Census Finds Mysterious Chumash Population Boom

If the U.S. Census Bureau is to be believed, the tiny Chumash Indian tribe is experiencing a population boom, growing faster than almost any other group of people in the country, according to a report released this month.

The 1990 census counted 3,208 Chumash nationwide, up 120% from the 1,458 reported in 1980.

But the report also said Chumash women have an average of only about 2.5 children each. And unlike other rapidly growing racial and ethnic groups, the population of Native Americans does not increase because of immigration.

Instead, anthropology experts said, the mysterious population boom shown in the census reflects changing attitudes as much as changing populations. The problem is that some people who claim to be Chumash really are not, and some who claim not to be really are, said John Johnson, curator of anthropology at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. The Census Bureau has no way of knowing the difference.

“It’s all based on self-identification and sometimes it’s imaginary,” Johnson said. “I don’t put much stock in it.”

Russell Thornton, a professor of anthropology at UCLA, said the jump in Chumash population seemed too high to be a natural increase. He, too, said it probably reflected a change in self-identification as much as a change in birth or death rates.

“It’s kind of been fashionable since the ‘60s to be a member of an ethnic group,” Thornton said. “Some people just want to jump on the bandwagon. Some people feel like they no longer have to be ashamed.”

Thornton said the most glaring problem with the census was that it allowed people to identify themselves as members of only one racial group. Racial boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred as a result of intermarriage, he said, and the census figures do not reflect the reality of mixed families.

Census officials counted 408 Chumash in Los Angeles County and fewer than 400 in Ventura County, although they could not provide an exact number. About 350 Chumash live on a Santa Ynez reservation in Santa Barbara County.

Before European settlers arrived, the Chumash ranged across Ventura County and much of the central coast. Remnants of their villages are often uncovered at construction sites, and many developers, following state and local laws, employ Chumash monitors of Indian sites. Chumash-style art decorates Ventura City Hall and Thousand Oaks’ new Civic Arts Plaza.

Rosa Pace, a spokeswoman for the Santa Ynez band, said she found the higher census count an encouraging sign of increased education and pride of heritage.

“In the past, there have been times that people were not putting down that they were Indian on the survey,” Pace said. She said tribal representatives worked with census officials in 1990 to encourage Chumash to report themselves.

Nationally, despite a low rate of high school graduation, the Chumash are wealthier than most other tribes, according to statistics released Thursday in the 1,400-page Census Bureau report, “Characteristics of American Indians by Tribe and Language.”

Of Chumash older than 25, 64.3% had high school diplomas or more advanced degrees. That falls below the U.S. figure of 75.2% and the Native American rate of 65.6%.

The median family income for Chumash was $30,856, higher than the Native American median of $21,619 but lower than the $35,225 figure for the general population, the report said.

Johnson said the education and income figures were useless because of the distortion that goes along with self-identification.

But another expert said the census report’s information seemed reasonable to him. Paul Valenzuela Varela, executive director of the Oak Brook Park Chumash Interpretive Center, said most of the Chumash he knew were laborers who worked hard but quit school after eighth grade.

“Our families didn’t have much education at all,” Varela said, adding that the trend seems to be changing with subsequent generations.