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MOLMOLOQ'IKU AND THE BEGINNING OF THE CHUMASH HIST
« Thread Started on May 1, 2007, 12:11pm »

MOLMOLOQ'IKU AND THE BEGINNING OF THE CHUMASH HISTORICAL UNIVERSE

The history of the Chumash People starts at the beginning of their
world. There is however, no existing creation story for the Chumash;

"surviving Chumash myths provide no statement concerning how the
universe was created, or anything that describes a creator ... it may
well be that such an ... account ... never existed at all--perhaps it
was simply not needed."

Creation or rather re-creation, was nevertheless a continual theme in
Chumash life long ago. Year-end public ceremonies annually abolished
time and history in the sense of our own twentieth-century
understanding of these terms. In the process, a new world was
collectively regenerated by the whole of Chumash society. All
ceremonial activities, whether they were individual or collective,
public or private, were expressions of re-creation. As such, the
first verse of a "medicine song," attributed to a Chumash man named
Carlos from Mission Santa Ynez goes: "they will create us with their
breath," and the second verse vaguely refers to the Santa Barbara
Channel Islands. This chant is thought to be a curing song used by
Coyote.

Regardless of whether or not the universe ever had a beginning, the
Chumash perceived a world that was five-tiered with three main
divisions. The human world was in the middle of the three primary
parts, and was called Itiashup, with Mount Pi�os Iwihinmu as its
center. Humans themselves likely originated from this place. Below
Itiashup was C'oyinashup, the lower world, which was the realm of
powerful and dangerous monsters called the nunashush. The world above
Itiashup was filled with wonderful and immensely powerful, though
potentially dangerous, "sky people" including Sun, his daughters,
Moon, Morning Star, and Shnilemun Sky Coyote, among many others. This
upper world, called Mishupashup, was itself a model of the whole
world, with two worlds above it.

Sun's name in the Chumash sacred language was Kakunupmawa, meaning
"the radiance of the child of the winter solstice." The dawn light of
each new day is Kakunupmawa's breath expressed as a sigh. Bears,
rattlesnakes, deer, mountain lions and ravens were the "pets of Sun."
The Sky People were probably the inventors of masuqtskumu, the
Chumash calendar, spanning twelve months in one year. Mishupashup,
supported in the sky upon the wings of the giant golden eagle Slo'w,
was also home to other powerful beings who could be seen as "planets,
and significant stars and constellations." Above this world was
Alapayashup, and above that, Alapay. Alapay was a mysterious place
where the solitary and nondescript Xoy resided alone, leaving his
world only to attend celebrations in Mishupashup.

Itiashup, where human beings live, was perceived of as being a great
island which floated in a vast, circular ocean. Elye'wun swordfish
were the "people of the sea." In addition to that "biggest island"
and the eight islands of the California Bight, the Chumash said that
there were three others; Wit Condor, Ayaya, and Shimilaqsha, that
together made up the "Land of the Dead," where Shaq, or Turtle, was
the wot, or chief. The earliest inhabitants of the world were the
"First People," called Molmoloq'iku, and many of them were giants.
Slo'w, the big golden eagle who held up the upper world, was the wot
of the Molmoloq'iku and the "giver of laws" for the First People.
Thus, he was also the original lawmaker for the Chumash. Sub-chiefs
included Xelex Falcon, and hawks of many different species. Mudhen
(Coot), called Ksen, was a messenger. Hew Pelican and Mut Cormorant
were the first mariners and fishermen. They also were both wealthy
canoe owners and probably invented boats. Crow, called Ax, was the
original story-teller. Anaqp�w Wildcat, Tuk'�'m Mountain
Lion, and
Shi'w Elk were the first hunters. Muhu Owl, Taxama Skunk, and Ashka
shniwush Coyote, were the original shamans.

