Chumash Personal Adornment

Prickly Pear

Tim Hauf, timhaufphotography.com

Island Chumash Plant Usage Guide Stop 6

Body painting and tattooing were practiced by the Chumash living on the Channel Islands as well as the mainland. Faces, arms, and sometimes entire bodies were painted with decorative patterns of bars and dots, although more elaborate designs might have been used also. Body-painting colors were black, red, and white. Soot obtained from burning piñon wood was used to create black pigment; red and white were mixed from ochre and other mineral substances. Binders made from animal marrow or blood were added to these pigments to form paint that adhered to various surfaces.

Tattooing provided a more permanent form of personal adornment. Vertical and transverse lines were commonly tattooed on the cheeks and chin, although tattoo designs were also applied to the forehead, arms, and other parts of the body. To create a dark-blue tattoo the skin was pricked with a cactus thorn (such as those on the prickly pear, qi') and the punctures rubbed with charcoal. When the wounds healed the pigment was sealed under the skin.