Native American Consultation and Ethnographic Study, Ventura County, California

TEA-21 Rural Roadside Inventory: Native American Consultation And Ethnographic Study For Caltrans District 7, Ventura County March 2009 Prepared for California Department of Transportation under contract by Jones & Stokes/IFC International Prepared by Jana Fortier, Ph.D. Department of Anthropology University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA 92093-0532 1 Cover photo: Randy Guzman Folkes (Tataviam/Chumash) inspecting sagebrush along State Route 33 in Ventura County All photos courtesy of Jana Fortier All maps courtesy of Alice Brewster Linlor All indigenous knowledge herein remains the intellectual property of Native American culture bearers and communities who provided the information Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Front Matter ____________________________________________________________ i Individuals and Agencies Consulted ......................................................................................5 1.0 Introduction........................................................................................................................6 2.0 Background ........................................................................................................................9 2.1 Environmental Setting ................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Local Native American Cultural History..................................................................................... 11 3.0 Ethnic Groups in the Project Region .............................................................................13 3.1 The Chumash ............................................................................................................................... 13 3.2 The Tataviam (also known as Fernandeño Tataviam)................................................................. 14 3.3 Peoples of Inland Ventura: Kitanemuk, Vanyume, Cahuilla (Iviatim), and Kawaiisu (Tehachapi, Nuwa) ................................................................................................................................................ 15 3.4 Gabrielinos................................................................................................................................... 16 4.0 Cultural Features of Tataviam and Chumash of Ventura County .............................17 4.1 Economy and Trade ..................................................................................................................... 17 4.2 Complex Foraging Societies ........................................................................................................ 17 4.3 Religion & Spirituality ................................................................................................................ 21 4.4 Current Situation.......................................................................................................................... 23 5.0 Plants Used by Chumash and Tataviams ......................................................................23 5.1 The Cultural Significance of Plants ............................................................................................. 23 5.2 Culturally Significant Gathering Plants in the Project Area........................................................ 27 6.0 Culturally Significant Landscapes .................................................................................33 7.0 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................35 Appendix 1. Table of Plant Uses & Descriptions ................................................................37 Appendix 2 Gathering Places (GP) in D7 Project Area .....................................................53 Appendix 3 Management Recommendations for Gathering Plants .................................60 Appendix 4 Maps of Gathering Places .......................................................................... 69 References Cited ....................................................................................................................75 Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 3 AMSL Caltrans CFP Ch. CHL CIBA CL CSL CR D7 G. GP GPS m.m. NR ROW SR TCP ACRONYMS & ABBREVIATIONS Above Mean Sea Level California Department of Transportation California Floristic Province Chumash language California Historical Landmark California Indian Basketmakers Association Cultural Landscape Culturally Significant Landscape(s) California Register of Historical Places District 7 in the Caltrans system Gabrielino language Gathering Place(s) Global Positioning System mile marker National Register of Historical Places Right of way State Route Traditional Cultural Property As a final note concerning abbreviations used to designate highways, interstates are designated with “I” and the interstate number; state routes are designated “SR” with the SR-number. Language Conventions In this report the ethnic group names “Chumash” and “Tataviam” are used to refer to contemporary Native American ethnic groups in the Ventura County project region. Alternate names are given for more specific information about subgroups, such as the speakers of the dialect Samala Chumash (pronounced sa’hamaala shumaash). Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 4 Individuals and Agencies Consulted Many thanks to the following individuals and agencies who were consulted during the preparation of this report. Name Organizational Affiliation Tribal Affiliation Ron Andrade LA City/County Native American Indian Community - Charlie Cooke Chumash, Fernendeno, Yokuts, Kitanemuk Samuel Dunlap Gabrielino/Tongva Tribal Council Gabrielino/Tongva, Cahuilla, Luiseno Mati Waiya Wishtoyo Foundation Linda Gonzales United American Indian Involvement (UAII) Gabrielino/Tongva Randy Guzman Folkes Fernandeno Tataviam Band of Mission Indians Fernandeno Tataviam/Chumash Karen Keever Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Chumash Chester King Topanga Anthropological Consultants - David Laughing Horse Robinson CSU-Bakersfield Kawaiisu Tribe of Tejon Rudy Ortega (Jr.) Fernandeno Tataviam Tribal Council Inc Fernandeno Tataviam Vivian Parker California Indian Basketweavers Association Carol Pulido San Buenaventura Indian Council Chumash Beverly Salazar Folkes - Chumash, Fernandeno Tataviam Monique Sonoquie CIBA member Chumash Julie Tumamait Barbareno-Ventureno Band of Mission Indians Inland chumash Alfred Valenzuela John Valenzuela Britt Wilson San Fernando Band of Mission Indians San Fernando Band of Mission Indians Morongo Band of Mission Indians Chumash, Tataviam, Gabrelino, Kintenamuk, Vanyume, Serrano Chumash, Tataviam, Gabrelino, Kintenamuk, Vanyume, Serrano Serrano Cahuilla Persons interested in a PDF copy of this report are encouraged to contact Alex Kirkish at alex_kirkish@dot.ca.gov. Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 5 1.0 Introduction The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) was enacted in 1998 authorizing Federal programs for highways and transit programs. Among other requirements, TEA-21 has demanded that highway plans protect and enhance the environment and also promote efficient operation of the transportation system. In fulfilling the mandates of the program, another key component has involved the National Scenic Byways Program, which designates roads with outstanding scenic, historic, cultural, natural, recreational, and archaeological qualities as AllAmerican Roads (AAR) or National Scenic Byways (NSB) (USDOT 2008). This report is written in order to fulfill the overall requirements of the TEA-21 mandates and specifically to provide an ethnographic consulting report for the D-07 TEA Archaeological Roadside Inventory Project. This report is one of two ethnographic reports written for the D-07 region comprising Los Angeles County and Ventura County. This report specifically concerns ethnographic findings in the Ventura county portion of the D-07 region. Figure 1 Overview of Caltrans District 7 Survey Region The indigenous peoples of the region maintain a lasting connection to the land. This enduring connection partly is created through indigenous knowledge of culturally significant plants and animals. This report describes the results of ethnographic interviews with Native American elders and plant surveys along designated District 7, Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 6 Ventura County highways. The surveys were intended to elicit information concerning culturally significant plant gathering sites and other sites with contemporary cultural significance to Native Americans who are indigenous and knowledgeable about the resources in the Caltrans D7 Ventura County project area. The project area consists of highway corridors along 1) Pacific Coast Highway (SR-001); 2) Moorpark Freeway (SR-23); 3) Ojai Freeway (SR-33); 4) Somis-Lewis Road (SR-34); 5) State Route 101 (SR-101); 6) Ronald Reagan Freeway (SR-118); 7) Santa Paula Freeway (SR-126); 8) Ojai/Santa Paula Road/Cassitas Road (SR-150); and 9) Vineyard Avenue (SR-232). The total D7 project roads consist of approximately 400 miles of roadway (See Map 1) while the Ventura County portion consists of about 200 roadway miles. Along the corridors on both sides of the highways, the roads were surveyed for culturally significant plants and other Native American traditional cultural properties visible above ground, extending approximately fifty feet from the highway ROW. The survey team identified a total of 106 species of culturally significant plants growing along the D7 project roadways. The culturally significant plants have been recorded and mapped as “Gathering Places” (GP) with information describing the highway and gathering site. The gathering site labeled “GP-023-02,” for example, represents the second gathering site recorded along SR-023 (Moorpark Freeway). GP-023-02 represents a scattering of yuccas that contemporary Native plant gatherers use and which are growing along the eastern roadside ROW at m.m. 19.46. Most gathering sites are marked by Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates with descriptions of the locations in the appendix. The locations of the gathering sites are reported to Caltrans in this report along with recommendations for managing the areas in a manner supportive of traditional gathering activities. The objective of the survey has been to develop a cultural resources management strategy for the area in consultation with Native American elders. The specific goal of the survey has been to identify areas where plants used for basketmaking and other traditional activities are growing. Together, the overall survey objective has been to enable Caltrans crews working in the D7 project area to have the cultural and botanical information necessary to manage the areas in a manner that facilitates communication with Native American plant collectors. As a note concerning nomenclature, in this report, plants are described by their common English name with their scientific names given in the appendix (Table 2). Readers also should refer to Table 2 to consult the summary of plant uses by the Native American ethnic groups in the project area. Nineteen field research days surveying the project highways were conducted in 2007-08 (6/25, 6/26, 6/27, 10/20, 10/21, 10/22, 10/23, 10/24, 10/25, 11/1, 11/2, 11/23, 11/24, 12/30 in 2007; 01/12, 01/13, 02/29, 03/01, 03/02 in 2008). The roadway surveys averaged about 50 miles of highway surveyed per day. Since the Caltrans D7 region includes Ventura County, this estimate is based on approximately 300 miles of surveyed roadway in Ventura County plus 400 miles of surveyed roadway in Los Angeles County. However, the highways with most vegetation were surveyed more slowly while the freeways took relatively less survey time. The survey of Ventura County roadways was conducted with Native elder Randy Guzman Folkes and with consultation about the area’s roads by Charlie Cooke and Beverly Salazar Folkes. The son of Beverly Salazar Folkes, Randy Guzman Folkes is a Chumash, Tataviam, and Tongva tribal member. As a tribal monitor for the Fernandeno Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 7 Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, Mr. Guzman Folkes takes an active role in the cultural life of his Native people while Beverly Salazar Folkes participates in Chumash activities and is one of the leaders of the Chumash community. Each of these individuals regularly helps with organization of festivals, pow-wows, and awards ceremonies which contribute to the revitalization of Chumash and Tataviam cultural life. Richard Bugbee is another Native elder who conducted surveys with me along some of the Ventura County roadways. Mr. Bugbee is a Payoomkawichum (Luisiño) tribal member living along Topanga Canyon Boulevard (SR-27). He has a deep interest in the relationship between plants and people and has constructed southern California Indian houses for several museums and Native American reservations. He currently teaches at Sycuan Indian Reservation. In addition to conducting roadway surveys with Native consultants, phone interviews were conducted with other Native Americans stakeholders and with experts from the San Diego Natural History Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, and the Linguistics Department at UCLA. These individuals include Mark Acuna, John Aguirre, Cindy Alvitre, Ron Andrade, Charlie Cooke, Robert Dorame, Sam Dunlap, Mati Waiya, Karen Keever, Chester King, David Laughing Horse Robinson, Deron Marquez, Pamela Munro, Anthony Morales, Rudy Ortega Jr., Beverly Salazar Folkes, Craig Torres, Julie Tumamait, Alfred Valenzuela, John Valenzuela, and Brit Wilson. Concerning survey documentation, the survey team drove minimum safe speeds along the designated roadways watching for potential GP locations along the ROW that were likely candidates for Native plant harvesting. When such sites were encountered, we stopped and recorded the location. Most locations were GPS recorded using a Garmin eTrex handheld recorder. The surveyors then recorded the location visually, noting mile markers and other visible signposts. The surveyors next recorded the plant(s) photographically, including photos of the highway when convenient. In a Plant Collecting and Documentation Field Notebook a host of other information was recorded. The Field Site Data included an accession number, the date and time of collection, locality information, GPS record number, elevation, landmark information, and photo record number. The Plant Identification Data included the name of the Native collector and identifier of the plant species, the plant taxon, vernacular names, notable plant habits, the Native consultant’s immediate recollection of plant uses (other uses were discussed later), the plant’s immediate physical habitat, and associated plant communities or vegetation. Other cultural information was written in an Ethnographic Field Notebook. This information included general comments about memories associated with the culturally significant plants and the highway locations as we drove along the designated roadways. For example, consultants recalled ceremonies associated with plants, or animals that forage the plants, or myths that invole the plants, or events related to past collecting trips. During later data analysis, I assessed information relating to the gathering sites, the culturally significant plants, and their uses as reported in ethnographic and botanical literatures. See the references section for the written literature that was consulted. Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 8 2.0 Background 2.1 Environmental Setting The County of Ventura is part of the California Floristic Province (CFP), a zone of Mediterranean-type climate that has one of the highest levels of plant endemism in the world. A number of threatened endemic species have historically lived in the region, such as the kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spp.), Light-Footed clapper rails (Rallus Longirostris Levipes), California least terns (Sterna Antillarum Browni), Least Bell's vireos (Vireo belliipusillus), California red-legged frogs (Rana draytonii), San Joachin kit foxes (Vulpes Macrotis Mutica), and Bull trouts (Salvelinus Confluentus). The CFP represents the largest and most complex biocultural diversity hotspot in the United States, yet the region is threatened by the expansion of urban areas, pollution, and road construction. In the next century, one of the goals of agencies such as Caltrans will be to create sustainable development practices that mitigate impacts on the flora and fauna. Part of the environmental strategy would be to incorporate appropriate indigenous management knowledge of human interaction with plants and animals of the region. Since Native Americans have lived in the region for millenia, these cultural groups have had the time and ability to develop detailed knowledge about the micro-environments of the region. European colonists have only had a comparatively short period of time to Figure 2 Overview of D7 Ventura County Survey Region Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 9 acquire detailed knowledge of the ecology and culturally significant uses of local plant and animal communities. Further, European-descendant communities deposit knowledge with specialists, making floral and faunal knowledge more difficult to share and appreciate among the landowners and other resident stakeholders of the County. Within the designation as a Mediterranean-like climate, according to the Köppen Climate Classification system, the Ventura region represents a dry-summer subtropical zone with low latitude desert climate in the northeast areas of the county. The region has an average annual temperature of about 17°C., average coldest monthly temperature of 8°C., and about 15% of total precipitation falls during summer months, from April through September. Precipitation across the County varies according to biomass, altitude, and other factors. The higher elevation areas at Casitas Dam, Ojai Summit, and Matilija Dam average 7-8 inches per year while inland valleys such as Simi Valley average 4 inches per year (Ventura County PWA 2008). Within this macroenvironmental context, the Ventura area highways run through of a number of different micro-environmental vegetational communities. These are summerized according to the most common vegetation types along each roadway, although there may be more variation in specific areas. 