Lulapin

the place, etymology and significance.

Lulapin is a place. It is the name for the mountain that enters the sea (today called Point Mugu) and the estuary region to the immediate west.  

Informant to John Peabody Harrington, Fernando Librado, said that the inland Indians used to come to the coast, so lulapin is a "dual work" to include the interior and coast Indians. This refers to a confederacy of people across language boundaries, which occured in a period of time -an epoch- likely a reformation previous to Spanish contact.

The proposed area for the lulapin confederacy, in red.

By "dual work," Fernando means the word is a combination: lula- comes from ’aluše’eš (badger,) referring to the inland people, and -pin, is a verb 'of movement along the coast,' referring to the islanders and coastal people.

Today, we wear the name Lulapin in the spirit of a big-tent Chumash organization dedicated to working well with the various Chumash bands, unaffiliated Chumash individuals and families, as well as our neighbors and friends.

Our Team

  • Matthew Vestuto

    President

    Matthew Vestuto is a Cultural Resource Monitor and presently serves as Chairman of his tribe, the Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians. He earned his B.A. at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA with a focus on language revitalization, linguistics and media. Matthew serves on the advisory board of Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival (AICLS.) He is honored to have been chosen for the 5th cohort (2024-25) of the Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellowship, administered by the First Nations Development Institute. Matthew also enjoys being with community and making traditional ornaments from abalone and stone.

  • Alanna Cronk

    Treasurer

    Alanna Cronk is a Government Relations Coordinator at the National Indian Health Board. There, Cronk works on projects related to traditional healing; Medicaid and Medicare; and strategic planning. Cronk holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University in philosophy with minors in public health and English. At Georgetown, Cronk completed multiple fellowships including the Gender Justice Initiative Fellowship and the Kalorama Fellowship. Recently, Cronk was also a subawardee on Living Cultures Grant from the Alliance for the California Traditional Arts. Cronk also enjoys studying mitsqanqan language, taking on fiber arts projects, and hiking.

  • Salvador Tumamait Ambriz

    Secretary

    Salvador Tumamait Ambriz serves as the Tribal Secretary for the Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians and works as a Cultural Resource Monitor. He holds a Bachelor's degree in History from California State University, Channel Islands, located in Camarillo, CA. Salvador is a dedicated uncle to Scarlette and Stevenray Tumamait. He is passionate about learning and speaking his native language, mitsqanaqan, with his family and friends. Salvador aspires to enroll in law school to further advocate for the rights and heritage of his Chumash people.

Our Partners