Help Rename the Northern Channel Islands

Reconciling Native geographies and contemporary landscapes and place names is an important first step in achieving a more balanced and inclusive history of our past. Native place names for landscapes and landforms have all but been erased from maps and books that have instead focused on the contributions of Europeans in the settlement and development of the United States (US).

On June 18th,2019, Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California initiated Executive Order N-15-19, proclaiming a need for the truth to be told regarding the true history between Indigenous peoples and those who came here from other lands. Furthermore, Governor Newsom apologized for the atrocities and outright genocide committed against Indigenous peoples of California, an indelible stain on the history of the Golden State.

Honoring the Chumash and other California Indigenous peoples takes many forms. Officially recognizing original place names is one example of how the contributions of Indigenous peoples can be incorporated into constructing inclusive historical narratives. The recent renaming of Patrick’s Point State Park to its Yurok name of Sue-meg began the healing and repairing process by acknowledging the rightful and last standing name of this important cultural landscape, a landform critical to the identity and function of the Yurok people.

The Northern California Channel Islands in all their beauty should be referred to by their original names as Chumash ancestors did for thousands of years.

Fortunately, the Chumash documented numerous place names in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, including the Northern California Channel Islands. Therefore, we the signed below request that the Northern California Channel Islands be changed from Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel back to their Chumash names of 'Anyapax, Limuw, Wima, and Tuqan respectively.