1) Pacific Coast Highway (SR-001) consists of a Coastal Strand characterized by sea salt spray and saltwater marshes at about 25meters AMSL. Along the ROW east of SR 001, Caltrans crews will encounter communities of Sagebrush Scrub, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, and small pockets of riparian wetland. 2) SR-023 runs through the Santa Monica Mountains, beginning with the southern section known as Decker Canyon Road in Malibu. Its middle section, Moorpark Freeway (SR-023), stretches north from the SR-101 to the SR-118, with a section being recently named the Military Intelligence Memorial Freeway. It further continues through Ventura County toward the SR-126 and this portion is known as Grimes Canyon Road. The northern portion, running along Grimes Canyon Road, represents a corridor consisting of Valley Grasslands, Chaparral, Foothill and Southern Oak Woodlands. The entire roadway elevation varies from about 25meters AMSL (75feet AMSL) to 300meters AMSL (1000feet AMSL). 3) Ojai Freeway (SR-33) follows Matilija Canyon within the Los Padres National Forest past the easternmost extremity of the Santa Ynez Mountains, and passes over the Transverse Ranges at Pine Mountain Summit. This montane environment features a number of plant communities, including Chaparral, Yellow Pine Forest, Foothill Woodland, Chaparral, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland. The area is Ventura County’s most forested region, thanks to forest reserves established by President McKinley in 1898, measuring 1,144,594 acres, which later became the Los Padres National Forest. 4) Somis-Lewis Road (SR-34) represents a 17 mile stretch of highly built state highway that runs near Ventura Boulevard. With multilane traffic and concrete shoulders, Native collectors could do no harvesting on SR-034. The SR-034 plant communities include Chaparral, Coastal Sage Scrub, and sections of introduced landscaping plants such as pepper trees. 5) State Route 101 (SR-101) represents a highly built environment with multiple freeway lanes. Native collectors would not carry out harvesting activities along the SR101 unless at Park-n-Ride locations if a valuable plant species were needed. Broadly, Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 10 the plant communities along the SR101 include Valley Grasslands, Chaparral and Coastal Sage Scrub. Most plant communities are introduced, non-natives that have volunteered or were planted in ROW landscaping. 6) Ronald Reagan Freeway (SR-118) travels from Saticoy in Ventura County east to Lake View Terrace in Los Angeles County. The western portion up to SR-27 is narrower than the wider, multilane freeway toward the eastern portion of the route, but there are still few Native American collecting places on the SR-118. The plant communities include Chaparral and Coastal Sage Scrub with Foothill Woodlands dominating the middle portions of Route 118. There do not appear to be any contemporary gathering places in the eastern portion of the Route 118 given that plant communities are introduced, non-natives that have volunteered or were planted in ROW landscaping. 7) The Santa Paula Freeway (SR-126) consists of two-lane and four-lane highways. Two California Historical Landmarks are located along SR-126: CHL #553 Rancho Camulos, and CHL #756, a California sycamore tree. The entire roadway stretches from SR-101 toward I-5. Running near the Santa Clara River, the roadway continues into desert areas as a four-land highway east of Santa Paula. SR-126 features a number of plant communities, including Chaparral, Oak Woodland, Foothill Woodland, Chaparral, and Joshua Tree Woodland. 8) Ojai/Santa Paula/Cassitas Road (SR-150) runs mostly parallel to the Los Padres National Forest and benefits from a more protected and rural environment. This hilly environment features a number of plant communities, including Chaparral, Oak Woodland, Foothill Woodland, Chaparral, and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland. Some limited areas of grasslands and wetlands surrounding the Cassitas Dam and recreational area provide Valley Grasslands and a riparian environment along feeder streams. The elevations where Native gathering places were located varies from about 20meters AMSL (65feet AMSL) to 300meters AMSL (984feet AMSL). 9) Vineyard Avenue (SR-232) represents a short 4 mile stretch of highly built state highway that runs from Pacific Coast Highway to SR-118. With multilane traffic and concrete shoulders, Native collectors do no harvesting on SR-232. The plant communities include small sections of Chaparral, Coastal Sage Scrub, and introduced landscaping plants such as eucalyptus. 2.2 Local Native American Cultural History Archaeological evidence suggests that populations of Paleoindians began inhabiting the region as far back as 13,000 years ago (Erlandson 1994, Moratto 2004, Moss and Erlandson 1995), although subsequent redating studies indicate possibly more recent dates for mainland Paleoindian materials (Bada 1985, Jones 2008). The earliest cultural period in the region, known as the Archaic or Early Period, occurs during the early Holocene, circa 10,000 - 3,000 years ago. These maritime communities inhabited local islands and coastal sites where communities probably obtained more than half of their subsistence from fishing. The communities used technologies such as boats, animal bone hooks, baskets, beads, chert tools, worked shells, and cordage for nets and fishing lines, indicating that early Pacific Coastal peoples exploited a variety of marine niches Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 11 and resources (Rick et al. 2006). The Arlington Springs Man, from Santa Rosa Island, represents one of the earliest dated populations in North America, and dates to about 13,000 years ago. Following the Early Period, a regional cultural period known as the Middle Period spans approximately 3,000b.p. to 1100 AD. (Gamble 2008:7, Moratto 1984). Dividing the Early and Middle Period are cultural sub-periods and horizons. The “Milling Stone Horizon,” for example, represents a cultural period from about 7,500-4,500 years ago that is characterized by groundstone artifacts such as manos and metates. Other multipurpose tools and objects recovered from Middle Period sites include stone scrapers, stone projectile points, bone awls, shell beads, shell fishing implements, and yucca roasting ovens. Ritual and expressive cultural items from the Middle Period include stone effigies, pipes, whistles, and composite jewelry of Olivella beads glued to drilled bone ornaments (King 2000:84). Near coastal areas, shellfish gathering continued to supply protein, but hunting and fishing apparently were relatively unimportant. In drier upland areas, communities subsisted upon not only piñole, but nuts of pine and oak which all provided a staple source of plant protein. They also hunted deer, rabbit, rat, and other small vertibrates. The region where contemporary mainland Chumash resided was divided many cultural communities based upon smaller extended matriclans who exploited different econiches. Some communities exploited marine shellfish exclusively while inland communities hunted animals, fish, and birds. While trade between communities was practiced, small-scale barter on an individual, local basis may have been the norm in the Early and Middle Periods. Beginning about 1100AD, the southern California region of Ventura County is classified as the Late Period (King 1990) or the Protohistoric Period (Breschini 1983). During this cultural period, recognizably distinct regional cultural complexes emerge. New technologies and techniques emerge, such as an increase in bead manufacture and diversity of bead types; development of bow and arrow technology; development of ceramics; an increase in yucca roasting ovens, an increase in ornamentation; the appearance of the mortar and pestle, and an increase in inland plant food collecting and processing, especially of acorns (Meighan 1954, Moratto 2004). Settlements appear to increase in size and density. Following this pre-colonial period, the first interactions begin between European explorers and Native communities. In 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo arrived in the area. He sailed through the coastal areas of Ventura in 1542, stopping long enough to write diary descriptions of the villages and his impressions of the food and Chumash people who entertained and fed his exploration party (Beebe and Senkewicz 2001:31). In 1602, Vizcaino visited the coastal sites of present-day Ventura County. In 1769 began the active Spanish colonization of the Ventura County region. By 1782, Father Junípero Serra had founded Mission San Buenaventura. By the 1830s, Mission San Buenaventura was losing support from the Mexican government and soon there were only a few hundred Native Americans joining the mission. Most of those baptized at the Mission were from Ventureño Chumash villages while a minority were from Tataviam villages and other regional ethnic groups. Of the people baptized at the San Fernando Mission, for example, a third of them were from Chumash villages and another third of those baptized were from Tataviam speaking villages (Johnson 2006:11). However, the Missions were plagued with Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 12 problems. Although the Missions were trying to assimilate the local Native American population, the Native population was dying off. The population declined during the recorded Mission period (1781-1831) due to measles, influenza, tuberculosis, syphilis, dysentary, bad food, ill treatment, and generally slave-like conditions (McCawley 1996:197). The Missions effectively were unable to sustain the numbers of converts since they died at a high rate. By 1800, the Natives of the region became largely a serf population, working on behalf of the missions and ranch owners. The 19th century witnessed many episodes of ethnocide and genocide for indigenous peoples of the region. When California became a state, European settlers poured into the region. They killed many Indians and some bounty hunters even collected money for murdering Indians. At the same time, native populations were decreasing, the natural resource base of the local economy was altered by the ranching and mining industries. Chumash and Tataviams of the Ventura county area found food collecting increasingly difficult as cattle ate their plants and miners poisoned the rivers. By 1900, only isolated families managed to survive and maintain their traditions. Ethnographers such as C. Hart Merriam, A.L. Kroeber, Constance DuBois, and J.P. Harrington recorded some of the culture practices of the remaining survivors. Interviews and memoirs by these people form the primary ethnographic documentation for understanding Chumash and Tataviam cultural practices. 3.0 Ethnic Groups in the Project Region 3.1 The Chumash The name “Chumash” derives from a word meaning islander applied by mainland groups to the island-dwelling Chumash who specialized in making shell-bead money. Amongst themselves, the various ethnic groups have come to use a modifying adjectives such as Ventureño Chumash or Barbareño Chumash. There are eight dialect groups of Chumash and most refer to families that were associated with the various missions in Chumash territory. The Ventura County region consists of those families who are descendents of approximately 2,000 Indians who were sent to the Mission San Buenaventura to be converted and baptized during the eighteenth and early nineteenth Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 13 century (Johnson 1988). The descendents today are mostly those who refer to themselves as Ventureño Chumash. Other groups in the Ventura County area who will be discussed shortly include those known as Tataviam, Kitanemuk, the Fernandeño and Gabrielino sub-groups grouped under the ethnic name Gabrielino or Tongva. The mainland Chumash peoples’ southernmost territories included modern Ventura County and areas near Malibu and inland toward Simi Valley. Chumash villages tended to be larger than those of neighboring ethnic groups and the Ventureño Chumash communities spread toward Topanga in Los Angeles. Of the people baptized at the San Fernando Mission, for example, 24% of them were Chumash (Johnson 2006:13) even though the Mission was outside Chumash terheadersritory. Populations in Chumash home territory are estimated to have been between 5,000 and 20,000 in the Late Period of occupation (Kroeber 1976, Erlandson 2001, Cook 1976). Today, contemporary Chumash number about 5,000 people depending upon affiliation criteria. Chumash is either a distantly related Hokan language (Hinton 1996:83), or as recent studies suggest, the seven Chumashan dialects/languages represent a distinct language family that is unrelated to other regional languages (Applegate 2008, Ethnologue 2009). Chumash appears to favor a rare Verb-Subject-Object sentence pattern; less rare is its structure based upon highly compounded words in which many morphemes are “glued” together to create an utterance or sentence. Within Chumash communities themselves, about six inherently unintelligible languages or dialects are known; these vary about as much as Spanish varies from Portuguese. The Chumashan languages are known as Obispeño, Samala (Ineseño), Purisimeño, Barbareño, Ventureño, Inland Chumash, and Island Chumash, with most named after the Spanish missions to which speakers were resettled. The language spoken in Ventura county is known as “Ventureño Chumash” and it is a bit more distantly related to the other Chumash languages. Although the languages became extinct in everyday discourse, there have been language revitalization efforts in the last generation, with a dictionary published recently (Applegate 2008). Like other California coastal peoples, the coastal-dwelling Chumash relied heavily on marine resources, using canoes, fishing implements, and manufacturing beads and other items from shellfish. Chumash (and Tongvas) were the only Native American societies to develop distinctive deep-sea capable plank canoes, known as tomol (Harrington et al. 1978). Their sea mammal hunting equipment included harpoons and varieties of fishhooks, dip nets, gill nets, and other types of nets as well. Today, contemporary Chumash communities are represented by a number of political and cultural bodies, such as the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash and the Wishtoyo Foundation. 3.2 The Tataviam (also known as Fernandeño Tataviam) Tataviam peoples’ original territory has been estimated to lie within Ventura, Los Angeles, and Kern counties. The name Tataviam means "people facing the sun." Their territory is thought to include the upper reaches of the Santa Clara River drainage east of Piru Creek and extend north to the southwestern fringes of the Antelope Valley (King and Blackburn 1978:535). At the time of Missionary conquest, Tataviam villages were Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 14 numerous in the region. Names of Tataviam villages in the Piru area near SR-126, include Kouung, Hufant, Etsent, Akauaui, Kashtu, Pi'idhuku and Kamulus (> Camulos Ranch). Villages named Sabau, Auuapya, and Kashluk are located around the old predam Castaic Lake. Near Castaic along SR-5 were the villages known as Kashtuk (> “Castaic”) and Tsawayung. The Tataviam possibly numbered about 1000 people on the eve of European contact. Many were sent to the San Fernando Mission. Of the people with a known ethnicity who were baptized at the San Fernando Mission, 27% of them were Tataviam (Johnson 2006:12). At the eve of Missionary colonial contact, circa 1770, evidence suggests that Tataviam economic strategies were similar to those of the Gabrielino. Tataviams collected yucca, acorns, sage seeds, cherry, juniper berries, and other plant foods found and managed in their territory. Men and women hunted rabbit, rats, deer, birds, and antelope (King and Blackburn 1978: 536). While the Tataviam are a dialect group of the adjacent Tongva communities (Kroeber 1976), their neighbors included the other Takic speaking groups of Kitanemuk, Vanyume, and Serrano and the Ventereño Chumash communities. Contemporary Tataviams are represented by several political organizations, including the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. 