Chumash Placenames

UC Merced The Journal of California Anthropology Title Chumash Placenames Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3s34f5ss Journal The Journal of California Anthropology, 1(2) Author Applegate, Richard B. Publication Date 1974-12-01 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Clinmasli Placenames RICHARD B. APPLEGATE HE Chumash lived along the Southern nal Chumash population; his report gives the T Cahfomia coast between Malibu and precise locations of 29 coastal villages (Brown some point north of San Luis Obispo. Their 1967). Finally, Chester King, an archaeologist territory included the Santa Barbara Channel who used the same sources as Brown, together islands, and it stretched inland to the south- with the Harrington manuscript, provided me westernmost edge of the San Joaquin Valley. with his unpublished map giving detailed Over forty placenames of Indian origin survive locations of known Chumash villages. to commemorate the long Chumash occupa Harrington's manuscript is the primary tion of these lands. There are many other source for linguistic data on placenames, just Spanish and English placenames which appear as it is the primary source for almost all to be loan translations of a Chumash original. information on the Chumash languages. The In this paper, I discuss the pattern of one fortunate exception is Barbareno, for Chumash placenaming. Places are named for which Madison S. Beeler has produced a prominent geographical features and their grammar and lexicon based on his work fancied resemblances, for flora, fauna, and between 1954 and 1964 with the last fluent local conditions, and for legendary and speaker of Barbareiio. I have revised Har mythological incidents. I give priority to rington's phonetic transcription (which he those placenames still surviving, of course, but changed more than once during his work with the names of many places long since forgotten Chumash) to bring it into agreement with appear here too. It is not, however, my the phonetic system used by Beeler for Bar purpose to make an exhaustive list of place- bareiio—the transcription used by most lin names, nor to locate them precisely. guists currently working with American In dian languages. SOURCES For Harrington, the preservation of the Four sources have been particularly valu Chumash languages was a labor of love which able for data on Chumash placenames. For bordered on obsession. He did most of his the hnguistic aspect of the data, of course, I work between 1912 and 1922, when there have relied almost entirely on the voluminous were stiU some fluent speakers of Chumash manuscript material recorded by John P. left. Although it had been well over a century Harrington (1912-1922). Working a genera since the arrival of the missionaries, a few of tion earlier than Harrington, H. W. Henshaw Harrington's informants were able to recall a in 1884 compiled a lengthy hst of villages great deal of what they had heard of the old (Heizer 1955:194-200). Alan K. Brown, using people and their ways. In particular, Maria mission records and the reports of early Solares of Santa Ynez and Fernando Librado explorers, together with modem archaeologi of Ventura furnished valuable linguistic and cal findings, presents evidence on the aborigi ethnographic information. Harrington lav- 188 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY ished much time and attention on meticu were evidently fairly close to the central lously recording every syllable his informants languages; the speech of kastiq, at Castaic uttered. Lake, for example, seems to have differed Harrington was particularly interested in only slightly from Venturefio. But of Obis placenames. In addition to simply asking pefio, Maria Solares of Santa Ynez said that it about placenames or reehciting older lists, was "much trouble," and Cruzefio likewise such as Henshaw's, Harrington took his infor was quite divergent. mants around to get firsthand information on Harrington's informants were quite aware placenames. Some of his manuscript material of the differences among the various Chumash includes sketched maps and detailed accounts languages. For example, Maria Solares could of these trips. A typical field note entry often identify a particular bird name or plant reads: "napamu ? is the sharp hill immediately name as Barbarefio or Purisimefio, and then west of the southern end of the Solvang river give the Inesefio equivalent. Her editorial bridge. On top of this hill was an 'ûsakmu^ comment on Coyote's speech in one mytho [shrine]." logical text was masaqU\i' hi sisaâlapkaswa'^, 'his language is half Barbarefio.' Speakers were THE LINGUISTIC SITUATION equally aware of dialectal differences within Although the Chumash occupied the the same language. Thus, Maria Solares ob Channel Islands of Southern Cahfornia and served that the speech of soxtonokmu'^ and the mgged interior, their densest population kalawasatj differed noticeably, although both was along the coast. Accordingly, the five villages were Inesefio. And Fernando Librado missions founded among