One of the most prominent of the Molmoloq'iku was a very wealthy,
elderly widow named Momoy. After the Flood, Momoy was transformed
into her present form, that of the Jimson Weed plant. Grandmother
Momoy figured prominently in Chumash religious beliefs and practices.
Momoy's granddaughter, who was born at the village Homomoy was the
wife of Oxkon Thunder, who created Zaca Lake in Santa Barbara County.
With Thunder and his brother Fog, she had twin sons, Six'usus Little
Thunder, and Sumiwowo Little Fog, who interestingly were also the
grandchildren of Momoy. Six'usus was the older of the two brothers,
and a great mischief-maker. He was the first person to wear sandals,
and thus was the inventor of shoes. The aunt of the twin Thunders was
a nunashush named Ashixuch "the burner," who lived on Seneq "at the
woman" mountain (Santa Ynez Peak). Ashixuch was later killed by the
twins' fathers "Old Thunder and Old Fog."

Another powerful nunashush, the sucking monster Haphap, once chased
the twin Thunders through the Santa Ynez mountain range. As he did
so, the Haphap sucked in great pieces of the land, spitting out rocks
and dirt, thus creating gaps in the mountains that can still be seen.
The twins later killed Haphap in Laurel Canyon, as evidenced by the
"big, cracked rocks there." The twin Thunders also killed two other
powerful nunashush, Yowoyow and Xolxol. Pohono, a nunashush who
attempted to capture Six'usus and Sumiwowo in her tar-filled burden
basket, was killed when Coyote, the twins' uncle, rescued them.

Ashka shniwush Coyote "came into existence" from the sweat of
Grandmother Momoy. He was born at Capwaya village, and his
grandfather was a wot. As the model for all human behaviors which
came later, Coyote was both Wise Man and Trickster; he represented all
of the best and all the worst that people could do. To the Chumash
Indians, Coyote was a hero in the classical sense of the term and his
exploits were well-known. In the same manner as other prominent,
influential Chumash, Coyote carried several different names, each of
which describe different aspects of his character. His birth name was
Nawaqmayt "something to be feared." Another of these names was
Shupusiwas, meaning "he who knows."

Coyote knew and loved women. He is quoted as exclaiming, "events in
the world are alright, but what changes things in this world is love
of a woman." He seduced Fox and Wildcat, the fianc�es of Xelex and
Slo'w respectively. Each woman bore twelve sons from their sexual
unions with Coyote. In response to the unrequited love of Coyote,
Tspe'ey kaxutash "Flower of the World," the daughter of Slo'w Golden
Eagle, left the East Santa Cruz Island village of Swaxul to endlessly
roam the seas surrounding the island of Halashat "victory" (San
Nichol�s Island). All inshore fish and shellfish are her progeny.
Coyote married Toad, and when she was killed by "Tulare�os"
(Yokuts
Indians), for a wrong that Coyote had committed, he pursued her into
the land of the dead, where she tried unsuccessfully to trick him into
being killed in order to force him into joining her there. Coyote
married Frog, the "Queen of the Waters," and had sixteen sons with
her. Frog withheld the waters in a dispute with Coyote, later
unleashing them in a raging torrent down Mission Creek in Santa Barbara. The zigzags in the creek today are evidence of the path that
Coyote took in his escape. Coyote also married Qaq Raven, and had a
very mischievous son with her.

Coyote's escapades and adventures ranged far and wide through the
lands of the Chumash, involving more than his numerous exploits with
women. On an occasion when some fishermen insulted Coyote, he
initiated a war of retaliation against them, that involved "companies
of men from Ventura, La Purisima and the Tulare." In another episode,
while in a fit of boredom, Coyote walked the hills behind Ventura, and
"defecated everywhere," permanently ruining the water quality there.

Eventually, a great flood occurred, drowning all the Molmoloq'iku.
Kakunupmawa caused the flood to end when he heard the cries of
Maqutikok Acorn Woodpecker, from atop the tallest tree on Mount
Pi�os,
at the center of the world. During this flood, the Molmoloq'iku were
transformed into their present forms, as the plants and animals that
inhabit the world in human times. They continue to exist however, as
Molmoloq'iku, in the previously-mentioned other world, parallel to our
own. The event of Momoy's transformation into the datura plant "marked
the transition between mythical times . . .and the advent of the world
order familiar to the Chumash." More specifically perhaps, this
milestone denotes the appearance of a world translatable and
recognizable to western eyes and perceptions. And as the waters of
the great flood retreated, this recognizable human world emerged from
Iwihinmu Mount Pi�os.

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