Today many scholars believe that Chumash languages belong to their own language family. This includes languages spoken by the Salinan, Esselen, Pomo, Yuma and Washo. Linguists believed that different Chumash groups spoke a variety of what linguists call “Hokan” language.
They also lived on the Santa Barbara Channel Islands: San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz and Anacapa. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, the Chumash’s home region was the coastline from San Luis Obispo in the north to Malibu Canyon in the south, and east as far as the western edge of the San Joaquín Valley. Later groups were named based on the mission territories they occupied ( Obispeño, Barbareño, Purisimeño, etc.). Each of the groups had names for themselves.
They also called the natives of Santa Cruz Island Mi-tcú-mac. The name was chosen by explorer and linguist John Wesley Powell, from a word used by the Coastal Chumash to refer to the Indians of Santa Rosa Island, Tcú-mac. The name Chumash refers to several groups of California Indians who originally lived near the south-central coast of California, including the Channel Islands, and who spoke similar languages.
