Santa Barbara County is the ancestral homeland of the Chumash people, who have stewarded this land and its coastal and inland ecosystems for thousands of years through traditional ecological knowledge, cultural practice, and relationship to place. While multiple Chumash bands exist, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is the only federally recognized tribe in the county today. The Chumash, a resilient people with a sophisticated and thriving society, endured profound assault and dispossession as a result of successive waves of colonization under Spanish, Mexican, and American rule.

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Today, Chumash communities continue to demonstrate strength and leadership by preserving cultural traditions, advancing environmental stewardship, and contributing to the social, cultural, spiritual, and ecological well-being of the region.