Cold Weather

• For colder seasons, the Chumash tribe wore animal skins, which kept them worn. They donned feather robes and deerskin capes. The men and women both wore cloaks and caps of fur, feather and hides when the temperature dipped.The chief wore a waist-length bearskin cape, which signified his status within the tribe.
  
  

Warm Weather

• The Chumash didn't wear much clothing when it was warm. The men went naked except for the ceremonial belt that was made of woven hide or grasses. They hung work tools from the belt. The men did not braid their hair but wore it long and in a ponytail. The women wore deerskin skirts and knee-length grass skirts. They never wore moccasins. Instead, they wore sandals or went barefoot. The women also wore a skirt that looked very much like a double apron when it was warm. The women had long hair and bangs, which they achieved by burning, rather than cutting, their hair.
  
  

Mission Provisions

• Mission workers gave cloth to the Chumash Indian women, according to Travis Hudson, editor of "Breath of Sun," 1980. Each woman got eight feet of material that was four feet wide and in a variety of colors and with fringe so they could make a silk shawl. They were also given some cloth to make sheets out of. The men were given a serape, which was a brightly colored blanket that they put on over their head. There was a hole in the top of the serape expressly for the head. The kids were given muslin from which G-strings were made. The women also received a white cotton blouse, a woolen skirt and a blanket. The men wore G-strings and didn't start wearing pants until 1847 and they wore their G-strings under their pants. The Indians usually only had one set for clothing, which they washed over and over again.
  
  

Chumash Facts

• Body paint was popular because it signified their status within the tribe as well as providing protection from the sun. The women and men both wore decorated and carved
  
  bones, shell ornaments and wood ornaments in noses and ears. The males went bare-headed and did not wear war bonnets and the women wore basket hats that were fez-shaped. Unlike other tribes. the Chumash were matriarchal. This means that the lineage was traced back on the mother's, not the father's, side, which meant that women could become the chief of the tribe.