4/18/2023 Chatsworth Historical Society - Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands –West of the West 1
Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands –West of the West
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•This presentation was inspired by the 3 hour public television
program “West of the West – Tales from California’s
Channel Islands”. The three episodes first aired in Southern
California in May 2016 on KCET-TV.
•The DVD is available for purchase at
http://www.thecifilm.com/. Several DVDs have been donated
to the Los Angeles Public Library. And episodes are available
on Amazon Prime Video for $0.99 each.
•The first one hour program is Ancient Peoples of the
Channel Islands. Beginning with the discovery of the oldest
human remains ever found in North America –13,000 year
old Arlington Springs Man on Santa Rosa Island –to the true
story of the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island –the
inspiration for the best selling children’s book Island of the
Blue Dolphins.
Chatsworth Historical Society - Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands –West of the West4/18/2023
Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands –West of the West
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•Evidence that people had arrived on
Santa Rosa Island 13,000 years ago
demonstrates that watercraft were in use
along the California coast at that early
date.
•This leads to a theory that the earliest
peoples to enter the Western
Hemisphere may have migrated along
the Pacific coast from Siberia and Alaska
using boats, along the “Kelp Highway”.
•This presentation will begin with a brief
introduction, followed by a 44 minute
edited version of the first one hour
episode, followed by a question & answer
session.
Chatsworth Historical Society - Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands –West of the West4/18/2023
Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands –West of the West
The red arrow depicts a theoretical ancient
coastal migration route using watercraft along the
“Kelp Highway”
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•Five Tales are told in the first Episode:
•“Island Rotation” –The Geologic formation of the Channel Islands.
•“Prehistory and Archaeology” –The end of the Ice Age, Pygmy Mammoths, migration
along the Kelp Highway, and Arlington Springs Man.
•“First Contact – the Voyage of Cabrillo” in 1542 Cabrillo explored the Channel Islands,
only 50 years after Columbus’ voyage to the Caribbean Islands, and 21 years after
Cortez’s conquest of the Aztec Empire.
•“Chumash and Mission History -Once Upon a Time” –The Portola Expedition in
1769 begins the Mission system and colonization of Alta California (227 years after
Cabrillo’s visit)
•“The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island” –based on the true story of a woman
rescued in 1853 who had lived alone on San Nicolas Island for 18 years. The story was
the foundation for the classic 1960 children’s novel “Island of the Blue Dolphins”.
Chatsworth Historical Society - Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands –West of the West4/18/2023
Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands –West of the West
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•Local Archaeologists that are included in the program are John Johnson and Chester King.
Both of them have contributed to local historic projects, especially the 2006 Ethnohistoric
Overview for the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park.
Chatsworth Historical Society - Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands –West of the West4/18/2023
Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands –West of the West
Dr. Chester King discussing a village on Santa
Cruz island where the Chumash made stone
blades that were used as drills to make beads.
Dr. John Johnson discussing the geologic and
archaeological aspects of the islands
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•Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo was the first European to
navigate the coast of California.
•Cabrillo sailed into San Diego Bay in September
1542, then sailed up the coast to Catalina, San
Clemente, and San Miguel Islands. His three ships
traveled north past San Francisco, then overwintered
on either San Miguel or Santa Rosa island. He died
of gangrene on the island in January 1543, and the
fleet returned south to Mexico.
•The program makes a point of Petroglyphs of
Sailing Ships representing this “First Contact”, 70
miles inland from San Diego.
Chatsworth Historical Society - Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands –West of the West4/18/2023
“First Contact – The Voyage of Cabrillo”
Petroglyphs of Sailing Ships
representing “First Contact”
in the Jacumba National Wilderness
(70 miles east of San Diego)
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Albert Knight pointed out additional “Early Contact” petroglyphs at
Point Conception, just 30 miles north of the Channel Islands.
Incised into the red pigment of a Chumash rock shelter.
Chatsworth Historical Society - Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands –West of the West4/18/2023
Petroglyphs of a
Masted Vessel and
Anchor
representing
“Early Contact”
At Point Conception
8Chatsworth Historical Society - Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands –West of the West4/18/2023
Petroglyphs of a
Masted Vessel and
Anchor
representing
“Early Contact”
At Point Conception…
Incised into the red
pigment of a Chumash
rock shelter.
9Chatsworth Historical Society - Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands –West of the West4/18/2023
The 44 minute edited version of the first one hour episode,
West of the West –Part 1 –
Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands
is not included in this presentation. The DVD is available for purchase, or can be viewed by
borrowing it from the Los Angeles Public Library, or you can buy the episode from Amazon
Prime Video for $0.99
10Chatsworth Historical Society - Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands –West of the West4/18/2023
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Sources/Acknowledgements
• “West of the West – Tales from California’s Channel Islands”
•Contributions/Editing from Albert Knight, Anthropologist
Prepared by Ray Vincent, Chatsworth Historical Society, March 2018, revised Apr 2023
Chatsworth Historical Society - Ancient Peoples of the Channel Islands –West of the West4/18/2023
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