generation mostly converse in English, though the elders have made an attempt to keep the ancient language alive. This was indeed a complex dialect having a host of long words.
The main language traditionally spoken by these people were Chumash or Chumashan.