3.3 Peoples of Inland Ventura: Kitanemuk, Vanyume, Cahuilla (Iviatim), and Kawaiisu (Tehachapi, Nuwa) The desert and mountain-dwelling peoples originally extended into the eastern areas of Ventura County. The Kitanemuk and Vanyume occupied part of the westernmost end of the Mojave Desert and the headwaters of the Santa Clarita river. Kitanemuks also occupied the upper Tejon and Paso Creeks, the streams on the rear side of the Tehachapi Mountains, the northern slope of the Liebre and Sawmill Range, and northern Antelope Valley. The population at the time of European contact for each of these groups is estimated to have been 500–1000 people (Blackburn and Bean 1978:564, Kroeber 1976:611-615). A small number of Kawaiisu settlements probably existed in the area as well. Kitanemuk families were organized into patrilineal bands who probably had bilocal residence patterns. In early contact periods, they had some social differentiation with persons named as chief/extended family leaders, ceremonial experts, messengers, and shamans (Blackburn and Bean 1978:567). Also inhabiting the southern Antelope Valley near modern-day Palmdale, and northwest to the Tehachapi, was another desert Serrano group known as the Vanyume. They were identified from an early Spanish account by Garcès in 1776 (Bean and Smith 1978b, Earle 2002.) Kroeber identifies Vanyumes as a section of the Serrano who occupied a territory stretching from northeastern LA SR-County around present-day Hesperia, or just north of the junction of I-LA-005 and LASR-014, and into the headwaters of the Mohave River. According to the writings of Garcès, populations of Vanyumes in the 18th century were less than 1,000 souls who subsisted on acorns, mesquite, tule roots, grape, rabbit, otter, and other small game. Some of the archaeologically recovered materials associated with late Holocene sites in this region include significant numbers of Olivella shell beads, projectile points, abalone shell, groundsstone implements, hemp and yucca woven sandals, steatite ornaments, and carved animal bone tools (Earle 2002). Like other groups of the region, Vanyumes and Kitanemuk communities buried Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 15 their deceased family members in early and middle Holocene eras and converted to cremation in the late Holocene. Mitochondrial DNA studies of an estimated 1,000 year old buried individual uncovered during development excavations in 2004 reveals a direct genetic tie to one of the local residents, Donna Yocum. Ms. Yocum is a secretary for the San Fernando Band of Mission Indians (O’Rourke 2005). Some of the Vanyume descendent communities today live in Newhall and Hesperia. Some of the Serrano communities living in the region were missionized. For example, Johnson (2006) finds that 142 Vanyumé, 17 Kitanemuk, 9 Cahuilla, and 7 Kawaiisu people were recorded as being baptized at the Mission San Fernando, for a total of about 5% of mission converts. Today, the Kitanemuk and Vanyume are represented by the San Fernando Band of Mission Indians. Outside of Ventura County, the Kitanemuk and Yowlumne Tejon Indians, and the Tejon Indian Tribe also represent the descendent families living in Kern County. The Cahuilla are represented by several political and social groups outside of Ventura County, including the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and the Cabazon Reservation in Riverside County. The Kawaiisu are represented by the Tejon Indian Tribe and the Kawaiisu Tribe of Tejon. 3.4 Gabrielinos The Tongva, “people belonging to the earth,” represent Native American communities living along the southern borders of Ventura County with the majority living in the Los Angeles county region. Tongvas interacted, intermarried, and traded with Chumash and Tataviams of the Ventura County region. Historically, they are known as the Gabrielino following the Spanish colonial custom of naming native acolytes and bonded laborers who worked at the former Mission San Gabriel Arcangel until it was secularized in 1834. Many of the people prefer the ethnic name Tongva rather than the name identifying them by reference to colonial rule, but both names are used by the ethnic population. The Gabrielino language is part of the Shoshonean languages within the Uto-Aztecan language family and are part of the language sub-group known as the Takic languages. It is most closely related to and may be considered a dialect with Tataviam. As part of the Takic group of languages, Gabrielino also is part of a language family with Serrano, Luiseño, Cupeño, Tataviam, and Cahuilla. In the ethnographic record, which dates from about 1800 AD, the ethnic population of Gabrielinos at the time was estimated at about 5,000 people (Bean and Smith 1978, Geiger 1976). Gabrielinos occupied coastal areas and had villages scattered along rivers flowing from the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains. Although their villages were destroyed by 1850, the original territory stretched about 4,000 - 5,000 mi2 and encompassed the Los Angeles and Santa Ana riversheds. Most of the territory is situated at below 1,000ft elevation. Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 16 4.0 Cultural Features of Tataviam and Chumash of Ventura County 4.1 Economy and Trade Being part of a biocultural diversity “hotspot,” the immense ecological variation enabled native peoples of the area to take advantage of numerous micro-environments. Tataviams collected food in the hills, hunting antelope, mule deer, elk and other smallsize prey such as rabbit and bush rat. They gathered protein nuts from oaks, pines, and gathered about 100 other edibles with other nutrients on a seasonal basis (Bean and Smith 1978, McCawley 1996, Boscana 1933). Inland Ventureño Chumash also did seasonal hunting and combined this with coastal fishing. For inter-community trade, mainland Chumash and Tataviams acted as middlemen, and carried out trade between mainland communities and island communities. Coastal groups of Chumash traded bitumen, chert, shale, shell, abalone, and dried seafood to the inland groups. Inland groups reciprocated with dried plant foods in the form of ground seed or piñole from tarweed, chia sage (Salvia columbariae), acorns, Madia flowers, and ground cherry stones (also known as islay). Inland groups also provided coastal and island groups with leather, fox skins, dried meat, hemp cloth, and specialty woods not available on the coast and nearby islands. As a middleman between the island communities and other ethnic groups, mainland groups living in Ventura County were able to obtain unique goods from their island relatives and trade partners. One of the notable goods included soapstone (steatite). Soapstone could be obtained uncarved, or carved into delicately fashioned bowls. Soapstone vessels were used for cooking pots, pigment trays, and as smudge pots. Other items obtained from the island groups included shell beads, dried fish, seal and otter skins, whale bone implements, red ochre, kaolin, and iron sulphite. Both currency and barter were in vogue during the pre-historic and ethnographic period. A string of clam shell disk beads measuring about 30 inches long, known as a ponko, represented the primary form of a general purpose money. The value of one ponko would have changed over time but one estimate finds that a ponko was worth 12.5 cents during mission times (Kroeber 1976:566). In addition, the currency used a base two system. Four ponko equaled one sayako; two sayako equaled, in mission times, the equivalent of a Mexican peso. Generally, the mainland Chumash and Tataviam were situated between peoples with significantly different natural resources. This situation allowed them to advantageously pursue mercantile trade by profiting from the transportation of valuables such as asphalt and shell beads inland while transporting other valuable goods back toward the island communities and northern groups. 4.2 Complex Foraging Societies The question of social complexity and stratification during the Late Period remains a vexing one. Evaluation for this overview will focus on the degree of social stratification in these societies society on the eve of physical colonialization, circa 1700 AD. Previous to this time period, social stratification would have varied according to time Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 17 periods and spheres of social interaction (political, social, religious, economic spheres). Generally, foraging-based societies move toward increasing social stratification under certain conditions and are known as “complex foraging societies” when they satisfy a number of conditions. The features of complex foraging societies include 1) High population densities; 2) Sedentitism; 3) Occupational specializations; 4) Defense of territory; 5) Focal exploitation of a natural resource (fish, commonly); 6) Large group residences; 7) Ranked, inherited status; 8) Ritual, often competitive, feasting; 9) Standardized valuables (money currencies); 10) Prestige goods; 11) Food storage; 12) High rates of violence, warfare (Kelly 1995). Complex foraging societies have also been called other names such as “non-egalitarian” foraging societies, “transforaging hunter-gatherers” and “delayed-return” foraging societies. A “map” of social space outlines the social positions of some southern California groups on the eve of colonization. Note also that as state-organized societies colonized California, they encapsulated these non-state societies. Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 18 +Energy Intensive Strategies sedentary foragers intensive agriculturalists Ventureño Chumash horticulturalists Collectors Tongva & Tataviam Cultivators Kumeyaay nomadic foragers nomadic pastoralism - Energy Intensive Strategies Figure 3 Social Space of Subsistence Strategies For example, Haida, Tsimsian, Kwakiutl and other Northwest coastal societies have an indigenous social organization marked by access to abundant resources during relatively short opportunities of food collection. In these cases, material technologies developed Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 19 that enabled long-term food storage. Social stratification has also occurred among these fishing-based societies with incipient population pressure, as among island-based foraging societies. The conditions for complex foraging appear to have been met among the Chumash societies during the Late Period, if not previously. For example, there were dense populations based on the fishing-based economy among Chumash communities living along coastal areas. Further, archaeological evidence indicates that the Chumash societies had an emerging ranked social stratification in which higher social status was ascribed at birth to a minority of elite families, creating social elites and commoners. There is no evidence, however, for more than two levels of social stratification, such as elite/commoner/slave social classes. Further, due to relatively sedentary and stable towns, Chumash were unable to fission during conflicts and instead had to find other ways to resolve conflicts, such as creating social stratification, erecting defensible village sites, and making peace contracts with other villages. Among the Tataviam and other indigenous inland populations of Ventura County, the features of complex foraging societies were emerging, but not as clearly established as among Ventereño Chumash. There were named social positions, including tomyaar (village leader); maniisharom (female leaders); pa’mo tomyaar (patriclan elder); ‘ahuuhvarot (shaman, doctor, healer); nahoo'enar (law givers); and paxaa' or taaxkwa' (two names for ceremonial leaders). Children, boys or girls, did inherit their social status from their parents and primogeniture of leadership status was reportedly inherited as well (Harrington 1942:33). There were several notable differences between Chumash chiefs and Tataviam leaders, however. First, Tataviam leaders established leadership over their own village, not over a group of villages as did Chumash chiefs. This is partly because there was little population pressure among the Tataviam communities. When social conflict occurred, the fissioning of patriclans occurred in which families migrated away from the area for a few years, if not a generation. Second, while Chumash chiefs did accumulate wealth and were known as “rich,” Tataviam village leaders did not and such wealth accumulation was not socially approved. There is evidence that Tataviam leaders had an obligation to give away valuables and food to their relatives and in-laws. At most, from the proceeds of trade goods and valuables that Tataviam leaders obtained, they may have had greater access to more trade partners, making them part of an incipient ranked social formation in Tataviam society. Third, Chumash chiefs had administrative assistants while Tataviam leaders had authority over only ceremonial leaders (Tv. paxaa’). Chumash chiefs had authority over ceremonial clan leaders (Ch. paha) as well as official messengers (Harrington 1942:34). Fourth, the concept of ownership over resources (seeds, acorns, specific food-bearing trees, eagles and their nests) and inheritance of resources are part of Chumash economic relations while they is not part of Tataviam social relations, at least based on linguistic and ethnographic evidence. The evidence appears stronger for an incipient ranked Tataviam society and a two-tier ranked society among the Ventureño Chumash. Tataviam communities especially are best described as having had a social system that was organized as a political heterarchy. In heterarchical systems, power is distributed along a continuum of actors. Political decisions cannot be enforced by elders, leaders, religious edicts, or codified legal systems. For example, the nahoo'enar (law givers) can make a proclamation that someone should be punished for breaking Tataviam law, but the individual’s family may choose to move away from the social conflict rather than deliver their loved one Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 20 for punishment. Instead of such legal force, people learn to be good orators, using the power of persuasion in order to influence each other. The other means of social control exerted in both Chumash and Tataviam societies was through fear of sorcery and witchcraft. If people acted immorally, shamans (shaxlapus) could perform black magic by shooting poisonous objects into victims as they passed by unaware of the assailant hiding in the brush. The only way to remove the deadly objects was to have good shamans suck the evil from the victim, or to cut the victim a little and release the “venom” through blood-letting (Harrington 1942). Sorcerers also sometimes secretly fed a bit of the poisonous moyoq (Zigadenus spp.) leaves to victims. Obviously, fear of such evil sorcery represented a major means of social control in small-scale societies such as the Ventureño Chumash and Tataviam. Finally, looking at evidence from post-colonial ethnographic sources, further stratification evolved circa 1770-1850 as different social spheres of stratification emerged. Both Chumash and Tataviam households were drawn into spheres of exchange with colonial immigrants, the non-native people of the region. Gender stratification, economic stratification, political stratification, religious stratification, and social stratification all emerged, though at different rates. This was the beginning of a period of ethnocide, however, and doesn’t reflect Chumash and Tataviam pre-colonial sociality. On the eve of the ethnographic period, communities increasingly adopted forms of religious and political stratification, as evidenced by a range of named political offices. There appear to be no inherited economic specialties but there was one named occupation - “carpenter” (Tv. ‘ahiihirom) or “canoe maker” (Ch. ‘altomolich) which may indicate that wood carving, perhaps canoe building, was an occupational specialty in precolonial times. While there are no other named occupational specialties among Tataviam speakers, there are/were other specialized works with names in Chumash languages; “chumash” means “shell bead makers” of Santa Cruz Island, for example. In the ethnographic record (Harrington 1942, Gifford 1922), the Tataviam and Chukmash appear to have organized families into a series of patriclans with “animalpersons” as totemic ancestors. Some clan groups include the Wildcat (Tv. tukuu-t), Coyote (Tv. ‘iitar), Mountain Lion (Tv. tukuchu), Buzzard (Tv. widukut), and Crow (Tv. kachawa) with possibly a moiety clan relationship between Wildcat and Coyote members. To summarize, the materials and language of Chumash and Tataviam Late cultural period societies are indicative of a complex foraging society and an incipient complex foraging society respectively. While Tataviams were egalitarian in earlier cultural periods, an incipient complex foraging society developed during the end of the Late cultural period and early colonial period. 4.3 Religion & Spirituality The following is a brief review of the supernatural beings that characterize the belief systems of the Chumash and Tataviam of the Ventura County region. For extended discussions of the belief systems of Takic speaking peoples, see Kroeber 1976, Harrington 1981, Reid 1968, Hudson 1979. For discussion of the religious belief systems of Chumash groups, see Blackburn 1975, Hudson 1977, Hudson and Underhay 1978, Schiffman 1988, Lee 1981. Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 21 Recorded by ethnographers studying the Takic speaking groups, the names of various deities and mythological beings include Chukit, Kwawar, Kweyaxxomar, Maniisar, Toroovem, Woyoot (Wiwyoot), Yooyavoyn and others. Non-human supernatural forces figure in important origin myths and stories concerning world order. These major supernaturals include Sun (Tv. Taamet, Ch. Kakunup’mawa), Moon (Tv. Mwaar, Ch. ‘alahtin), Morning Star (Tv. Paahavet, Ch. ‘alnahyît ‘i’aqiwî), earth (T. ‘ooxor, Ch. hutash), and various malevolent spirits (Tv. Shiisho’, Ch. “ghosts”, ‘alahwich/ ’ahashish, “spirits” Nunashish). Among Chumash, the Sun was a cannibalistic figure, eating people and causing them to die. This notably anxious perspective concerning a major deity is typical of societies that use sorcery for social control and/or common among societies in which there is a seasonal restriction in resource availability, such as late winter/early spring lack of foods to gather. Of the human supernaturals, the Tataviam and Takic myths describe Chukit (Kroeber 1976:623) as a leader and sister of four unnamed brothers. She is described as connected with, or inseminated by, a supernatural force of lightning and gave birth to a boy who was able to speak at birth. Maniisar and is a female leader described in stories and myths. Maniisar is related to the shamanic and initiation drug, jimson weed. Other female supernaturals include the Pleiades stars who are represented by a set of seven sisters who are married to a set of seven brothers. When the brothers acted without honor by taking their wives’ hunted meat, the women rose to the sky, becoming a constellation of beautiful bright stars. The youngest husband was allowed to follow, having not made the food transgression. Among the Chumash, human supernaturals include Momoy, a woman who is also related to jimson weed, along with her brother, Woy. Of the male supernaturals, Kwawar is a deity associated with creation. He created a set of giants and earthquakes rumble when he walks. Woyoot is believed to have died and transformed into the body of an eagle. Chengiichngech (Chingichngish) is reportedly a “wise man” who developed a following among Takic speaking groups in particular (Tataviam, Tongva, Luiseño, Cupeño, Acjachemem (Juaneños) (Boscana 1933). Regarding animal-form supernaturals, animals such as raven, coyote, and rattlesnake appear often as mythical beings in Takic speaker’s myths. Chumash major deities include a coyote deity, Shnilemun, an eagle deity, Slo’w, and swordfish are an important supernatural figures of the coastal-dwelling Chumash. Raven is believed to call out to approaching strangers if they are to be trusted, and often gives advise to newcomers. Local peoples also carve(d) animal figure effigies from stone. Effigies of pelicans and whales are two of the more common effigies recovered from prehistoric sites. The purpose and meaning of the small, palm-size effigies is unknown, but effigies in other foraging societies may provide some analogies. In other foraging-based societies, effigies represent totemic clan figures; or the soul or the supernatural incarnation of the animal; or a figure used as hunting magic. In classic Asian shamanic religious contexts, bird effigies represent the soul-flight of shamans. Shamans adopt the birds’ ability to fly, a form of sympathetic magic that enables the practitioner also to fly to the supernatural realm and interact with supernatural beings. By extention, effigies of whales might enable religious practitioners to journey to the depths of the ocean or to supernatural underworlds on behalf of his/her Native patients. On a more practical note, among the Makah of the northwest coastal region, effigies were used as sinkers for Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 22 fishing lines (Densmore 1939). In mythological stories, animal-like humans, such as the Chumashan “Coyote-Man (Xuxaw),” perform numerous supernatural actions and contribute to mythical events (Blackburn 1975). 