Exploring the town

MORNING

Though the Chumash story in Santa Barbara begins long before the colonial era — about 13,000 years ago — Old Mission Santa Barbara, founded in 1786, offers a beautiful setting to learn about one of its most troubled chapters.

The interior of the chapel, rebuilt in 1820, still features the trompe l’oeuil “marble” and other colorful handiwork of Chumash artisans trained by Spanish Franciscan friars. The nine-room museum includes one chamber displaying the original Chumash altar, carved of redwood and decorated with paint, abalone and mirrors; another is devoted to Chumash artifacts, including traditional crafts and tools and Christian relics such as prayers handwritten in Chumash.

Artwork, photos and genealogies of contemporary Chumash people reveal the resilience of their culture, despite the tragedy reflected in the nearby cemetery. Some 4,000 Chumash were buried here between 1789 and 1854; many had served as forced labor for the mission, and many died from the introduction of Western diseases. You won’t learn much about this from the guided tour ($13 adults, 11 a.m. Tuesday-Friday, 10:30 a.m. Saturday), although our guide did stop at the cemetery’s plaque commemorating the woman who inspired Scott O’Dell’s “Island of the Blue Dolphins.”

Christened Juana Maria, she was discovered living by herself in 1853 on the southernmost Channel Island, 61 miles offshore, 18 years after the rest of her tribe had left San Nicolas. Brought to Santa Barbara, she was unable to speak the lan-