Ghost Wave - Chris Dixon [9]
Today, San Clemente Island holds roughly seven thousand documented archaeological sites—a density greater than any comparably sized spot in North America—and they provide evidence of a Kinkipar society of apparently prosperous abundance. The Kinkipar subsisted on cactus fruit, acorns, pine nuts, wild cherries, gritty island tubers, and a turkey-size flightless duck that once swam between all the Channel Islands. But mostly, they were expert fishermen. They dove for white, pink, and red abalone and lobster and were highly skilled anglers who invented every manner of snare, trap, and line-based tackle—catching sheepshead (their primary finned staple), albacore, yellowtail, and shark. The swordfish was the most highly revered for its immense power and magic, and Kinkipar have been found buried alongside the very swords they earned in battles with the mighty creatures.
North of their island home, Kinkipar could hunt pygmy mammoths by paddling to the ancient island of Santarosae: This is what archaeologists call the single landmass that once connected Anacapa, Santa Cruz, and Santa Rosa Islands (southwest of Santa Barbara). Apparently, at some ancient juncture, a small posse of hungry wooly mammoths decided to snorkel five long miles from the mainland to Santarosae, where they established a colony. The pachyderms soon gobbled up most of the food, and scarce resources shrunk their progeny in size until they became a hardy subspecies. About six thousand years ago, the last of these tiny elephants were hunted to extinction.
The same fate eventually awaited the Kinkipar themselves, of course, once North America was discovered by Europeans, who brought disease, acquisitiveness, and war in their wake. In 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo became the first European known to have explored the coast of the Californias, and in his log he records meeting the locals on either San Clemente or Santa Catalina Island:
“They went with the boat on shore to see if there were people there; and as the boat came near, there issued a great quantity of Indians from among the bushes and grass, yelling and dancing and making signs that they should come ashore; and they saw that the women were ninning away; and from the boats they made signs that they should have no fear; and immediately they assumed confidence and laid on the ground their bows and arrows; and they launched a good canoe in the water, which held eight or ten Indians, and they came to the ships. They gave them beads and little presents, with which they were delighted.”
Through the rest of the sixteenth century, Spaniards plied the West Coast in galleons. In The History of California and the Southwest, Fray de Zarate Salmeron refers to the arrival of Sebastián Vizcaíno in 1602 to Avalon Harbor on Catalina Island, which the locals called Pimugna.
“The inhabitants of the island made great rejoicings over the arrival of the Spaniards. They are fishermen, using boats of boards; the prows and poops high and the middle very low. Some will hold more than twenty persons. There are many sea lions, which the Indians hunt for food; and with the tanned skins they all cover themselves, men and women, and it is their usual protection. The women are very handsome and decent. The children are white and ruddy, and very smiling. Of these Indians, many wished to come with the Spaniards; they are so loving as all this. From here follows a line of islands, straight and orderly, at four to six leagues from one to another…All have communication with one another, and also with the mainland.”
In 1910, author Charles Frederick Holder described a poignant archaeological dig in The Channel Islands of California: A Book for the Angler, Sportsman and Tourist:
“At San Clemente, one find I saw Mexican Joe carefully cut out of the