Young Experts Share Facts About Chumash

Like any good museum tour guide, a class of Reseda Elementary School students led their schoolmates through a maze of information about the Chumash, answering questions and keeping the crowd moving smoothly.

“They really enjoy demonstrating this to the other children,” said teacher Laura Holt, whose fourth-grade class served as docents Friday. “These kids have done so much work on the Chumash, we could really bring it to life.”

The students were displaying the culmination of an eight-week lesson on the Chumash, who lived in the Santa Monica Mountains more than 200 years ago.

Classes came through the makeshift native village, created in the school’s garden, in groups of about 10 students, stopping at stations for lessons on Chumash writing implements, games and stories.

Holt’s students built a fire pit and an ap, a Chumash home, which they furnished with animal skins.

Though some students said their well-practiced lines very quietly, others relished in performing and sharing what they’d learned.

“I’m happy to teach them that there is an Indian called the Chumash,” said Romeo Hernandez, 9, one of four students manning the fire pit and telling stories. “They probably didn’t know about them before.”

Creating the village helped students understand how the Chumash lived--and helped some appreciate the comforts of home.

“I don’t want to sleep on the ground, and it’s kind of cold in the night when you sleep here,” said Kassandra Medina, 9, one of five girls demonstrating the ap. “And you can’t close the door. I don’t like that.”