The Tomol
The Chumash are a maritime culture, originally based on both the mainland and on the Channel Islands. In addition to plant foods such as acorns, marine resources provided much of the subsistence base for Chumash food procurement. Two specific strategies were involved in obtaining marine food sources for Santa Barbara Chumash. The first involved taking advantage of low tides, when mussels, abalone, and other shellfish are often exposed and can be gathered. Seals and sea lions were also hunted on or near shore. The second strategy focused on intensive fishing activity using sophisticated capture technology such as hook and line, nets, and harpoons. This capture technology was also used in offshore fishing, utilizing seaworthy plank canoes or tomols built by Santa Barbara Channel Chumash.
Tomols were also used for trade between the mainland and the Channel Islands, and for ceremonial voyages. Powered with double-ended paddles, tomols can transport five to eight people at a time or over 2,000 pounds of fish or other cargo. Only one other civilization—located in Southern Chile—built plank canoes. Everyone else used dugouts or birch-bark canoes.
Estimated to be in use for over 1,000 years, tomols were frameless canoes with no internal ribs, made mainly from redwood that washed up on the beaches of the mainland and Channel Islands. Wima, the Chumash word for Santa Rosa Island, means “redwood driftwood”. The word tomol in the Chumash language meant both “canoe” and “pine” because the tomol was often made from pine planks. The best tomols, however, were made of redwood, which is softer and easier to craft than pine, and it swells and prevents leaks when wet. The Chumash split the wood logs into planks using wedges and deer antlers. The planks were carefully shaped, trimmed, leveled with scrapers, adzes (like an ax), and chert knives, and then finished with sharkskin sandpaper. Examples of these items are on display in this area.
When Spanish sailors encountered the tomols on the open sea, they were very impressed by these vessels. The tomol we have in the Museum was constructed by (and is on loan from) the present-day Chumash Maritime Association.
The Chumash Use of Asphaltum
The Chumash were the first people to take advantage of our local natural oil seeps and were known for their innovative use of asphaltum, enhancing their way of living by using asphaltum to seal water-carrying baskets and waterproof ocean-going tomols. These allowed them to cross the Channel and move up and down the coast from island to island.
Holes were bored into the planks of tomols using hand drills tipped with chert or bone. The planks were then fastened together with tok (dogbane or milkweed fiber). Once fitted and lashed, caulking tule (bulrush abundant in marshy areas) was forced into the cracks on the outside of the canoe hull. For waterproofing, yop, a mixture of pine pitch and hard asphaltum, was poured along the edge where the planks came together and into the holes where the cords were tied.
Asphaltum was also used to coat sewing strings and fishing spears, to seal tiny holes in abalone shells that became bowls, and in the construction and decoration of pipes and whistles. Similar to glue, asphaltum could be used to repair and seal fractures in broken bowls and vessels. Women even wadded up asphaltum to hold down the bottoms of their plant-fiber skirts. Yop was also used for lining the inside of baskets to be used as early water bottles. Asphaltum: Chumash Super Glue is an April 2017 SBMM lecture that can be viewed on the Museum’s website for more information.
Historic accounts and rare photographs of tomols make it possible to reconstruct these marvelous vessels, whose sturdy construction enabled the Chumash to navigate the Santa Barbara Channel. Today, the Chumash build tomols using modern tools and methods, as they recapture their nearly lost traditional tomol-building techniques. The efforts of the Chumash Maritime Association to recapture their maritime heritage are part of a thriving, extensive movement by West Coast tribal groups to reconstruct their seafaring traditions and pass them on to future generations.
Learn About Our Other Museum Exhibits
Santa Barbara Maritime Museum has several other fascinating exhibits, and there's something fun for everyone in the family. Come learn about 13,000 years of human history in the Santa Barbara Channel, including the Chumash Indians, deep sea divers, shipwrecks, commercial fishing, and so much more. We also have several contemporary exhibits about the evolution of surfing, oil spills, whales, and marine life. There are several fun and interactive exhibits and activities for kids too.