After decades of planning, the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center is scheduled to open to the public this month in Santa Barbara County.
The museum, located off Highway 246 next to the Chumash Casino Resort, features more than 24,000 culturally significant artifacts, including traditional baskets, musical instruments and hunting tools. Its outdoor grounds are home to more than 11,000 native plants historically used by tribal members to make items such as baskets and medicines.
“This is a space for healing and empowerment,” said Isabel Marshall, a tribal staff member. “When it comes to our elders, they’re able to express themselves in ways that maybe they weren’t able to due to being suppressed as a marginalized group. And for our youth, it’s very empowering for their own self-identity as American Indians in today’s world.”
Nikia Zavalla, culture director for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, said the museum’s opening is deeply personal.
“Unfortunately throughout the years, that American history hasn’t been told through the eyes of American Indians,” Zavalla said. “And the Chumash people have a lot to tell.”
Zavalla added that while growing up, she rarely saw her culture reflected in American history classes—something she hopes the museum will begin to change for local schools.
Many of the artifacts on display were donated by tribal families or returned through the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, a law passed in 1990 that requires institutions to return certain cultural items to tribes.
The museum is scheduled to open on May 15. Admission ranges from $10 to $15.