4.4 Current Situation By the 1990s, a resurgence in Chumash and Tataviam cultural identity was underway. The current population of Tongva and Tataviam together is estimated to range to 1500 while the population of Chumash ranges upwards of 3,000, depending on membership and identity criteria. The estimates of ethnicity and population are generated by the communities themselves since these groups were/are not a federally recognized tribe of the United States. Currently, the Chumash are recognized by the State of California, but not by the Federal government, and they thus are represented by a number of different social and political groups (Douglass et al 2005:13). Tataviams have no recognition by the State of California, but they are in the process of forming tribal citizenship within the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. Sacred sites related to Chumash and Tataviam ethnic identity continue to be of contemporary religious and spiritual importance. Of profound importance to the peoples are culturally significant places and materials that signify their cultural identity. Some of these include their pre-historic village sites, burial sites, culturally significant plants and their gathering areas, archaeological sites related to Tongva culture, and the cultural materials that are stored and curated in museums. The culturally significant plants used by Chumash and Tataviams are the focus of the remainder of this report. 5.0 Plants Used by Chumash and Tataviams “...basket weavers among the Luiseño, Cupeño, Chumash, Tongva (Gabrielino), and Kumeyaay (Diegueño) knew that at the bottom of the stems of streamside rushes (Juncus textilis), completely hidden under the leaf thatch shed by the overhanging sycamores and willows, was a deep brick red band of color, prized for basketry designs.” K. Anderson 2005:42 5.1 The Cultural Significance of Plants Many Native Americans of Ventura County continue to do part-time collection of culturally significant plants for food, materials, and medicines. As post-foragers, they no longer acquire their food and materials directly from their physical surroundings. Nevertheless, materials such as willow for ceremonial structures and redbud for basket foundations play a critical role in preserving cultural identity. Chumash and Tongva Uses described in this report are based on field identifications and information from Randy Guzman Folkes with the kind assistance of Beverly Salazar Folkes. Details about plants encountered during surveys is also supplimented by published reports (Anderson 2005, Timbrook 2007, Bean and Saubel 1972, Hudson and Blackburn 1982). Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 23 The Native families of Ventura County are and were surrounded by a wide range of foods in most seasons of the year except perhaps late winter/early spring. A number of roots formed the basis of a good portion of the calories that families needed during the lean months. Of the culturally significant plants growing along the project area roadways, today some Tataviam and Chumash families dig the roots of agaves, bracken ferns, cattails, chicory (in contemporary times), giant reeds, Humboldt lilies, milkweeds, phacelias, wild onions, yarrow, and the well-known yuccas. Milkweed, for example, has ten distinct uses, but its tasty shoots and roots are one of the popular reasons for gathering it. In the past, collecters utilized the cattail reed by making bread from the roots (Priestley 1972: 22 cited in King 2000:22). In addition to meat proteins, Tataviam and Chumash could choose from a variety of vegetable proteins. The beautiful spreading live oak trees gracing the sides of highways represented a valued food source for many mainland Native Americans. In addition to making acorn stews, the nuts were easy to store and trade with other ethnic groups living outside oak regions. The highly aromatic Calironia laurel’s leaves are perfect for curing headaches, but the nuts may also be roasted and ground into a piñole treat. While adults value the California black walnut for its material in creating a game of dice, children nevertheless crush the nuts to scoop out the delicious nut meats. Perhaps one of the most versatile plants, pines provided Tataviam and Chumash fully nineteen distinct culturally significant uses. Their nuts are delicious, but the soft moist, inner bark is also edible when dried and ground up into powder. Tataviam and Chumash liked to consume fruits raw, boiled, or dried; others were soaked and made into drinks and teas. The California fushcia’s delicate blossoms are sucked for their necter; cacti, yuccas, and chollas yield fruits that can be eaten raw but also baked in earth ovens or dried for winter months. Although they’re a laxative, snowberries were sometimes eaten or drunk as a tea to relieve colds and stomach aches. To further aid digestion, Tataviam and Chumash soaked thistle “fruit” (the green part under the flower) and chewed the nutty mixture like a cooked green. Other leafy greens provided more essential vitamins and minerals at the same time as being healthy tonics. Yerba Santa, for example, is called the “sacred herb” because not only was it easy to chew like gum, but stimulates the digestive system and helps rheumatism, colds, and stomachaches. Children nibbled on buckwheat flowers while adults collected strips of California buckeye’s inner bark to boil and grind into flour. California fushcia seeds were beaten into baskets and the seeds ground into piñole balls. For refreshing drinks, women could grind juniper berries, toyon, manzanita, and sumac berries. If families are traversing desert areas, they could stop and gather the ground-up seeds of four wing saltbush. These are mixed with water and sugar from Joshua tree flowers to make a delicious and nutritious piñole drink. For religious or health reasons, people sometimes have needed to induce vomiting. In this case, Tataviam and Chumash drink a concoction made from Indian tobacco. But in many cases, plants substances such as pine resin or sage leaves were drunk as teas for healing as much as for food. Sunflower seed shells, for example, have been ground into a hot drink while the flowers were boiled into teas when children had coughs and congestion. When we think of the basics of life, food, clothing, and shelter may come to mind. None of the plants, even tobacco, were planted, but some grew nearby, developing a commensal relationship with Native plant collectors’ villages. Nevertheless, for the Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 24 Natives of Ventura County, there were many plants and animals from which to choose. Materials for clothing included skirts made of tule, cattail, grasses, or redshank, with decorative trim of eagle feathers or beads of olivella and other seashells. Materials for shelters were obtained from tule and cattail, ash, laurel, sycamore, chamise, elderberry, and cottonwood. For food collecting, seed beaters are/were important tools. Today, Native collectors use plants such as red willow to fashion their seed beaters. Medicinal plants were also of great importance to Native plant collectors. A fairly extensive amount has been written about the famous ceremonial use of datura, or jimson weed, in boys’ initiation ceremonies. For a review among Chumash communities, see Timbrook 2007:65-73. Native consultant Richard Bugbee (Luiseño) recalled how he brought his children out to the San Bernardino desert area and performed a personal version of the traditional initiation ceremony. But an extensive number of medicinals, even most of the useable plants that we identified along the highways being surveyed, have at least one medicinal property. As we drove along one of the roadways, Native consultant Randy Guzman Folkes recalled, “I remember my grandma, she would dry a lot of these plants... the yerba santa and sage that we’re seeing just now. She would set the plant out on top of her dryer, outside. This was in the 1960s and 70s. And that’s how she dried a lot of her natural plants.” The most useful plants have had several purposes as food, medicine, and as religious items. For example, paints and dyes have been used for tatoos and body decorations, as decoration and depictions of myths on rocks, as materials during ceremonials, and as colors for baskets. Paint materials that Native plant gatherers and myself came across during survey work included purple from white nightshade, white from kaolin rock, red from red ochre, and black from the roots of dogbane. When people wanted to make dyes, they could make red dye from juniper boughs, dark purple from elderberry, red dye from Joshua tree roots, mountain mahogany roots, or oak bark. If someone finds that they’re not allergic to poison oak, they can pound it to obtain fresh juice that makes a black dye. If allergies are a problem, the black husks/hulls of sunflower seeds or walnuts also made a servicable black dye. Of course a yellow dye is eye-catching and can be made from rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus spp.) or sunflowers. All of these plants were identified during the D7 roadway surveys. Many of these plants are still used when dyes and paints are needed for ceremonial events and powwows. Since Native collectors today no longer gather food for subsistence, they reserve more time for gathering materials for powwows, ceremonial gatherings, and healing ceremonies. Native consultant Linda Gonzales, for example, brought a collection of items she had made in the past few years. The first item she showed me was a ceremonial rattle. The rattle was made with seashells and held together with pine pitch and dogbane cordage. Finally, it was decorated with wooden beads. Next, she showed me a smudge stick. The white sage was rolled into a bundle of sage that was collected in San Bernadino. It will be used as a smudge for purification at a ceremony. Gonzales explained that white sage is considered sacred, partly because it has so many uses. It is used for dandruff control, foot odor, sore throat, bronchial problems, and just a tea or tonic for illness. Sage is important in circles of Native American gifting. When giving sage to friends, Gonzales explained, “You light it at the end, take off the yarn, blow it out and the smoke is used for purification.” In the course of our survey work, Gonzales showed other items that she had made, including a red willow seed beater, yucca Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 25 cordage, a redshank skirt, an abalone container made with asphaltum, and hand-ground mesquite flour. Figure 4 Red willow seed beater (left) and yucca cordage (right). Note that the yucca photo contains 2 ply cordage, a yucca thread with spine fashioned into a needle, and a ball of uncarded yucca wool. Materials: L. Gonzales. When families found leisure time, they could tell stories, eat treats, or play games. The walnut dice game, for example, was based on walnut shells. To make the dice, a person would crack walnut shells in half and fill them with bitumen (asphaltum). They could then decorate the dice with abalone shells. Partners would play against each other and when so many abalone pieces landed up, or so many landed down, the player would get points for that. Also, if they all landed in one direction, the player would get no points, and if they landed with three up and three down, a player would get more points. Figure 5 Dice made from California Black Walnut with bitumen (left); Redshank skirt (right). Materials: L. Gonzales. The goal of the interviews with Native collectors has been to identify traditional gathering areas (resource collecting areas that have been used by Native Americans) that may be located within the State’s ROW. Toward this end, the research effort has identified particular plants in the natural landscape that have a notable cultural significance and a contemporary use value as food, medicine, textiles, etc. Following Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 26 the work of other cultural resource specialists (Stoffle et al. 1990, Turner 1988), plants demonstrating notable cultural significance were identified as those that Native consultants described with most detailed knowledge of their uses and meanings in Native cultural life. Plants with commercially significant value, such as those used in textiles and basketry, were also highlighted as important for collection. Since few contemporary people collect for non-commercial purposes, plants of traditional significance as food, medicine, and for recreational technologies were cited less often, even though they may have important value historically. In addition, the environment during the ethnographic period, from about 1800 to the present time, has changed drastically. Most original habitation sites are now part of an urban landscape and many indigenous plants no longer survive in these areas. Some plants used for basketry, such as deergrass (Muhlenbergia rugens) and juncus (Juncus textilis), now are rare in urban landscapes. They are found in valley grasslands, seeps, meadows, salt-marsh, dunes, and coastal wetland habitats that have been drastically reduced over the last two centuries in the D7 project area. Nevertheless, a large number of plant species useful for Native food, arts, and crafts were encountered. Table 1 in the appendix identifies the categories of culturally significant plants that were encountered according to their uses as foods, materials, medicines, commercial goods, and those of ritual significance. The Plant Use Categories in the appendix are classified according to both indigenous concepts that have been studied for Shoshonean speaking peoples (Fowler 1967) and those of other western Native American societies Each Native American consultant had a different set of knowledge about the plants identified along the surveyed highways in the D7 region. Their recollections about how these plants were used conforms to information in other ethnobotanical publications about plant uses among southern Californian Native Americans. Consultants in this study occasionally remarked upon uses that have not been recorded previously. The ‘Use Category’ designates culturally significant uses of each plant species according to what each Native consultant described with secondary sources consulted (Bean and Saubel 1972, Bean and Smith 1978, Eisentraut 1990, Hudson and Blackburn 19781987, Timbrook 2007). 