Secretary Kelsey Shaffer

The presence of yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini (ytt) Northern Chumash in the area of San Luis Obispo County and Region date to time immemorial with evidence of our families living here for thousands of years. We have an unbroken chain of inhabiting this one region and we remain standing in this defined place. Despite the introduction of European diseases, the inhumane ideologies of the Spanish mission system, the Mexican conquest and American colonization - all forces that contributed to the near decimation of our Tribe - we survived and we remain resilient. Through all these challenges and attempts at direct and indirect genocide of our people, we never lost our connections to each other and to our homeland. Our homeland was taken from us through confiscation without our agreement, consideration, or compensation. Our language and culture were outlawed and our basic human rights were disregarded and dismantled. In spite of disproportionate odds against us, the ytt Northern Chumash culture survives.