Santa Ynez Chumash Culture Day Marks 19th Annual Celebration on October 18

The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is set to welcome the public to its annual cultural gathering, the 19th Santa Ynez Chumash Culture Day, a vibrant celebration showcasing California-style Native American singing, dancing, food, and games. The free, family-friendly event is scheduled for Saturday, October 18th, running from noon until 9 p.m., at the intersection of Highway 246 and Meadowvale Road in Santa Ynez.

This public festival, which warmly welcomes attendees of all ages, will feature a continuous stream of cultural performances and demonstrations. Throughout the day, visitors will have the opportunity to interact with Native vendors and food booths and witness traditional basket-weaving demonstrations, offering a tangible connection to Indigenous craftsmanship.

According to Nakia Zavalla, the Cultural Director for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, the annual event is dedicated to honoring the original Native American people of California and providing a space for tribes to share their unique "languages, songs, dances, and stories." This year’s significant nineteenth iteration of the event will focus its theme on honoring the tribe’s traditional dugout canoe and estuaries.

The day’s activities will commence at noon with a Welcoming and Honoring ceremony, which includes a formal opening prayer and a tribute designed to remember and honor families who have lost loved ones since the previous year’s gathering. Following the opening, California-style Native American singing and dancing performances will take place continuously from 12:30 p.m. until 9 p.m.

The evening will conclude with a competitive spirit, as a traditional handgame tournament begins at 6 p.m. Teams will vie for substantial cash prizes, with the first-place winners receiving $1,800, second place earning $1,300, and the third-place team securing $750.

The Santa Ynez Chumash Culture Day is a joint effort sponsored by the tribe’s Elders Council and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians’ Culture Department. The Elders Council, operating as a division of the tribal government, holds the crucial responsibility of safeguarding the tribe's heritage, history, and traditions through the preservation of cultural resources. Interested parties can contact Tribal Administration for more information.

The Santa Ynez Indian Reservation, situated within Santa Barbara County, was officially established and federally recognized on December 27, 1901. Today, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians remains the only federally recognized Chumash tribe in the nation and operates as a self-governing sovereign nation, adhering to the laws set forth in its tribal constitution.