5.2 Culturally Significant Gathering Plants in the Project Area During survey of Caltrans D7 State Routes, Native consultants observed about one hundred species of culturally significant plants growing along the right-of-ways. These gathering plants are described in the Appendix. Consultants Randy Guzman Folkes and Beverly Salazar Folkes provided their recollections of the plants used by the Chumash and Tataviams in the Ventura project region. Their recollections are based on their extended family’s plant collecting, and discussions with other Native elders. This does not represent the entire body of plant knowledge; more useful plants may be found in sources such as Timbrook 2007. Yet this report represents the perspective of knowledgeable elders as they encountered potential gathering sites along the Ventura County highways. Plant uses reflect how plants are used today in modern situations as well as traditional usages that have been recorded and/or remembered by Native plant gatherers. Note that there are plants used in pre-modern times that were not recorded and/or not encountered Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 27 during the survey. Thus certain plants, such as Prunus ilicifolia, holly-leaf Cherry, have been important subsistence foods but were not encountered during the survey. In the appendix, the locations of gathering plants (GP) are written in a notation in which the highway number is given and a sequential locational number, as in “GP-001-01.” Thus GP-001-01 refers to the first culturally significant plant on Pacific Coast Highway. Each plant location is identified with a GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) number, a name, and any other descriptive information concerning plant height, flowers, fruiting, surroundings, slope, aspect, or vegetation type. A summary and plant management recommendations of all plants encountered in the D7 project area is also in the Appendix. The following is a brief overview of plants encountered along the portions of Ventura County roads with collectable plants. Plants along SR-001 Pacific Coast Highway Pacific Coast Highway is a historically significant roadway for many reasons. Not only is it part of the west coast network of scenic highways and is famous for its roadway near beautiful coastlines. Pacific Coast Highway is also known for running along the same route as many of the historic and prehistoric Indian settlements of the Chumash.There were numerous culturally significant plants located by Native consultants in this area since its relatively easy to park and gather native plants. Species for Caltrans crews to look out for include giant rye cane, yuccas, cacti, sumac, tobacco, oaks, giant reeds, asters, agave, willows, sagebrush, manzanita, jimson weed, and cattails. Figure 6 Pacific Coast Highway: Giant Wild Rye (left); Coreopsis (right) Plants along I-5 Golden State Freeway Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 28 Linda described how Native families could put their Tule boat in the waterway system near the I-5 and Mulholland, along the L.A. river. Then a family could paddle down the waterways to Yangna in downtown L.A., near the present-day L.A. Civic Center and the junction of the SR-101 and SR-110. From here, Tule boats could navigate across to the San Gabriel river system, and then travel down south, taking the rivers to the ocean. In effect, these “river highways” provided Tongva and other local Native communities with a rather quick means of getting to another community or to another place for fishing or food gathering. There were no culturally significant gathering plants located on this route. Plants along SR-23 Moorpark Freeway and Grimes Canyon Road Also known as Moorpark Freeway, this is primarily a truck route with multiple lanes and narrow shoulders. The places adjacent to SR-023 include a golf course, a mining corporation, and several commercial orchards and ranches. With few opportunities to park and too much exhaust and dust settling upon roadside plants, Native American plant collectors would avoid collecting along SR-23. Nevertheless, there are a number of culturally useful plants that Caltrans crews may want to consider during roadside management operations. These include giant reed, tree tobacco, cactus, palms, and eucalyptus which are introduced since colonial times but Native American plant collectors have developed uses for these introduced species. The indigenous useful species include sage, yucca, datura, oak, pine, and walnut trees. Other landscaping and commercial species along SR-23 include iceplant, pepper trees, orange groves, and avocado groves. Heading north along SR-23 near Grimes Canyon Road, for example, at approximately m.m.15.00, grow bunches of datura, but the narrow shoulder and high traffic would prevent safe collection or coming-of-age rituals being carried out in such a location. Gathering places were only recorded long the route stretching through the Santa Monica Mountains. On the SR-023 we encountered jimson weed, sage, yuccas, oaks, Indian tobacco, and California walnuts, prickly pear cactus, sycamores, arroyo willows, ribbonwood, dudleyas, milkweed, sagebrush, sages, and cattails. Few GPS points or gathering places recorded for the SR-23 between the SR-118 and SR-101. Several improbable gathering places are recorded for the SR-23 between SR-118 and SR-126. Figure 7 Grimes Canyon Road: Jimson weed Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 29 Plants along SR-33 Ojai Freeway The most protected areas of Ventura County are found along SR-33. For this reason, Native collectors choose to drive slowly along this route, looking for culturally significant plants. Plants that we encountered during a late fall survey trip included large growths of elderberry shrubs and seep willow where seeps and water discharged provided moisture; large stands of California walnuts, sycamores, and oaks in woodlands ROW rows; Coulter pines with splashes of penstemon and and lemonade sumacs growing in swaths along riparian corridors as we ascended Wheeler Gorge; Ponderosa pines and scrub oak forest species fading into chaparrel forest with stands of Yuccas and yerba santas; Port Orford cedars, junifpers, and sages growing amidst tufts of rabbitbrush and sagebrush in the driest portions of the roadway. Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 30 Figure 8 Randy Guzman Folkes inspects yucca seeds and dispersion (left); Caltrans crews are also knowledgeable about useful plants. One crew member (not pictured here) descrbed his folk art of handcarving manzanita wood ballpoint pen blanks from materials that had been bladed and trimmed. Manzanita wood pens sell on the internet for twenty-five dollars or more. Plants along SR-118 Ronald Reagan Freeway Along SR-118, also known as the Ronald Reagan Freeway, represents a highly built environment with few contemporary Native American plant gathering sites. The freeway includes structures such as multiple lane roadways, bridges over canals, and speeds exceeding those necessary for safe plant gathering. Before the highway was built, one can see a vista in which there would have been excellent gathering areas, such as wide valleys and gentle slopes along areas such as the Butter Creek, Majico Creek, and Grimes Canyon. There continue to be recognizable and culturally useful plant species in the right-of-ways, such as elderberry trees, bay laurels, dudleya, white sage, and bamboos, but Native American plant gatherers would not stop since the roadway is busy, the plants are polluted from road dust, and stands of plants are sparse compared to rural roadways. For example, along Vinyard Avenue intersecting/near SR-118, there are open dampish fields with elderberries growing along the southern roadside. However, the bridge is the only place to stop and it would be dangerous (and illegal to park). As one drives west, the fertile lands adjacent to the highway gradually become dominated by vinyards, horse pasture, and fruit orchards. Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 31 Figure 9 Bay Laurel leaves dried for cooking and teas. Materials courtesy L. Gonzales. Plants along SR-126 Santa Paula Freeway The middle portions of SR-126 have some collectable plants, while the more urban stretches of roadway have few collectable plants while western portions become desert environs. Along Sespe Creek, we noticed citrus farms, gravel on the ROWs, eucalyptus trees, some oak trees and tall bamboos. As a red-tailed hawk followed us, we came across collectable plants such as elderberry, sunflower, giant reed/carrizo, yuccas, white sage, sagebrush, datura, milkweed, stinging nettles, yarrow, tobacco, cactus, milkweed, ash, and oak. Near the nexus of SR-232, SR-118, and Sr-126, the vegetation becomes open damp fields. When harvesting Yucca for cordage, Native consultant Randy Folkes Guzman stressed that it was important to cut the stalks very low, allow the plant to reproduce, and to thank the plants by giving back with water, or to sing a song to it, or tell a short story to the yucca that was just harvested. Figure 10 Mohave Yucca with fruit ready for harvesting in October (left); Chaparrel yuccas in March (right) Plants along SR-150 Ojai/Santa Paula/Cassitas Road Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 32 With its hilly environment that undulates between almost sea level and a thousand feet in altitude, there were mostly woodlands with some grasslands and riparian corridors along the roadway. There is also a collectable site of red ochre at m.m. 14.46. Plants surveyed along SR-150 include giant reed (carrizo giant reeds, cattail, bay laurel, elderberry, tobacco, oak, white sage, agave, yuccas, milkweed, willow, oak galls, buckwheat, incense cedar, California walnut, mistletoe, and sycamores. Figure 11 Native consultant R. Bugbee inspects a stand of seep willow (left);Red Ochre for staining a wooden board (right; note that the ochre and board pictured is from my research photos with another ethnic group outside Ventura County). Finally, note that non/few culturally significant plants were found on State Routes 101, 232, and SR34. 6.0 Culturally Significant Landscapes The Native Americans of the region have had a a profound influence on the history of California. For this reason, the cultural landscapes traditional to Native Americans in the D7 project area may qualify for National Register (NR) or California Register (CR) eligibility. In addition to cultural resources known to archaeologists, Native consultants interviewed for this report opined that there are several types of above-ground cultural resources that may be eligible for nomination as NR/CR cultural landscapes or landmarks. Some of the resources that we discussed include traditional plant collecting sites, petroglyphs assumed to be created by Native Americans, landscape features considered religious in nature, mining sites, village sites, funeral sites, and landscape features such as boulders, water springs, or caves that are associated with sacred myths and stories. Since the Native communities inhabited the entire D7 region prior to colonization, there may be dozens of such eligible places. This report restricts comments to those cultural landscapes which are either located within the ROW of the project area highways, or within sight of the surveyed highways. Some sites are described but their exact locations remain anonymous. For exact locations when discussing NR/CR eligibility nomination procedures, readers are encouraged to contact the tribal representatives in the contact list. Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 33 Our understanding of historical significance changes over time. Today, there is a greater appreciation and understanding of native cultural history than in earlier years. Understanding of the importance of native cultural landscapes is evolving as historic preservationists grapple with how to recognize and characterize these types of traditionally important places and resources important to Native societies that were semi-nomadic and orally literate societies rather than writing-based societies. In the case of societies that were founded upon food collection and semi-annual mobility, places of cultural significance are often not built environments in the manner common to sedentary societies. The Native communities have had a portable culture, and carry most of their culture “in the mind” rather than building structures meant to stand for years. As orally literate societies, Native descendents demonstrate the importance of these places by talking about culturally significant landscapes and the plant and animal resources residing upon environmental landscapes. Stories, sayings, naming systems, metaphors and other rhetorical devices capture the meaning of important permanent places; they also capture the meaning of important impermanent resources such as plants and animals. These are then communicated through a community and passed down through the generations by culture-bearers, people who are adept at remembering and communicating important information. The culture-bearers may be shamans, knowledgable elders, messengers/runners, or ceremonial leaders. In types of societies that valorize equality and sharing of resources, culture-bearers may simply be people recognized as having the skills to remember esoteric cultural information. Especially for the native communities of the project area, there are significant cultural landscapes about which are known and communicated and these are sometimes referred to as traditional cultural properties (TCPs). A traditional cultural property (TCP) can be defined generally as one that is eligible for inclusion in the National Register because of its association with cultural practices or beliefs of a living community that are (a) rooted in that community's history, and (b) important in maintaining the continuing cultural identity of the community. As Parker and King note, “Traditional cultural properties are often hard to recognize. A traditional ceremonial location may look like merely a mountaintop, a lake, or a stretch of river; a culturally important neighborhood may look like any other aggregation of houses, and an area where culturally important economic or artistic activities have been carried out may look like any other building, field of grass, or piece of forest in the area. As a result, such places may not necessarily come to light through the conduct of archeological, historical, or architectural surveys. The existence and significance of such locations often can be ascertained only through interviews with knowledgeable users of the area, or through other forms of ethnographic research.” (Parker and King 2008). In our surveys, we found many sites of plant gathering sites of significance which are current used for plant gathering. These should be considered TCPs in the broad sense of the term. These are significant because they were likely to have been used by Native foragers in the past, and especially those gathering places that located near historically known Ventura County areal villages broadly should be considered as TCPs. Besides gathering areas, there were few other material CSLs encountered in the ROWs or viewable from the roadways in the D7 project area. While the Native consultants and I drove along the D7 roadways, we occasionally talked about where old village sites and burial grounds were located even though these were not within the ROW areas. Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 34 7.0 Conclusions In summary, this report finds that there has been a growing trend among contemporary Native Americans of the region to revitalize their traditions. Part of the revitalization movement includes learning and teaching traditional plant gathering knowledge. Revitalization of plant gathering knowledge is especially important among Native American cultures that have been based on foraging. The communities located in the project area represent non-agricultural societies that relied upon hunting, gathering, and managing plants. Their environment has historically been rich in plant diversity throughout all seasons of the year. While related cultural groups living further inland along the Colorado River did resort to floodwater-based horticulture, and coastal groups did resort to intense marine fishing and trading, the Ventura county communities in the Late pre-colonial period pursued subsistence strategies that probably managed plants through burning and copice cutting, but were less labor intensive than those managing irrigation canals. Today, there remain many Native families that continue to do part-time foraging of the plants identified in this report. These families are proud to carry on these traditions. All of the consultants stressed the continuing importance of gathering plants for a wide range of purposes. During our field research, we were able to sample fruit from yucca, used yerba santa to ease headaches, and made cordage from dogbane. Native collectors do continue to collect fairly large amounts of sage, California black walnut, and many other plants for crafts and ceremonial structures. The Native American revitalization movement involves finding a balance between the wider commercial economy and traditional economic pursuits. As Native Americans have searched for a way to integrate their beliefs and values with earning money for family subsistence, many are now turning to traditional knowledge of plant gathering for inspiration. Some of these products include baskets, water bottles, games, shell ornaments, feather headdresses, whistles and flutes, weapons and hunting equipment, and beads. The materials used in the manufacture of these products necessarily must be grown and collected with high standards of quality. Plants used for traditional items must be free of herbicides and pollutants. They must regenerate in sufficient time so as not to be over harvested. Ideally, gathering plants need to be managed according to Native American timetables for burning, pruning, and collecting (See Appendix). Caltrans can help Native Americans who gather plants, whether for commercial or personal uses, since ultimately they have many of the same management goals. Caltrans can ensure Native American access to traditional gathering areas, where feasible and appropriate, whether these areas are located along state highways or other Caltransowned lands. Such policy is in line with California Public Resources Code section 5097.9 which reads in part, “No public agency, and no private party using or occupying public property, or operating on public property, under a public license, permit, grant, lease, or contract made on or after July 1, 1977, shall in any manner whatsoever interfere with the free expression or exercise of Native American religion as provided in the United States Constitution and the California Constitution.” It is notable that smallscale societies such as the Chumash and Tataviam have their social, economic, and religious systems combined into one integrated social system, meaning that the collection of plants is part of a religious activity in many cases and not simply an Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 35 economic practice. For further clarification, Caltrans staff can refer to its 'Guide to Protecting and Using Native Plants' in such cases. In summary, it is in the best interest of both Caltrans and Native plant gathering groups to maintain the roads, ensure public safety, and manage natural resources. Also in the best interest of both groups is the development of a strong working relationship through occasional strategy meetings to discuss future road maintenance schedules and to coordinate plant gathering schedules. Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 36 Appendix 1. Table of Plant Uses & Descriptions Table 1 Plant Use Categories Use # Use Description Foods (“Growing Things that are Eaten ”): 1 Roots, rhizomes, bulbs, tubers, corms eaten 2 Stems, leaves, sprouts, shoots, blossoms eaten 3 Fruit, nuts, seeds eaten 4 Cambium, inner bark eaten 5 Mushroom, fungus eaten 6 Famine food 7 Beverage 8 Sweetner, flavoring, chewing substance, nibbling 9 Aids food preparation, cooking pits, food covering, wrapping 10 Smoking 11 Toxic if consumed/harmful in some way 12 Animal forage for prey species, important animals Materials - “Things that are Used from Forest, Grasses, Willows, Gums, or Water: 13 Wood for implements, containers, construction 14 Wood for fuel 15 Cordage, weaving, clothing 16 Bark, twigs, leaves for constructions, containers 17 Tanning, curing 18 Pigments, stains, tattoos, hair dye, decoration, cosmetic 19 Scent, incense, deodorant, cleansing agents 20 Cement, binding, waterproofing, filling substances 21 Bedding, stuffing, bandaging, toweling, diapers 22 Miscellaneous grasses, bushes, and trees that are used for materials 23 Collected for market purposes 24 Collected for use in festivals, pow-wows Medicines - “Things that are Chewed, Liquified, Sprinkled, Sucked, Smoked, and Drunk” Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 37 25 Tonic, general medicine 26 Purgative, laxative, emetic 27 Colds, coughs, flus 28 Arthritis, rheumatism, muscle aches, paralysis 29 Kidney, urinary problems 30 Eyes, teeth, gums 31 Gynecological 32 Pediatric 33 Cancers, systemic wasting 34 Heart, blood systems 35 Soothing, counter-irritants 36 Poultices, plasters for wounds 37 Analgesics, anesthetics 38 Poison remedies 39 Stomach, digestive disorders 40 Miscellaneous Ritual, Spiritual, Mythological Uses 41 Birth, puberty rites/initiation ceremonies 42 Death, mourning ceremonies 43 Shamanic ceremonies, witchcraft, protection against witchcraft 44 Hunting and fishing rituals 45 Plants associated with myths, culture heros, birds, dances 46 Miscellaneous symbolic uses (naming, toponymic) 47 Games, Recreational Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 38 Table 2 Culturally Significant Plants and Their Uses in the D7 Project Area *For Native American names of plants, refer to the Los Angeles County D7 report (Fortier 2009) and to Timbrook 2007. English Name Scientific Name Use # Use Descriptions for Tataviam, Chumash, and Gabrielino-Tongva (Tongva source: L. Gonzales and Tongva Steering Committee; Chumash source: Timbrook 2007; R. Guzman Folkes) Agave Agave americana 1, 2, 15 Make string with cordage obtained from the spines. Young flower stalks eaten, leaf clusters roasted and eaten, flowers boiled and dried for later use. Asters Aster spp. 2 Leaves boiled and eaten for greens. Big Leaf Maple Acer macrophyllu m 7, 26, 27 Inner bark used for coughs colds, diarrhea, as a diuretic, and expectorant. Sap used for syrup. Bracken Fern (Western Bracken, Hairy Bracken) Pteridium aquilinum var. pubescens 1, 2, 9, 16, 18, 27, 39 Eaten raw. Cooking destroys vitamin B. Used in soups. Leaves used for diarrhea, antiseptic, for worms, stomach cramps, coughs, colds and laryngitis. Can cause cancer if used frequently. Root used as stimulant to loosen phlegm. Stems used for basketry; leaves for house thatch. Brickell Bush Brickellia californica 27, 34, 39 Tonic tea for colds, blood system, stomach. Buckwheat, Ashy-leaf [Grey] Eriogonum cinereum 1, 3, 27, 31, Flowers used as tea for headaches, 32, 34, 39 stomachache, blood pressure and bronchitis, and eyewash. Stems and leaves used for bladder trouble. Flowers for nibbling. Not recorded as used by Chumash groups. Buckwheat, Bluff [RedWhite] Eriogonum parvifolium “ Buckwheat, California [Whitish] Eriogonum fasciculatum 1, 3, 27, 28, See Buckwheat, Ashy-leaf 31, 32, 34, 39, 40 Cactus Opuntia spp. 2, 3, 7, 13, 18, 20, 22, 34, 35, 36, 46, 47 ” See Buckwheat, Ashy-leaf; Not recorded as used by Chumash groups. See also Prickly Pear Cactus; Fruits eaten fresh mostly; Tataviam and Tongva also boiled, baked, or dried fruits. Stems peeled for poultice for wounds and inflammations. Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 39 Chumash used fruits for fish bait; red pigment stain; as gel binding substance. California Ash (Foothill Ash) Fraxinus dipetala 7, 13, 14, 16, 18 Bow material, digging sticks, cactus spine removal sticks, basketry, handles California Buckeye Aesculus californica 4, 11, 13 Kitanemuk, Tongva, and Tataviam leached out poisons from inner bark and ground into flour. Untreated flour used to paralyze fish for easier catching California Fushcia (Hummingbi rd Trumpet) Epilobium canum 3, 8, 25, 36 Seeds used for piñole, blossoms sucked for nectar, and as general tonic California Juniper Juniperus californica 3, 4, 6, 7, 13, 18, 27, 28 Berries eaten dried, ground and fashioned into cakes, or made into a drink. Used for fumigating insects out of home or clothing. Berries made into beverage for coughs, dried and ground into cakes or hot cereal. Bark for treating colds, fever, dropsy, and constipation. Inner bark eaten as emergency food. Red dye made from the ashes of juniper boughs. California Laurel (California Bay, Bay Laurel) Umbellulari a californica 3, 8, 13, 23, Used to cure headaches, one leaf to the 25, 27, 28, forehead, or crushed and inhaled for a few 39, 40 seconds, also as a tea for headache and stomach upset. Nuts were roasted or boiled. Used as an insect repellant, burned to fumigate lodgings against colds. California Sycamore Platanus racemosa 13, 25, 34, 35, 36, 38, 40 California Walnut Juglans californica Catclaw Acacia Acacia greggii 3, 13, 31 Pods eaten fresh or dried and ground into flour. Boiling pods reduces bitterness. High in protein. No recorded use by Chumash. Cattails Typha spp. 1, 2, 3, 13, 15, 16, 21 Roots dried, ground into meal, or pollen used for cakes; stalks for matting and bedding; stalks for house windbreaks; young shoots eaten raw or boiled. A poultice made from the inner bark is applied to poison oak, poison ivy, and other swellings. Tonic for asthma. Bark tea said to aid in childbirth. The wood is used to construct houses, sweat houses, and ceremonial arbors. See Walnut Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 40 Chamise, Greasewood, Chamiso Blanco Adenostoma fasciculatum Chaparral Yucca Hesperoyucc a whipplei Chicory Cichorium intybus 1, 2, 3, 26, 28, 30, 40 Roots ground and roasted as coffee substitute, as a diuretic, and laxative. Leaves eaten raw, cooked , used for tea, skin lotion, gout, rheumatism, joint stiffness, and sore eyes. Cholla Cylindropun tia spp. 2, 3 Fruits eaten raw, boiled or dried. Coffeeberry (Buckthorn) Rhamnus tomentella 3, 6, 39 Berries used as hot beverage, and as coffee substitute outer bark used for constipation Coreopsis Coreopsis spp. 3 seeds eaten Cottonwood Populus fremontii 2, 13, 14, 15, 18, 27, 35, 36, 40, 42, 47 Sticks used for house frames. Buds, bark, leaves, and twigs used for emergency food. Buds used for salves, bladder problems, bronchitis and arthritis. Fluff used in baby ‘diapers.’ 13, 25 Wood used for small arrows, tea for general tonic Baccharis Coyote Brush, Dwarf pilularis Chaparral Broom 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 23, 40, 43 Used for digging sticks, arrow shafts, and leaves used to treat syphilis. Oil used for skin infections and young shoots eaten after boiling several hours to make tender. Wood used as good tinder. Sticks used for a fence to enclose ceremonial area See Yucca Creosote Bush Larrea tridentata 14, 20, 27, 28, 29, 36, 30, 39, 40 Tea from leaves used for stomach ache, chicken pox, kidney trouble, colds, snake bites, rheumatism, venereal diseases and tetanus. When mixed with badger oil, used for burn salve. Leaves were used as a poultice. Sap relieved toothaches. Cudweed Gnaphalium spp 25, 27, 36, 40, 46 Bruised leaves used for infections, for intestinal problems, bruises and for lung inflammation. Tea used to bring on sweating. Deerweed (Deer Vetch, California Broom) Lotus scoparius 2, 3, 22, 27, Young stems eaten boiled or baked. Wash 34, 35, 40 from plant used for pregnant women. Roots used for coughs. Used for scouring pads and brooms. Deergrass Muhlenbergi a rugens 16, 24 Harvested late spring through summerOne of the main grasses used for basketry. Used for foundation material in coiled baskets. Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 41 Flowering stalks are used after stripping off the dried flowers, before stalks are dried. Desert Holly Atriplex hymenelytra 2, 3 Leaves and young shoots are cooked; Seed ground and cooked as a piñole or thickener in soups; added to flour for making bread. Dock (Willow Dock, Yellow Dock) Rumex spp. 11, 26, 29, 31 Stems eaten boiled for greens, Rich in vitamins A and C. Roots used for liver cleansing and for astringent. Leaves used for stomach problems and to clean sores and for swellings Dodder Cuscuta californica 11, 26, 29, 31 Female plant used for lack of menstruation, for bleeding too much during menstruation and for contraception. Dodder also used for kidney problems and as a laxative. Apocynum Dogbane 2, 3, 14, 15, (Indian Black cannabinum 18, 25, 28, Hemp) 29, 33, 34, 35, 36, 40, 43, 46 Seeds, oil, leaves, stems and fiber used for paint, clothing, nets and rope. Dried roots used for heart stimulant, kidney problems, worms, to promote sleep, and for tumors. Fresh leaves used for head lice, dandruff, as dressing for sores and wounds and as a poultice Iris Douglasiana 26, 29, 30, 31, 36, 39, 40 Roots used for laxative, burns, earache, gastrointestinal problems, toothache, bladder, urinary aid and venereal diseases. Dudleya, Live Forever Dudleya spp. 2, 3, 25, 35 Leaves and flowers eaten raw, tea used for a tonic, leaves applied to sooth scrapes Elderberry The Music Tree Sambucus mexicana 3, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 18, 24, 27, 28, 31, 32, 47 Inner bark used to induce vomiting. Flowers used as tea for bleeding of the lungs, for inflammation, to expel fluid retention, to promote fluid secretion, for burns, rheumatism, jaundice, kidney problems and for every type of infection or inflammation. Blossoms also used as tea for breaking fevers, flu, colds, and upset stomachs, and for antiseptic skin wash. Berries dried and used for pemmican or eaten raw, high in vitamins and mineral-rich, or used for a purplish-black dye. Roots used to induce sweating and as diuretic. The stems and branches are used for percussion instruments, flutes, and clappersticks because the pith can be scraped out easily. Four Wing Saltbush, shadscale Atriplex canescens 2, 3, 7, 9 A chenopod, the leaves and seeds are gathered for food. Seeds are cooked like oatmeal, and the leaves eaten raw or cooked. Sometimes the ashes of the plant were used as a leavening Douglas Iris (Wild Iris) Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 42 ingredient for breads or were used in making a lye to soften the hulls of corn. However the seeds were prepared, they represented a good source of niacin. The ground-up seeds were mixed with sugar and water for a piñole drink. Giant Reed, Carrizo Arundo donax 1, 14, 15, 24, 47 Tataviam use in clothing, arrow shafts, whistles and flutes, house construction, boat material, sleeping mat, root can be eaten. Giant Wild Rye Leymus condensatus 3, 13, 15, 16, 18, 24, 30 Seed cooked into mush or ground into flour for bread; leaves used as a wash for sore eyes; for making mats, rope, paper etc. The stems are used for thatching roofs. The roots can be tied together and used as a hair comb; important part of the arrow shafts. Horehound Marrubium vulgare 2, 3, 26, 27, Leaves with honey used as cough, cold remedy. Tea from roots used as expectorate. Large doses used as laxative. Mission Friars are supposed to have brought Horehound with them as a medicinal (Hickman 2008 [Jepson Manual p. 398]) Humboldt Lily Lilium humboldtii 1, 2, 3 Bulb eaten boiled, roasted, steamed, or dried and pounded for flour. Nutritious. Whole plant eaten as potherb, bulbs used in salads. Flowers eaten raw or fried. Incense Cedar Calocedrus decurrens 10, 27, 40, 43, 46 Leaflets used to treat colds and fever and I also use as diuretic and to loosen bronchial phlegm. Leaflets dried and used with tobacco and for ceremonies. Indian Tobacco, (White Leafed) Nicotiana attenuata, N. beglovii 11, 26, 30, 34, 36, 40, 43 Leaves used as poultice to promote healing for wounds, for chest and lung congestion, for insect bites, and sores and as drink to induce vomiting. Smoke from dried leaves used for earaches.Dried leaves smoked. Seeds used for toothaches and as ointment for rheumatism. Nicotianas are sacred to and used for ceremony. One Tonva committee member recalls that his Great-Grandmother used the leaves on his grandfather’s cuts and wounds as a stimulant for healing. Heteromeles 3, 13, 14, Hollyberry, arbutifolia Toyon, 16, 18, 25, Christmasber 35, 36, 39 ry, California Holly Berries eaten parched, boiled, toasted or ground for flour and as cold drink high in Vitamin C. Berries used for dye for fishnets. Leaves used for poultices. Bark used for wounds. Bark used for stomach and muscle Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 43 aches. Leaves, stems and bark pull cyanide. State law disallows collection of stems and branches, for the general public. Hollywood derived its name from this shrub/tree for the berries which come around Christmas time. Settlers used the berries for holiday decoration. Wood used for arrows, tools, awls, scrapers, spoons, mashers, stirrers, and men’s hairpins. Tea from crushed flowers used for women’s problems. Ironwood Olneya tesota Jimson weed, Datura wrightii Datura, Toluaca, Toloache, Sacred Thorn Apple 3, 13, 16, 22, 23, Seeds eaten raw, roasted or dried for flour for cakes and hot cereal. 11, 27, 37, 40, 41, 43, 45, 46 Used in rites of passage for boys to seek totem spirit guide and vision ceremonies. A very powerful “Grandmother” female plant and most women will not touch outside of ceremony as to avoid imbalance. Leaves and seeds can be used for bruises, swellings, tarantual and rattlesnake bites. Can be smoked for bronchial asthma. Joshua Tree Yucca brevifolia 3, 18 Red dye made from smaller roots. Flowers roasted, very high sugar content. Jumping Cholla Cactus, Teddy Bear Cholla Cylindropun tia fulgida, Cylindropun tia spp., Opuntia bigelovii 2, 3 Fruits eaten raw, boiled or dried. Laurel Sumac Malosma laurina; Rhus laurina 13, 31, 39, 40 Tea for anti-diarrheal remedy. Lemonadebe rry Rhus integrifolia 3, 7, 27, 31, Fruit soaked for lemon drink. Leaves and dried 39 berries used for tea for colds and coughs. Very high Vitamin C. Dried berries ground for flour. Strong tea used for diarrhea. Manzanita, Big-Berry Manzanita Arctostaphyl os glauca 2, 3, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 22, 27, 29, 36, 43 Berries eaten raw, in mush or ground into flour. Seeds ground into mush. Fruits and leaves used for bronchitis. Good animal forage. Dried leaves used with tobacco used for ceremonies. Wood for fuel, construction, tools, and ceremonies. Manzanita, Mission Manzanita Arctostaphyl os spp., Arctostaphyl os 2, 3, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 22, 27, 29, 36, Berries ate raw, in mush or ground into flour. Seeds ground into mush. Fruits and leaves used for bronchitis. Good animal forage. Dried leaves used with tobacco used for ceremonies. Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 44 manzanita, Xylococcus bicolor 43 Wood for fuel, construction, tools, and ceremonies. Milkweed Asclepias fascicularis 1, 15, 16, 18, 25, 26, 28, 29, 36, 40 Roots and young shoots boiled and eaten. Plant used as expectorant, for rheumatism, headache, bowel and kidney trouble, asthma and for stomach complaints. Fibers from bark made into cordage for string, fishnets and for rabbit skin capes and blankets. Sap boiled for chewing gum or for cuts, wounds, warts and tattooing. Harvested late summer-winter Mistletoe Phoradendr on spp. 2, 3, 11, 18, Juniper mistletoe (P. juniperium) berries eaten 30, 31 raw. Desert mistletoe (P. californicum) berries eaten after leaching, boiling, and mashing since berries have poisonous amines. Tea made from the leaves. Desert mistletoe used as black dye. Oak mistletoe (P. Villosum) used as infusion during first trimester to induce abortion. Mistletoes generally can be used as poultice for toothache. Mistletoe, Pacific Mistletoe, Oak Mistletoe Phoradendr on villosum see Mistletoe (Phoradendron spp.) Mohave Yucca Yucca schidigera See Yucca Monkeyflow er Mimulus spp. 2, 8, 27, 30, Young stems and leaves eaten raw as salad 34, 36, 39, greens, or crushed and used as poultice. Tea 40 from leaves used for coughs and colds. Leaves and stems used for muscle aches and ashes used for salt flavoring. Dock Mimulus root used as astringent. Mountain Mahogany Cercocarpus betuloides 2, 13, 14, 18, 22, 26, 27, 29, 31, 36, 40, 43, 44 Tea made from stems and twigs. Inner bark dried and used for colds, lung and kidney problems and stomachaches. The outer bark is used for laxative. Red dye made from the roots. Poultice made from green wood used for burns, sores, cuts and wounds. Dried sap used for earaches. Wood used for digging sticks, spears, arrow shafts and fire drills. Bark and roots soaked and boiled for red/brown dye. Mugwort, Douglas Artemisia douglasiana 18, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 36, 38, 40, Leaves used for colds, bronchitis, for asthma, urinary problems rheumatism, back pain, bruises, colic, fever and as a poultice for Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 45 sagewort 42, 43, 45, 46 wounds. Tea from the stems used for stomachaches sore throat, coughs and for sore eyes. Used to keep rattlesnakes away. Used for poison oak and stinging nettles. Leaves rubbed for purification after handling the deceased. Baccharis Mulefat, Seep Willow, salicifolia Mule’s Fat, Guatamote 12, 13, 14, 21, 30 Leaves used for tea for eyewash, and stems chewed for toothache. Fluff used for 'diapers.' Stems used for arrows Needlegrass, Foothill Needlegrass Nassella spp., Nassella lepida 3, 12 A tasty nutritious bunchgrass that was harvested during seed gathering in fields and grasslands. Excellent forage for deer. Oak, Black Oak, Q. kelloggii, Quercus spp. 3, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 29, 38, 39, 43, 45, 46, 47 Oak is considered a sacred plant and this generally applies and especially applies to black oak, coast live oak, and Sonoran Scrub oak/Shrub live oak. The acorns were a staple diet food and are still collected. After leaching tannins, acorns were processed acorns to make flour and cakes. Oak ashes were used to combat poisons or bloody urine. Bark used for goiter, stomach ache, fistulas, sinus congestion, & improve stomach metabolism. Dye made from oak bark and leached tannins used for curing deer skins. Oak knots/burls used for clubs, bowls, dippers, ladles and mortars. Fungi on oak eaten or could be used for curing wounds. Young oak sprouts used for basketry, digging sticks, arrows for small game and birds, fire drills, cooking tongs and stirring sticks. Oak Galls - 30, 