Well before Spanish explorers reached the western coast of what is now known as North America—and long before the ideology of conquest spread across Europe—the Indigenous peoples of this continent lived, flourished, and cared for these lands. Millions of Indigenous people lived across North America prior to colonization and the devastating violence, displacement, and genocide that followed. Their societies were remarkably diverse, encompassing hundreds of distinct Nations, languages, governance systems, and cultures, from small villages to thriving population centers. It can be surprising for those unfamiliar with this history to recognize the sophistication and scale of the Indigenous civilizations that once flourished throughout this land.

Indigenous peoples maintained deep relationships with their homelands, grounded in generations of ecological knowledge, cultural practice, and reciprocal responsibility. Their survival and well-being were inseparable from the health of the Earth. Through careful observation of seasonal cycles, waters, plants, animals, rocks, and minerals, they developed sophisticated systems of knowledge that sustained their communities for thousands of years. Many Indigenous cultures practiced reciprocity with the natural world, taking what was needed while expressing gratitude and giving back in accordance with their cultural teachings. Their spiritual traditions, ceremonies, and lifeways were deeply rooted in the unique landscapes they called home.

Colonization, forced assimilation policies, and deliberate efforts to suppress Indigenous languages, spiritual practices, and cultural traditions caused profound and lasting harm. Yet Indigenous communities have protected, revitalized, and continued their cultures through generations of resilience. Today, there is growing recognition of the importance of Indigenous knowledge systems, languages, and cultural traditions, alongside increasing efforts to support Indigenous-led cultural revitalization.

In the Santa Barbara region, the Chumash are an Indigenous people whose communities have lived in relationship with the coastal waters, islands, valleys, and mountains of this region for thousands of years, and whose culture continues to thrive today. Their traditional territory extended more than 7,000 square miles—from the beaches of present-day Malibu to Paso Robles and inland to the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley. The local climate, ecology, geography, and topography shaped a rich and enduring culture with deep maritime traditions and an intimate understanding of the natural world.

Historical records make clear that Spanish colonization, the Mission system, Mexican rule, and later United States expansion profoundly disrupted Chumash communities, languages, cultural practices, and access to their ancestral lands. Prior to colonization, Chumash communities were vibrant and interconnected. People spoke multiple languages across their diverse territory and sustained dynamic economies, sophisticated knowledge systems, and rich ceremonial traditions. These cultural practices were inseparable from the landscapes of the Channel Islands and the Santa Monica and Santa Ynez Mountains. Chumash oral traditions and Origin Stories reflect these enduring relationships with place, while rock art—including pictographs and petroglyphs—continues to offer evidence of the spiritual and cultural significance of these lands.

Throughout Santa Barbara's Front Country, where many of us enjoy the region's trail system today, we believe it is important to recognize the history of this place and remember that we are walking on Chumash ancestral homelands. Many of the trails we now hike and that the Montecito Trails Foundation helps maintain have been traveled by Chumash people for countless generations.

Romero Canyon Trail connected communities living along the coast with those in the Santa Ynez Valley. San Ysidro Trail linked the village in present-day Montecito with smaller encampments, waterfalls, and important gathering places in the mountains. Hot Springs Trail leads to healing waters that were known and used by the Chumash long before visitors from around the world discovered them.

Along these trails, people gathered food, harvested plants, collected minerals and building materials, hunted, and cared for the landscape through generations of intimate knowledge. Today, Chumash knowledge, language revitalization, and cultural traditions continue to be renewed and strengthened through the leadership of Chumash communities and cultural practitioners.

We hope the non-Indigenous community may come to learn alongside them—not for co-option or appropriation, but with humility, reverence, and respect—recognizing that Chumash culture is vibrant and alive today. Organizations such as our partners, Tribal Trust Foundation and the Barbareño Band of Chumash Indians, provide meaningful opportunities to learn how we can respectfully support Indigenous communities both locally and around the world.

While we cannot change history, we can choose to acknowledge our shared story and recognize that the Chumash people, along with Indigenous peoples around the world, deserve to be respected, honored, and supported. Indigenous philosophies rooted in reciprocity, responsibility, belonging, and care for the living world offer valuable perspectives as we seek more sustainable relationships with one another and with the Earth. The values that shape a culture ultimately shape the choices its people make.

By opening our hearts and minds, we may begin to see these familiar trails — and the living landscapes around us— from a new perspective.

Perhaps we can walk them with new soles...and new souls.

We believe that the more deeply we know the living world, the more deeply we will be inspired to care for it.

We invite you to honor the people who have cared for this place since time immemorial — and who continue to steward, strengthen, and share their culture today — by taking a contemplative walk on these ancestral trails. You can do this any day of the year. This year, we invite you to this gathering:

Chumash Trails Day: Old Trails, New Soles, in observance of Indigenous Peoples Day

Monday, October 10, from 9:00–11:00 a.m.

Montecito Upper Village Green

Representatives from Barbareño Band of Chumash Indians, Tribal Trust Foundation, and the Montecito Trails Foundation will be available to answer questions and share information. Trail maps, available in both English and Spanish, will guide you along routes that invite reflection on Chumash history, culture, and enduring connection to this land.

As you walk these trails, we hope you experience the landscape through a renewed sense of place, gratitude, and relationship.