Dance is the Heartbeat of Chumash Culture

Dancing is our community's beating heart. Where ancient songs emerge from modern throats, carrying stories of our tomol, our ancestors, the sun rising, our reverence for the land and sea. "Dancing connects us," Cristina Gonzales says. "To our ancestors, to each other, to the land." Each ceremony brings together scattered families, returning to honor traditions. The painstaking preparation of regalia becomes moments of quiet storytelling between generations: how to string delicate shell beads into necklaces, twining tule reeds into skirts that whisper with movement, making rattles, clapper sticks, head dresses. Serious moments of teaching give way to laugher—because that's our way; smiles, hugs, support.

Dancers have many roles in our community: some dance only at private ceremonies, some dance at Native events, and some, like the Chumash Dance Sisters group also travel across California to share their dances and songs with Native and non-Native communities. Whatever their role, all of our dancers carry the wisdom of those who had danced before them, each beat sustained the rhythm of Chumash life—past and present, reaching toward tomorrow.