Calabasas : Botanist to Discuss Chumash Plant Use

Botanist Jerry Sortomme unlocks the mysteries of ancient Chumash culture by studying plants.

On Wednesday at Soka University, he will discuss the role of jimson weed in Chumash religion.

The Chumash used the hallucinogenic plant in puberty rituals and last-rites ceremonies, among other things, said Sortomme, who is chairman of the environmental horticulture department at Santa Barbara City College.

Studying how the Chumash viewed the plant, he said, helped him gain insight into the psyche of the Native American tribe, whose culture is thought to be at least 8,000 years old.

He will also discuss the role of the Matilija poppy in Chumash mythology. The Chumash tell of their gods creating the poppy from the soul of a pure maiden, who died from a broken heart after the death of her lover. The woman’s soul, the myth goes, was transformed by the gods into the plant’s saucer-sized white petals.

The Chumash were able to control the effects of jimson weed--which can cause psychosis--because they used it only in controlled rituals, Sortomme said. But after the Spanish arrived and imposed Christianity on them, some Chumash used it as a narcotic, he added.

The Matilija poppy and jimson weed can be viewed at the Chumash Point Ethnobotanical Preserve at Santa Barbara City College, 721 Cliff Drive.

Sortomme’s free talk will begin at 7 p.m. at Soka, 26800 W. Mulholland Highway in Calabasas. For information, call (818) 878-3763.