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Teaching 3rd and 4th Graders to Love  California Indian History and Culture: An On-Line and In-Class Adventure

Module 4.1:  Chungichnich Macro-Culture

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Ethnies Cahuilla, Chumash, Cupeno, Diegueno, Gabrielino, Juaneno, Kamia, Kitanemuk, Luiseno, Serrano,
Transition ethnies Esselen, Kawaiisu, Salinan, Tubatulabl
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Shared Elements
Economy Communal
Government Autonomous villages with head man
Shamanism Male or female, broad knowledge of natural cures
Marriage Exogamy without moiety and village
Ceremonies Annual mourning ceremony, toloache male puberty ceremony, female heating puberty ceremony, sand painting, bird songs (social)
Creation Story Motif (coast) Mother earth, father sky; (inland) quarreling brothers 
Basketry High quality coiled
Primary Food Acorns

 

The Chungichnich macro-culture may have been the creation of a prophet known as Chungichnich who, at one point, lived at Puvunga, a large Gabrielino village located on the approximate site of present day Cal State, Long Beach.  He probably lived some time just prior to the arrival of the Spanish which took place around 1770.  Chungichnich influence spread as far north as Monterey to the Salinan and Esselen ethnies and well south onto the Baja California peninsula.  

The Chungichnich macro-cultural tenets were key to successful economic and social aspects of the adhering ethnies.  Marrying outside of one's moiety and village ensured close blood relationships with all neighboring villages.  This not only therefore ensured peace, but it also ensured economic assistance in times of famine or disaster.  The relatively dense hunter/gatherer population that existed in the Chungichnich necessitated the order the macro-culture provided.

The Chungichnich macro-culture is often referred to as a toloache culture.  This is a result of the practice of using the hallucinogen datura (toloache) in the male puberty ceremonies.  Though datura was indeed used for these rites, male puberty rites were not the most important of the Chungichnich macro-culture and the general use of toloache was by no means reflective of the nature of the culture since it was used for no other reason.

The most important rite of the Chungichnich macro-culture was the annual mourning ceremony for the dead.  The complex social obligations of this rite resulted in important inter-village fellowship providing a vehicle for family reunions, friendship revival, and mutual aid in times of disaster or famine.  This contact vitalized trade, ensured peace, and provided the occasion for the retelling of the stories and the singing of the songs.

 

Populations Year 1700 Year 1800 Year 1900 Year 2000
Cahuilla 8,000 8,000 1,300 1,300
Chumash 10,000 9,000 100 1,500
Cupeno 750 750 200 200
Diegueno 3,000 3,000 700 2,500
Gabrielino 5,000 4,000 50 50
Juaneno 1,000 500 50 50
Kamia 300 300 0 0
Kitanemuk 750 700 50 50
Luiseno 10,000 6,000 1,000 2,600
Serrano 1,500 1,500 100 150
         
Total Chungichnich 40,300 33,750 3,550 8,400

Datura (Toloache)   http://entheogen.com/datura/faq.html#1

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