35, 43, 45, 46 Galls dried and ground for eye infections or attached to headdress for ceremonial dances, for basketry, hair tint, and tattoos Palo Verde, Jerusalem thorn, Mexican Palo Verde Parkinsonia Aculeata 3, 37, 43, 45 A native of tropical America, the pods are/were nevertheless eaten boiled or roasted. Seeds ground for flour Flowering branches used in spring and summer ceremonies. Bark has astringent qualities. Phacelia Phacelia spp. 1, 2, 3 Entire plant eaten boiled Pines Pinus spp. 3, 8, 12, 13, 14, 16, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, Pine nuts are rich in protein raw, roasted or made into mush. Sap used for sores and burns or used for sealant glue and as tea for rheumatism, upset stomach and diarrhea. Inner Coast Live Oak, Q. agrifolia Sonoran Scrub Oak, Q. turbinella Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 46 28, 36, 39, 45, 46, 47 bark was used as starvation food, eaten raw in slices as a snack. The soft, moist, white inner bark (cambium) is edible and very high in vitamins A and C. It can be dried and ground up into a powder. The powder can be used as a thickener in stews, soups, and bread. Branches used for firewood. Resin used for sealant, or applied to sore muscles and heated for drawing out splinters and boils. Bark, twigs and leaves used for teas for coughs and bronchial conditions. Pine, Coulter Pinus coulteri See Pines Pine, Pinyon Pinus monophylla See Pines Pine, Ponderosa Pinus ponderosa See Pines Pine, Jeffrey Pinus jeffreyi See Pines Poison-Oak Toxicodendr on diversilobum 11,18, 30 Sap used to treat rattlesnake bites, warts, and ringworm. Roots boiled for eyewash. All parts poisonous- extreme dermatitis. Most Tongva immune and do not get rashes. Fresh juice made a black dye Port Orford Cedar Chamaecypa ris lawsoniana 2, 12, 14, 19, 27, 46 Leaves used as tea for diuretic, coughs and bronchial ailments. Burned in ceremony. Berries used for female troubles Prickly Pear Cactus Opuntia spp. 2, 3, 18, 29, Fruits eaten raw, boiled, baked, or dried fruits 34, 36, 37, for later. Seeds ground for flour. Leaves boiled 44 and eaten as greens. Stems peeled for poultice for wounds and inflammations for an antiseptic or for cleansing. Tea used to maintain blood sugar levels for diabetics Spines used for tattoos, ear piercing, fishing or sewing Puncture Vine Tribulus terrestris 12, 25, 40 Not a native plant, but Native consultant L. Gonzales uses for decoctions for increasing testosterone and for energy and muscle growth in men. Rabbitbrush, Stickyleaf Rabbitbrush, Yellow Rabbitbrush, Green Chrysotham nus viscidiflorus; C. nauseosus 12, 18, 39 Used as tea for liver and stomach ailments, for maintaining blood sugar levels for diabetics and for yellow dye Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 47 rabbitbrush Redbud, Western Redbud Cercis occidentalis 02, 03, 39 Ribbonwood, Adenostoma 15, 27, 28, sparsifolium 38 (Redshank, Chamiso Colorado) Used as astringent, for diarrhea and for dystentry. Flower buds used for salads or pickled. Buds, flowers and pods eaten fried Leaf infusion used for colds, muscle cramps, snake bites, and lockjaw. Bark used for clothing Russian Thistle Salsola iberica, S. kali. 02 European introduced. Young shoots eaten as boiled greens. Can be eaten raw in salads. Related to spinach, can be used in soups and other dishes. Sage, Black Salvia mellifera 08, 12, 14, 19, 27, 30, 35, 36, 39, 40 Leaves used for flavor, as astringent for wounds, and skin inflammations, as hairwash for dandruff and as eyewash. Tea from leaves is good for stomach aches and for sore throats Sage, White Sage Salvia apiana, (Salvia spp.) 2, 3, 8, 10, 12, 14, 19, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 43, 44, 45, 46 Seeds eaten raw or roasted. Traditionally used by village runners for extra protein and carbohydrates. Leaves smoked alone or with tobacco or eaten. Tea used for upset stomach, to break a fever, rheumatic pains, venereal diseases, as a gargle with honey for sore throat, to clean old ulcers and wounds, massaged into scalp for dandruff, for eye irritation, given to women after childbirth for healing and for anesthetic.Leaves used to cover human scent for hunting. A leaf placed on the feet or in a shoe, used since contact, as a foot deodorizer. Dried leaves used as purifier for ceremonies to present times. Burned for ceremony and used with tobacco. Not harvested while in flower. It reportedly contains the chemical called thujone which can trigger epileptic seizures in pregnant women. Sagebrush, Big Artemisia tridentata (several variations) 12, 14, 19, 25, 27, 30, 31, 39, 43, 45, 46 Leaves made as a tea for sore eyes, hair tonic, colds, and stomachache, discomfort. Dried leaves burned for purifying air. Burned for smoke for skunk smell. Sagebrush, Coastal Artemisia californica 3, 12, 14, 19, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 35, 39, 43, Seeds ground for flour. Tea from leaves used for bronchitis and a wash for wounds and for women’s menstrual problems. Tongva priests burned dried leaves for ceremony. Tongva burned dried leaves for virus purification in Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 48 45, 46 lodgings. Santa Barbara Sedge, Slough grass Carex barbarae 15 The long fiborous roots have been used in basket weaving. “Roots yielded a fine white material, usually found in the finer baskets, and used especially by the lowlanders, in whose territory this plant abounded” (Barrett and Gifford 1933). Showy Penstemon Penstemon spectabilis 29, 36 Flowers boiled for kidney trouble. Whole plant used as poultice for sores and for poultice for sores and for burn salve. It is believed that a wash will stop pain and encourage new skin to grow Snowberry Symphoricar pos spp. 3, 25, 26, 27 Berries eaten raw or cooked. Berries contain saponins and should be eaten sporadically. Strong tea from roots used for colds and stomach ache. Fruits are strong laxative Stinging nettle Urtica dioica ssp. 2, 15, spinach from leaves; fiber for cordage, fish lines, nets, strings; medicine for artheritis Sugarbush, Sugar Sumac Rhus ovata 3, 7, 12, 27, Dried berries ground for flour. Strong tea used 31, 39 for diarrhea. Fruit soaked for lemon drink. Leaves and dried berries used for tea for colds and coughs. Dried berries ground for flour. Very high vitamin C. Tongva gave berries to Europeans for scurvy. Sumac Rhus spp. Sunflower Helianthus annuus, Helianthus spp. 2, 3, 7, 12, 18, 27, 30, 40 Seeds eaten raw or roasted. Seed shells roasted and used for hot drink. Yellow dye made from the flowers and black/dull blue dye made from the shell hulls. Teas made from flowers for coughs and congestion. Antiseptic, eyewash. Thistle (Milk Thistle, California Thistle, & Dwarf Thistle) Silybum mariamum, Circium coulteri, C. scariosum, C. occidentale 2, 25, 34, 35, 40 Fruit contains silymarianum, used for treating liver ailments, hepatitis and cirrhosis. Leaves used for blood tonic, eaten cooked, and as salad greens, after overnight soaking in salt water Tree Tobacco, (Yellow Leafed) Nicotiana glauca 10, 47 R. Guzman Folkes noted that while local tobacco was used, the introduced variety, Nicotiana glauca was also incorporated into ceremonies and collected for rolling tobacco. Generally, Nicotianas are sacred to Indians and used for ceremony and as gifts to other Native see Sugarbush Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 49 Americans. Valerian [red/pink] and California Valerian Centranthus ruber and Valeriana californica 2, 3, 25, 28, C. ruber is an introduced species while V. 34, 35, 37, californica is the native species. V. california 39, 40 was used historically while both C. ruber and V. californica are in contemporary use as sedatives and both are referred to as “valerian.” Tongva ground dried valerian (C. ruber) seeds into flour. Greens eaten raw, dried, cooked in broths, or for flavoring in tobacco. Tongva also use it as nerve tonic. Roots used as tea for sleep aid and in baths to relieve nervous exhaustion, for epileptic fits, as sedative, to reduce spasms in the stomach, intestines, and for blood vessels, for nervous heart conditions, diarrhea, fever, headache, and muscle tension. Consultant Gonzales uses valerian as tea for sleep aid and to relax nervous stomach or intestinal cramps Walnut, California Walnut, California Black Walnut Juglans californica 3, 12, 18, 47 Nuts edible. Tongva use shells, decorated with asphaltum and abalone or shells, for dice. Hulls used for black dye. White Alder Alnus rhombifolia 18, 25, 26, 31, 34, 36, 39 Roots and bark were used for a yellowish dye. Dried inner bark used as poultice for burns, to induce child birth, to promote circulation, to calm stomachache and diarrhea. Leaves mixed with tobacco to induce vomiting. Arrows made from stem shoots. Dried inner bark used as poultice for burns, to induce child birth, to promote circulation, to calm stomachache and diarrhea. Leaves mixed with tobacco to induce vomiting. Arrows made from stems shoots. White Nightshade Solanum americanum 18, 33, 36, 40 Tongva used to heal ulcers, tumors and clean wounds. Berries used for making deep purple colored tattoos. Wild Onion Allium spp. 1, 2 Whole plant eaten boiled Willow, Arroyo Willow, Gooddings Black Salix lasiolepis and S. gooddingii 2, 4, 6, 11, 13, 25, 27, 28, 30, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 45, Tongva sing songs when harvesting Shaxaat as it is notably sacred. Branches used for construction of houses, sweat houses and granaries. Smaller wood used for seed beaters, cradleboards and fish traps. Stems dried and Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 50 Willow 46 used for arrows. Leaves used as tea for rheumatism, worms, to stop bleeding, for fevers, to relieve pain, reduce inflammation, and help lower fevers, for gum and tonsil inflammations, for heartburn, stomach ailments and for wash for sores, eye irritations, burns and wounds. Used in poultices to relieve insect bites, burns and skin irritations. Roots used for diarrhea and to induce vomiting for blood cleansing, but is sometimes fatal. Boiled bark used for skin conditions, and for skin bleeding. Inner bark used to treat urethra and bladder irritability. Willow, Narrow-leaf Salix exigua see S. lasiolepis Willow, Red Salix laevigata See S. lasiolepis. L. Gonzales noted, “I use laevigata to make seed beaters and for medicine.” Yarrow Achillea millefolium 1, 2, 3, 25, 27, 35, 39, 40 Astringent, Tonic. Whole plant eaten boiled for greens. Should only be consumed in moderation. Boiled plant water used for digestive disorders. Leaves used for treatment of the skin, subcutaneous skin conditions and hair loss, for gastritis, ulcers, diarrhea, dysentery, female bleeding, cold, cough, liver, anemia, headache, shortness of breath, high blood pressure. Whole plant used as astringent and as tonic, for bladder problems, for digestion, for loss of menstrual flow, or for continued menstruation, as poultice for skin rash, fistulas, and to soothe hemorrhoids. Should not be taken for extended periods of time Yerba Santa, Felt-leaf, Fuzzy-leaf Eriodictyon crassifolium 7, 10, 25, 27, 28, 31, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 Tea made from leaves for general tonic, for rheumatism, as a stimulant, and expectorant, for colds, coughs, sore throat, stomachaches, venereal diseases, vomiting, and diarrhea. Leaves chewed for gum and used for cuts and abrasions, for pain and to keep swelling down Yerba Santa, Shiny Leaf, Sticky-leaf Eriodictyon trichocalyx 7, 10, 25, 27, 28, 30, 31, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 Antiseptic. L. Gonzales reports that she chews leaves for gum and cleansing of the mouth. Tea made from leaves for general tonic, for rheumatism, as a stimulant, and expectorant, for colds, coughs, sore throat, stomachaches, venereal diseases, vomiting, and diarrhea. Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 51 Leaves chewed for gum and used for cuts and abrasions, for pain and to keep swelling down Yucca, Chaparral Yucca, Our Lord's Candle Hesperoyucc a whipplei 1, 2, 3, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 42, 22, 23, 24, Young flowers talks eaten raw, peeled roasted or boiled Roots used for lather, shampoo, soap, arthritis, and as a laxative. Leaf cluster roasted for a starchy food. Young stalks, flowers, buds, and fruit eaten raw, roasted or boiled. Seeds ground for flour. Leaves (Ahna'nash) used for fiber for string baskets, cordage, snares. Modern use as arrow shaft holders. Yucca, Mohave Yucca, Spanish Bayonet Yucca schidigera and Yucca baccata 1, 2, 3, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 23, 26, 28 Roots boiled for soap and shampoo. Flowers and young stalks eaten raw, roasted, fried, boiled or dried for cakes. Red roots used for basket patterns. Seeds ground for flour. Cordage made from fibers for housing binds, bags, nets, rope, hats, shoes, paint brushes.With spine left on, cordage used for needle and thread. Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 52 Appendix 2 Gathering Places (GP) in D7 Project Area Location Description using Common names GPS UTM East/North GP-001-01 A scattering of giant wild rye grows near the corner of Las Flores Canyon Road and SR-001. 0348886/ 3767495 GP-001-02 A scattering of chaparral yuccas grow on the eastern 0326933/ 3768163 hillside, and along both north and south sides of mailbox #32219 to about 150ft south of the mailbox site. GP-001-03 Just north of Leo Cabrillo State Park grows a large scattering of beavertail cactus and prickly pear cactus on the eastern roadside. They are growing into a steep hillside. 0320641/ 3768993 GP-001-04 Scatterings of prickly pear cactus grow on the east side of the road. 0324512/ 3768475 GP-001-05 A scattering of sugarbush (Rhus ovata), yellow leafy tree tobacco, scrub oaks, cactus (Opuntia), and some yellow asters grow across from a small yellow residence with address of Pacific Coast Hwy #265. 0360172/ 3766011 GP-001-06 A scattering of chaparral yuccas grows along a cliff face with one large agave nearby. red willow (Salix laevigata) trees grow along the highway as well. In the vicinity also grow puncture vine (Tribulis terrestris), sunflowers, and sagebrush 0361690/ 3764568 GP-001-07 A nice scattering of agave grows along the hillside. 0358265/ 3767185 GP-001-08 cactus grows along the hillside with a walking path nearby. Some manzanita grows nearby. 0357609/ 3767560 GP-001-09 Sumac bushes grow interspersed with some poor specimens of jimson weed and puncture vine. 0356982/ 3767625 GP-001-10 A bed of cattails flourishes next to the eastern roadside with a large large scattering of yuccas above on the hillside. Also in the area, road crews should look for giant wild rye on the east side of the road. This site is north of the Charthouse restaurant, and north of Coastline Drive. 0354670/ 3767809 GP-001-11 Across the road (northeast side) from the Adamson House (a State Parks site) grow sumac bushes. 0344854/ 3767280 GP-001-12 A cliff face with blackened cactus. 0318321/3770128 Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 53 (GP-023-01 through 07 located in Ventura county). Small bunches of jimson weed and sage grow intermittently, such as an example growing at m.m. 18.43. no GPS m.m.18.43-18.45 Yuccas growing along the eastern roadside rightof-way. m.m. 19.46 Privately owned oak trees growing in bottom of southern roadside ravine and Ranch Canyon Creek. White flowering Indian tobacco growing in a few clumps as well. m.m. 19.52 Yellow flowering tree tobacco grows near large oak trees north of Saticoy Golf Course toward Ranch Canyon Road Bridge. oaks: ~m.m.20.50 to 20.92. California walnuts growing along ROW at m.m. 21.03. m.m.21.03 GP-023-05 Some large pines near Barsdale Ave./Hwy 23 on east roadside. m.m. 21.95 GP-023-06 In the dry riverbed of the Santa Clara grows a large swath of giant reed, just south of the intersection with SR-126. no m.m. or GPS GP-023-07 Occasionally clumps of black sage, white sage, milkweed, and sagebrush are encountered in the shady underbrush along this stretch of SR-23, such as at this GP. 0324855/ 3768936 Aong both left and right roadsides, outside the ‘Treetop House’ and 300m from the ‘Decker Campgrounds,’ one encounters California walnut, California sycamores, and some dudleya succulents in the underbrush. 0324940/ 3770709 Between m.m. 3.5 - 3.71, near the local Fire Station, grow lots of prickly pear, oak trees, and some yuccas. Some of this might be owned by the horse ranches situated along the roadways and thus may not be collected by Native gatherers. - GP-023-01 GP-023-02 GP-023-03 GP-023-4a to GP-023-4b GP-023-08 GP-023-09 GP-023-10 Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 54 White flowering ribbonwood grows interspersed with yuccas along the righthand roadside as one drives toward SR-101 0328947/ 3777209 In a creek with riparian wetland runs along the northern roadside with cattails and arroyo willows along the northern ROW and oaks and California sycamores growing in the southside ROW. A large turnout here attracts visitors for stopping and enjoying the view. 0328925/ 3778076 On the roadside hill just outside of the ROW grow large dense groups of prickly pear cactus with large oaks and California sycamore in the vicinity. 0329432/ 3779142 Near Foster County Park, 300ft. south of signage “Ventura county, Foster Park” grow lots of elderberry shrubs in ditches along the east of the road with a water source feeding them. Some stands of mulefat grow interspersed in the ditch. 0288521/ 3803366 Near Foster County Park, 300ft. south of signage “Ventura county, Foster Park” grow lots of elderberry shrubs in ditches along the east of the road with a water source feeding them. Some stands of mulefat also grow interspersed in the ditch. 0288521/ 3803366 Large California walnuts grow along the north side of the road with California sycamores growing along the south of the road (about 300ft south of GPS). A stand of live oaks also grow along the north side of the road in this road section just outside the village of Casitas Springs. 0288090/ 3806681 Live oaks grow along left or west of roadside as one drives north. 