For decades Chumash People have been dealing with people impersonating our tribal affiliation, identity, and profiting off of our culture. This is not new to us. A common argument that we hear is that “we don't use colonial records” or "We don’t have to prove this". ​

 

While it is true that colonization disrupted our families and communities, every legitimate tribe requires genealogical records for enrollment. This is not an arbitrary rule but a safeguard to protect tribal sovereignty. For example, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians requires proof of descent from a specific census roll, genealogical documentation among other requirements. Many tribes also require documentation such from the Bureau of Indian Affair’s Certificates of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB), and some even require DNA and even blood tests.

 

Genealogy is not optional, it is the foundation for tribal citizenship and protection against false claims.​ While it is unreasonable to survey every tribe in the United States, it is clear that all legitimate unrecognized and recognized California tribes require genealogical documentation as part of their enrollment process. They do not accept membership based on hearsay or family stories alone. These requirements exist to protect tribal sovereignty. ​

 

Claims such as “I was told by my grandmother (or another family member),” “I don’t believe in colonial records,” or “I don’t need colonial records to tell me my identity”, or “we ran away”, cannot replace genealogical evidence. Without such standards, anyone could simply claim to be Chumash, or claim affiliation with any tribe, without accountability. All legitimate tribes require documented genealogy or use of colonial documents as part of their enrollment process. ​

 

We acknowledge the history of our lands has been complex. Coastal Chumash communities lack federal recognition today and have endured wave after wave of colonization that has disrupted our community. Through each wave, records were kept: mission baptismal and burial books, census rolls, California Indian rolls, diseños collections, Bureau of Ethnology anthropological accounts, and Bureau of Indian Affairs documents, and even federal allotment land records. Like other tribes, we use these records to trace our genealogy.​

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We are enduring a 4th waive of settler colonialism, the Race-shifters. Race-shifters or Pretendians, those that self-identify and falsely claim Chumash identity, they do more than tell a lie; they erase the voices of the real Chumash People. They exploit our struggles for personal, political, and financial gain, while manipulating public to gain resources and recognition. 

 

In a Los Angeles Times article, Frank Rocha, who has reaped more than $12 million by claiming a Chumash identity without genealogical evidence, stated, “We don’t have to prove this.… They’re not the Chumash police or the Chumash God.” That statement is revealing. Proof matters, and without it, these claims are nothing more than fabricated story for profit and personal gain.

 

Justice for Chumash does not want to be a so-called “identity police.” We are simply demanding truth, accountability, and an end to the exploitation of our identity. Ethnic Fraud, falsely self-identifying as holding an Indigenous identity is a growing phenomenon. We encourage all readers to learn about the impact of false claims of Native American because they cause harm and trauma to real Indigenous peoples and undermine tribal sovereignty. Please see our Educational page for recommended readings.