California Indian Canoe Traditions

Learn about the indigenous watercraft traditions of California Indians. This drop-in program will give visitors the opportunity to learn about canoe making and the diversity of canoe cultures.

Renowned California Indian artist and cultural educator L. Frank (Tongva/Ajachmem/Raramuri) will lead the workshop focused on her 18-foot Tiaat.The Southern California Coastal Tribes, particularly the Tongva and Chumash, made sophisticated redwood plank sewn canoes, known as Tiats and Tomols, respectively. They used their ocean-traveling canoes for trade, hunting and gathering, and for other cultural purposes. While on their coastal journeys and on the shorelines they interacted with numerous marine mammals, including the Gray and Humpback whales and occasionally Orcas. Different stories say that the Tongva and Chumash occasionally hunted and ate the whales, and others say they mainly revered them as powerful ocean animals and often carved beautiful stone and bone art pieces with their shape and images. Visitors will also have the opportunity to learn about tule (balsa) boats used in the San Francisco Bay.

This program is presented by The Cultural Conservancy. The Cultural Conservancy has a mission to protect and restore indigenous cultures, empowering them in the direct application of their traditional knowledge and practices on their ancestral lands.

This program runs from 11AM to 3PM in the East Garden.