the Chumash are all claimed that the name of Wheeler Gorge, on or near the coast: San Buenaventura, Santa sisxulkuy, means 'one is seated on it' in the Barbara, Santa Ynez, La Purisima, and San Ojai dialect of Venturefio. Different versions Luis Obispo. These five missions were linguis of modem Matilija were maiilha in the Ojai tic focal points: the idioms spoken in their dialect and maiilaha in the coast dialect of vicinity must be regarded as distinct lan Venturefio. guages. At an early date, natives of the islands and the interior were brought to the missions, PLACENAMES IN where they generally merged with the local DIFFERENT LANGUAGES populations. Thus, Fernando Librado said Harrington's informants often knew the that in the old days each village had had its names of places quite distant. They cited such own dialectal pecuharities, but that the local placenames in much the same form aU over dialect of Ventura was adopted by those who the Chumash area, but occasionally dialectal came to the mission. differences appear. Thus, for Mount Pifios far Linguistically, Chumash territory can be in the interior, the Ineseno said 'îwhinmu^ divided into a fairly cohesive central area while the Venturefio said Hwihinmu; for a including Venturefio, Barbareno, Ineseno, and village in the Tejon region, the Inesefio Purisimefio (the languages spoken around the version kasinasmu'^ differs slightly from the four southern missions), a northern area local Castaic Venturefio form kasiiiasmu. represented by Obispeno, and the island area Whenever possible, I cite names in then- represented by Cruzefio, from Santa Cruz indigenous forms: e.g., Venturefio in the Island. Despite obvious differences, there was Ventura region, etc. some degree of mutual intelligibihty among When the informants were able to ety the central languages. The interior languages mologize distant placenames, names not in CHUMASH PLACENAMES 189 their own native languages, they sometimes More dubious are those cases in which an tended to recast such names into a more informant etymologized a name on the basis famihar form. Thus, the people of the coastal of what it sounds as if it ought to mean. village at La Quemada Canyon spoke a dialect Typical is an entry about kosoqoqô, a place of Barbarefio; they called their village sis uci', downstream from Santa Ynez. "The name 'the den of the woodrat.' But in Santa Ynez, sounds as if it meant 'among the lazy ones,' Maria Solares gave the name an Ineseno form, informant says somewhat amused after con sis aci^, with Inesefio ha-ci'^ for Barbareno siderable meditation," going on to add that hu-ci'^, 'the woodrat.' the name must be Purisimefio. The hazards of More unusual, placenames may violate this practice are obvious. Of Cuaslui Creek, language boundaries. A few names in Inesefio east of Los Alamos, an Inesefio informant said territory are clearly Purisimefio in form, for that it would mean something like 'where the example. The Inesefio called a village near the qwa'^ (a duck species) grows' (cf., lu-nah, 'to Mission Santa Ynez ''alaxulapu; in etymo grow'). It turns out that the original name logizing the name, Maria Solares said that was '•'awaPla^, a village on San Antonio Creek. "âlaxulalpul would mean 'the low bend' in At one point Harrington quotes a native of Ineseno. There is no question that ''alaxulapu the place as saying that it means 'sliding is Purisimefio, since Purisimefio regularly place,' but elsewhere he says '-'awaslay is drops the sound '1' in syllable-final position: Purisimefio for 'net sack with a wooden hence the correspondence of 'âlaxulalpul and mouth-ring.' An intermediate version of the âlaxulapu. More rarely, completely different modern name, closer to the original "âwasla^, names were applied to the same place. The was Guaslay; it was later changed to Cuaslui. most notable case is that of Santa Cruz Island. More dubious still are the cases of two or The mainland peoples all called the islanders, three or even more different etymologies at least the natives of Santa Cruz, chimas (the suggested for the same placename. The name term c^mas was not a designation for the of laxsakupi, a Purisimefio village, was said to Chumash nation as a whole). So, Santa Cruz mean variously 'where they light a fire,' 'gust Island was called michunas, 'the place of the of wind,' and 'there is danger ahead.' This is islanders,' but the islanders themselves called especially common with placenames on the it linniw, 'in the sea.' islands and in Purisimefio territory, since Harrington had to rely largely on informants ETYMOLOGIES who were no longer active speakers of the Etymologically, placenames range from languages of these areas. the obvious and transparent to the completely Finally, there is a sizeable residue of obscure. When the meaning of a placename is completely unetymologizable placenames. clear to anyone with a knowledge of Chu The manuscript often shows the entry "no mash, I simply translate the name with no etymology," indicating that Harrington must comment.

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