0288646/ 3809500 GP-033-03 Along a road cut on the roadside at about m.m.14.46 we find a collectable stretch of red ochre mineral in the cliff face. - GP-033-04 Entering Los Padres National Forest (m.m. 56.26), a riparian corridor known as Wheeler Gorge stretches down the roadway with stands of oak and California sycamore. 0290716/ 3820569 Large Coulter pines grow along the south of the roadway while California sycamores grow along the north side of the roadway. The Information Center is located along the south side of the road. 0290727/ 3820554 GP-023-11 GP-023-12 GP-023-13 GP-033-01 GP-033-01 GP-033-02 GP-033-05 GP-33-06 Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 55 Across from signage “Elevation 2,000ft” there are stands of California sycamore on the left/west driving northwards with small clusters of yerba santa, arroyo willow, and cattails nearby. 0291201/ 3822180 Poison oaks grow along the east side of the road. [no GPS, m.m.20.35] GP-033-09 California sycamores at m.m. 20.7 on south side of road, with some showy penstemon along the roadside as well. no GPS; m.m. 20.7 Lemonadeberry bushes grow in long swaths along the eastern roadside. - GP-033-10 The beginning of a pine forest with Ponderosa pines along roadside right and left; however scrub oak forest is still predominant. Occasional yuccas on south facing western slopes. 0293878/ 3823958 A lot of buckwheat grows along VEN-33. Native American plant collectors would seek out swaths of buckwheat that are in the best condition and most numerous, such as those at this gathering place. 0294022/ 3823912 More Lemonadeberry cropping up along the southern side of the road. 0293279/ 3823416 Lots of yuccas growing among sandstone shale terraces on a steep hillside along north side of roadway. Some yerba santa and sagebrush as well. 0294918/ 3824234 Near a large cut in the mountain with a pine canyon, there is a cluster of cattails growing along the southern roadside. Some fencing backs the right-of-way and the cattails. Some Port Orford cedar and sage grow nearby. 0286898/ 3830710 Beginning of intermittant bushes of manzanita along the southern roadside. 0282603/ 3838165 A few pine trees grow in a gently upward sloping chapparel environs. A few clusters of yerba santa grow interspersed with the pines along the northwest roadside. The Caltrans crews reported they saw a lot of mugwort in the shady areas along the ROW while sagebrush grows in the sunny parts. 0282389/ 3842837 GP-033-07 GP-033-08 GP-033-11 GP-033-12 GP-033-13 GP-033-14 GP-033-15 GP-033-16 GP-033-17 Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 56 A great collectable swath of arroyo willow and rabbitbrush mixed with tufts of sagebrush grows near m.m.52.00. One collector (Monica S., Chumash) said she collected Juncus near here, but we saw none during our survey. 0280866/ 3845735 to 0282389/3842836 Although there is a steep drop to the right/southeast of the roadside, a nice cluster of California junipers with fresh berries grows along with some collectable yerba santa. Dock at m.m. 54.00. Good gathering site for yerba santa at m.m. 53.64. 0279701/ 3847528 incense cedars and bushes of yerba santa grow along the southwest side of the road in an area of desert transitioning to a large dried riparian valley corridor below the roadway. 0278463/ 3849846 GP-033-21 Long, thin, yellow flowering rabbitbrush with its grey-green stem grows intermixed with a few groups of yuccas along the south side of roadway. 02772233/ 3851681 A clump of either Santa Barbara sedge (Carex barbarae) or (invasive) Pampas Grass grows along the western roadside. 0283306/ 3799080 GP-101-01 Blackened cliff-face with a scattering of cactus. Also note that we occasionally saw yuccas and agave but not able to stop due to traffic. 318321/3770128 GP-101-02 A stand of laurel sumac grows at the corner of the westbound on-ramp to SR-118 from SR-27, also known as Topanga Canyon Boulevard 0352263/ 3794052 GP-118-01 Clumps of dudleya grow along the north/righthand roadside at the intersection of Yosemite and SR-118. This is probably not a good stopping place due to traffic. no GPS Mature bushes of white sage and fresh chaparral yucca grow along the north/right-hand roadside near m.m.21.00. This sage is rare here and would be gathered. 0331965/ 3796056 At junction with “Glen Oaks” grow a cluster of buckwheat, sunflower, and manzanita. Not a contemporary gathering place none GP-126-01 Near the edge of the ROW grow stands of elderberry, sunflower, and carrizo or giant reed. 0325313/ 3808041 GP-126-02 Near Rancho Camitos and the Camulos Museum lies a rich gathering site with lovely stands of yuccas, 0336113/ 3809148 GP-033-18 GP-033-19 GP-033-20 GP-118-02 GP-118-03 GP-118-04 Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 57 white sage, sagebrush, datura, milkweed, elderberry, sunflower, thistles, stinging nettles, yarrow, and yellow tree tobacco. The plants lie along the edges of fallow agricultural fields and near m.m.29.07. This would have been part of the gathering territory of the Tataviam villagers of Kamulus. GP-126-03 Stands of giant reed, yellow tobacco, and cactus grow along the southern ROW near m.m. 32.22. 0340863/ 3808984 GP-126-04 At m.m. 32.47 grows a lovely gathering site with giant reed, sages, elderberries, milkweed, sagebrush and some small sycamore and ash. Plants are growing along both north and south sides of the ROW. The Santa Clara River and drainage ditches feed water into this gathering area. 0341243/ 3808999 GP-126-05 Near the junction with Chiquito Cyn Road grows a small cluster of giant reed, sage, buckwheat, and thistles on the northern ROW. 0347659/ 3809916 GP-126-06 Reaching an elevation of 1,000ft., crews will begin to encounter groves of oaks with elderberries growing nearby as the example at this gathering site on the southern ROW indicates. 0351678/ 3811787 Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 58 There is a patch of collectable plant species in the Thousand Oaks area near m.m.29.50. A small stream runs under the road with a stands of giant reed, cattail, bay laurel, elderberry, tobacco, a large oak tree and a few small ones, and some sage on the southwest or left of the roadside as one drives North. On the right/northeast roadside there are some cultivated agave and yuccas apparently planted by a private owner. 0309224/3807666 There is a gathering place of milkweed, elderberry, willow, yucca, sage, and tobacco near the Ventura river stream bed along the north/right-hand side of the road driving north. 0308832/ 3808359 Oak trees grow along the right-of-ways on both sides of the road. The oak acorns would be gathered as well as occasional oak Galls that we encountered. Oak galls are plant growths that are stimulated by the reaction between the oak’s hormones and chemicals produced by certain insects. 0307361/ 3811495 A line of California sycamore grows along a Creek bed in the Santa Paula region. 0307117/ 3811486 GP-150-04 More stands of California sycamore and oaks are surrounded by buckwheat clumps near their bases. 0304796/ 3812152 GP-150-05 Along the north roadside and forty feet away from the road grows a large incense cedar, a few California walnuts, some mistletoe in the walnut trees. 0300432/ 3812724 Yellow flowering tree tobacco grows out of a roadside canal near signage “Danger: High Press Gas Pipeline,” along right side in right of way driving west. 0296840/ 3813901 Elderberries grow in a vegetational community of southern oak woodland with a riparian corridor and old creek bed along the right/eastern roadside and a chapparel community along the left/western roadside 0288690/ 3811730 White sage and buckwheat dominate a northfacing hillside along the roadside. 0280685/ 3807247 GP-150-9 On the roadside across from the “Rancho Rubio” at about m.m.2.0 grow California walnuts. 0274754/ 3808770 GP-150-10 GP-150-01 GP-150-02 GP-150-03 GP-150-06 GP-150-07 GP-150-08 Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 59 Appendix 3 Management Recommendations for Gathering Plants Common Name Scientific Name Management Recommendation Gathering Schedule (1-12=Jan-Dec.) Agave Agave americana Do not cut Asters Aster spp. Remove vegetation from ROW as 9-11 necessary except during gathering season Beavertail Cactus Opuntia basilaris Do not cut summer-fall fruit harvests Big Leaf Maple Acer macrophyll um Remove vegetation from ROW as necessary Year-round occasional Bracken Fern (Western Bracken, Hairy Bracken) Pteridium aquilinum var. pubescens Hand-cut around Pteridium spring-summer gathering Brickell Bush Brickellia californica Remove vegetation from ROW as necessary Occasional yearround gathering Buckwheat, Ashy-leaf [Grey] Eriogonum cinereum Remove vegetation from ROW as necessary Occasional yearround gathering Buckwheat, Bluff [Red] Eriogonum parvifolium Remove vegetation from ROW as necessary Occasional yearround gathering Buckwheat, California [White] Eriogonum fasciculatu m Remove vegetation from ROW as necessary Occasional yearround gathering Cactus Opuntia Do not cut or remove Year round gathering California Ash (Chapparal Ash) Fraxinus dipetala Remove vegetation from ROW as necessary Occasional yearround gathering Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 3-5 60 California Buckeye Aesculus californica Remove vegetation from ROW as necessary occasional yearround gathering California Fushcia (Hummingbi rd Trumpet) Epilobium canum Do not remove during flowering season 8-10 California Juniper Juniperus californica Remove vegetation from ROW as necessary 8-11 California Laurel (California Bay, Bay Laurel) Umbellulari Occasional gathering for leaves & seeds a californica 12-5 California Sycamore Platanus racemosa Do not cut or remove trees; contact Gabrielino-Tongva consulting groups in the area Occasional yearround gathering for poles California Walnut, Southern California Black Walnut Juglans californica Do not cut or remove trees during nut collection 10-11 Catclaw Acacia Acacia greggii Do not trim or remove the trees Occasional-year round Cattails Typha spp., Typha latifolia Do not trim or remove 7-12 Chamise, Greasewood, Chamiso Blanco Adenostom a fasciculatu m Do not trim or remove trees; contact Gabrielino-Tongva consulting groups in the area Occasional yearround gathering Chaparral Yucca Hesperoyuc ca whipplei Do not cut or remove; contact Gabrielino-Tongva consulting groups in the area Year round gathering Chicory Cichorium intybus Trim as necessary spring leaves gathered Cholla Cylindropu ntia spp. Do not cut or remove; contact Gabrielino-Tongva consulting groups in the area Year round gathering Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 61 Coffeeberry (Buckthorn) Rhamnus tomentella Do not cut or remove 10-11 Coreopsis Coreopsis spp. Trim as needed 6-9 Cottonwood Populus fremontii Trim as needed Occasional year round gathering Coyote Baccharis Brush, Dwarf pilularis Chaparral Broom Prune in the spring year-round occasional gathering Creosote Bush Larrea tridentata Do not prune after rains 3-10 Cudweed Gnaphaliu m spp Do not prune during harvest period 7-9 Deerweed (Deer Vetch, California Broom) Lotus scoparius Do not prune when flowering 3-8 Deergrass Muhlenberg Cut/burn every 2 years in Novia rugens Dec. 10-2 Desert Holly Atriplex hymenelytr a Remove vegetation from the ROW as necessary 1-4 Dock (Willow Dock, Yellow Dock) Rumex spp. Remove vegetation from the ROW as necessary 3-12 Dodder Cuscuta californica Do not remove buckwheat bushes on which Dodder grows unless necessary for firebreaks Occasional yearround gathering Dogbane Apocynum (Indian Black cannabinu Hemp) m Remove vegetation from the ROW as necessary 5-10 Iris Douglasian a Do not disturb. If possible, transplant bulbs when working in ROW 3-7 Dudleya Do not disturb. If possible, transplant when working in ROW 4-8 Douglas Iris (Wild Iris) Dudleya, Live Forever Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 62 Elderberry The Music Tree Sambucus mexicana Do not cut or remove trees; contact Gabrielino-Tongva consulting groups in the area 3-8 Ephedra Ephedra spp. Cut for firebreaks only Occasional yearround gathering Four Wing Saltbush Atriplex canescens Remove vegetation from the ROW as necessary varies according to rainfall; 4-9 Giant Reed, Carrizo Arundo donax Remove vegetation from the ROW as necessary 2-7 Giant Wild Rye Leymus condensatu s Remove vegetation from the ROW as necessary 3-8 Horehound Marrubium vulgare Remove vegetation from the ROW as necessary Year-round Humboldt Lily Lilium humboldtii Do not cut or remove plants 2-8 Incense Cedar Calocedrus decurrens Do not cut or remove trees; trim lower brances as necessary 4-8 Indian Tobacco, (White Leafed) (N. attenuata); (N. beglovii) Nicotiana attenuata, N. beglovii Do not cut or remove plants unless necessary; hand-trim around them when working in ROW 4-9 Ironwood Olneya tesota Trim as necessary when not in bloom 3-6 Jimsonweed, Datura, Toluaca, Toloache, Datura wrightii Do not trim unless necessary 4-12 Joshua Tree Yucca brevifolia Do not cut or trim year-round occasional gathering Jumping Cholla Cactus, Cylindropu Do not cut; trim as needed ntia fulgida, Cylindropu Sacred Thorn Apple Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 5-8 63 Teddy Bear Cholla ntia spp., Opuntia bigelovii Laurel Sumac Malosma laurina; Rhus laurina Cut/burn to the ground every three years in Nov.-Dec. 11-2 Lemonadebe rry Rhus integrifolia Trim as necessary when not in bloom 2-6 Manzanita, Big-Berry Manzanita Arctostaphyl Trim as needed os glauca 5-8 Manzanita, Mission Manzanita Soboochesh Arctostaphy Trim as needed los manzanita, Xylococcus bicolor 6-9 Milkweed, Narrow-leaf Milkweed Asclepias fascicularis 5-12 Mistletoe Phoradendr Leave plants undisturbed on flavescens, P. spp. 10-2 Mohave Yucca Yucca schidigera Do not cut; contact Gabrielino-Tongva consulting groups in the area fall fruit harvests; 9-11 Monkeyflow er Mimulus spp. Do not cut Occasional yearround gathering Mountain Mahogany Cercocarpu s betuloides Trim as needed Occasional yearround gathering Mugwort Artemisia douglasian a Remove vegetation from the slope as necessary 6-10 Mulefat, Baccharis Seep Willow, salicifolia Mule’s Fat, Guatamote Do not trim or remove trees 1-12 Oak, Scrub Oak, Black Oak (Q. Trim understories or “ladder” as necessary Occasional yearround gathering Quercus spp. Do not cut; hand-trim around Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 64 kelloggii), Coast Live Oak (Q. agrifolia), Sonoran Scrub Oak/Shrub Live Oak (Q. turbinella) Oak Galls - Do not cut or trim year-round as necessary Palo Verdes Parkinsonia Do not cut or trim Aculeata 4-8 Phacelia Phacelia spp. Do not cut or trim while in bloom 3-7 Pines Pinus spp. Do not cut or trim unless necessary year-round as necessary Poison-Oak Toxicodend ron diversilobu m Remove as needed Harvested as needed yearround Port Orford Cedar Chamaecyp aris lawsoniana Do not cut 4-7 for berries, year-round for wood Prickly Pear Cactus Opuntia spp. Do not cut; contact Gabrielino-Tongva consulting groups in the area 7-10 Puncture Vine Tribulus terrestris Remove as necessary year-round occasional gathering Rabbitbrush, Stickyleaf Rabbitbrush, Yellow Rabbitbrush, Green rabbitbrush Chrysotham Remove as necessary nus Redbud, Western redbud Cercis Do not cut occidentalis 8-11 viscidiflorus; C. nauseosus Ribbonwood, Adenostom (Redshank, a Chamiso sparsifoliu Do not trim or remove trees Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 3-5 Occasional yearround gathering 65 Colorado) m Russian Thistle Salsola iberica, S. kali. Cut/burn to the ground every three years in Nov.-Dec. 2-8 Sage, Black Salvia mellifera Remove vegetation from ROW when necessary 3-8 Sage, White Sage Salvia apiana Avoid cutting when possible 3-8 Sagebrush, Big Artemisia tridentata (several variations) Remove vegetation from ROW when necessary 3-10 Sagebrush, Coastal Artemisia californica Remove vegetation from ROW when necessary 3-10 Santa Barbara Sedge, Slough grass Carex barbarae Do not remove 2-8 Showy Penstemon Penstemon spectabilis Do not remove 3-7 Snowberry Symphorica rpos spp. Do not remove 5-8 Sugarbush Rhus ovata Trim as needed but do not remove 3-6 Sumac Rhus spp. Trim as needed but do not remove 3-7 Sunflower Helianthus annuus, Helianthus spp. Avoid cutting from ROW when possible 7-10 Tarweed, Slender Tarewed Deinandra fasciculata/ Hemizonia fasciculata Avoid cutting from ROW when possible 5-9 Telegraph Weed Heterothec a grandiflora Remove vegetation from the ROW as necessary Occasional yearround gathering Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 66 Thistle (Milk Thistle, California Thistle, & Dwarf Thistle) Silybum mariamum, Circium coulteri, C. scariosum, C. occidentale Cut or burn to the ground every three years in winter; Trim as needed Year-round occasional gathering Toyon, Heteromele Hollyberry, s Christmasber arbutifolia ry, California Holly Do not cut or trim 9-3 Tree Tobacco, (Yellow Leafed) Nicotiana glauca Trim as necessary Year-round gathering as necessary Valerian, Red Valerian, Jupiter’s Beard; and California Valerian Centranthu s ruber and Valeriana californica Avoid cutting 3-7 for leaves; roots year-round occasional gathering White Alder Alnus rhombifolia Trim as needed Year-round occasional gathering White Nightshade Solanum americanu m Trim as necessary 6-10 Wild Onion Allium spp. Do not cut 4-9 Willow, Arroyo Willow, Gooddings Black Willow Salix lasiolepis and S. gooddingii Do not cut Occasional yearround gathering Willow, Narrow-leaf (Coyote Willow) Salix exigua Do not cut Blooms 3-4; occasional gathering yearround Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 67 Willow, Red Salix laevigata Do not cut unless necessary Blooms 3-4; occasional gathering yearround Yarrow Achillea millefolium Do not cut unless necessary 4-9 Yerba Santa, Felt-leaf, Fuzzy-leaf Eriodictyon crassifoliu m Do not cut summer leaf gathering Yerba Santa, Shiny Leaf, Sticky-leaf Eriodictyon trichocalyx Do not cut summer leaf gathering Yucca, Chaparral Yucca, Our Lord's Candle Hesperoyuc ca whipplei Do not cut Year-round occasional gathering Yucca, Mohave Yucca, Spanish Bayonet Yucca schidigera and Yucca baccata Do not cut Year-round occasional gathering [Insert Appendix Maps on next page] Caltrans D7 Region/VenturaCounty Ethnographic Consultation 68 References Cited Anderson, Kat 2005 Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California's Natural Resources. 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