Video: Chumash elder and storyteller Julie Tumamait Stenslie tells myths and legends from her Ventureno Chumash tradition, and was featured in 2012 at the Ojai Foundation.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsMZK_WkzpE
“Chumash, A Living Culture, with Julie Tumamait” Music by Carlos Reynosa. Film by Viola Gaskell, Damon Jacoby & Violeta Palombo Levy.
The Ojai Foundation and Joseph Campbell Foundation Mythological RoundTable® Present
Chumash Mythology with Storyteller & Chumash Elder Julie Tumamait-Stenslie
By popular demand, the Joseph Campbell Foundation RoundTable® (http://www.jcf.org/new/index.php) continued its exploration of Chumash Cosmology in January of 2012 at The Ojai Foundation (http://www.ojaifoundation.org/) in Ojai, California.
They welcomed Southern California’s honored, skilled, and respected storyteller, Julie Tumamait-Stenslie. Julie is an amazing and engaging storyteller. She will share stories of death and resurrection, stories still alive today with lessons reinforced by a look in the night skies or a walk in the wilderness. Particular sharing will be The Story of Anucwa and The Boys Who Turned to Geese.
The Boys Who Turned to Geese – Chumash Story
Long ago, when animals were people, there was a little boy whose mother and stepfather wouldn’t give him anything to eat, though they had plenty for themselves. So the boy went off to find his own food and met another boy who was also abandoned. Raccoon came along, felt sorry for the two boys, and helped them dig roots to eat. In the next few days, five more hungry abandoned boys came by, and they all went to stay with Raccoon in the temescal (sweathouse). Finally they decided to go north and take Raccoon with them. So they sprinkled themselves with goose down and sang songs. For three days they went around the temescal, singing and rising higher and higher off the ground. But Raccoon couldn’t fly even though he was covered with goose down. All the mothers came to see the boys and begged them to come down, but they refused. They all turned into geese and flew away to the north, to become the seven stars we call the Pleiades. And when geese cry, they sound just like a little boy.
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Dear Julie Tumamait-Stenslie,
Larry Carnes mentioned your name to me and suggested I speak to you.
I do mosaic work and was inspired by a sun wheel at the entrance to a cave
in the area of Santa Barbara which I found a photograph of on the internet:
http://www.sbnature.org/research/anthro/chumash/pcart.htm
I started making a similar sun wheel on the wall of my studio, not realizing it might be
a sacred object to the Chumash people.
After reading on Larry Carnes’ website that the symbols he uses on his rock art are with the permission of the Chumash, I thought I would inquire further before continuing.
He did write me and said it was a very sacred symbol.
I hope you can help me, and allow me to do this, even though the work is already in progress, if it is in your power to do so.
Yours Sincerely,
Marilyn Jackler
Hi Julie my name is felicia Erickson. My uncle Daniel Lara told me to contact you and maybe u could help me. My family is frank w. Lamps and my great aunt is carmalita lemos. If you could please contact me asap I would greatly appreciate it. My gmail is Erickson Felicia I gmail.com.
Sorry, Felicia and Marilyn, but while Julie Tumamait-Stenslie is featured in this post and others on the site, she is not involved in its publication and will not receive your message. I wish you luck contacting her. She regularly appears in and around Ojai. Thanks for checking in!
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Dear Julie,
Heard about you through a good friend of ours here in town. We want to do house warming on Aug 4 th, Friday morning.
We bought a house 40 y/o one and getting some remodeling work. It’ll be ready in the first week of August. We want to know if you can please help us with getting our new home blessed before we move in and start living there. Pl let me know and we can discuss more details. Thanks Julie.
Sorry, Julie, but again, while Julie Tumamait-Stenslie is featured in this post and others on the site, she is not involved in its publication and will not receive your message. I wish you luck contacting her. She regularly appears in and around Ojai. Thanks for checking in!