Native Plant Walk with Patrick Tumamait for LPFW Forest Academy

Join me and Chumash elder/culturalist Patrick Tumamait as we venture along Shelf Road, a trail bordering Los Padres National Forest that offers sweeping views of the valley. Explore Chumash history, the name Awhai for the valley, and the cultural significance of native plants and all of nature. Participants will learn to identify local species and explore their uses.

This walk is part one of the Forest Academy, Los Padres ForestWatch’s four-part Flora & Fauna learning series. You can join this one outing or all four!

🌿 Learn more and register: forestwatch.org/event/native-plant-walk

Patrick Tumamait is the son of Vincent Tumamait & Lucy Castro Tumamait. He grew up in the Ojai Valley and still lives in the Meiners Oaks neighborhood near the birthplace of his great, great grandmother, Maria Ricarda Alulalmeque, who was raised in the Chumash village of Matilija. Pat has traced his family lineage from his father to at least 11 known Chumash villages and as far back as the mid-18th century.

Pat works as a native Chumash representative monitoring excavation sites from Malibu to Santa Barbara to the Channel Islands, part of that in consultation with archeologists in the event of any findings. He sees that everything is handled appropriately according to protocol. 

 “The culture and the people are still alive. Our life entails protecting the cultural history and ancestry of our people, having people recognize the past as a legacy to our future. Protection and awareness so that we can share it with others and preserve it for the future generations to come.”