Walking with the Ancestors: A New Chapter at Bacara Resort & Spa

On the southern edge of the Bacara Resort & Spa in Santa Barbara guests wandering the resort’s lush grounds may now find themselves drawn to a quiet path, a quarter-mile loop winding through native brush and wildflowers. Here, interpretive signs share Chumash knowledge—stories of plants like Matilija poppy, coyote brush, and sycamore. These aren’t just beautiful additions to the landscape. They are ancestors. Medicines. Tools. Songs.

This is the Chumash Nature Walk, a collaboration between the Bacara Resort and the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation. It’s open to the public and quietly, powerfully, it is rewriting the way we walk through this land—no longer as strangers, but as guests invited to learn.

Just a few steps away, inside the resort, another invitation awaits.

“Living Art of Chumash Basketry”, a newly unveiled cultural exhibit, The cultural exhibit, located in the lobby, is a 309-square-foot mini-museum featuring photos, jewelry, a tomol paddle, musical instruments, a baby cradle, and dance regalia from the Chumash tribal communities of Samala, Shmuwich, Micqanaqa’n, and Tityutityu Tilhini, as well as a revolving display on modern-day Chumash lifestyles. The exhibit was curated by Dr. Deana Dartt and designed by Tima Link, both of the Coastal Band of Chumash. Curated by Dr. Deana Dartt and designed by Tima Link—both of the Coastal Band of Chumash.

For Dartt and Link, the exhibit is more than a display—it’s a platform. A way for Chumash voices to speak, clearly and proudly, on their ancestral lands. And it’s an act of restoration: not just of knowledge, but of presence.

The partnership between the Chumash and Bacara didn’t happen overnight. It grew from dialogue, respect, and a shared vision of what it means to coexist with the land—and with each other. At its core, this project is about relationship. Between people. Between cultures. Between the past and the present.

As guests move between the exhibit and the trail, they are offered a rare opportunity: to see the world not just through their own eyes, but through the lens of a people who have called this coastline home for thousands of years.