The Chumash Revolution of 1824 with Alan Salazar, Chumash-Tataviam Storyteller

I was very grateful to Alan Salazar for joining me for this first new episode of Political Payne, where we explore the California Mission period and specifically the Chumash War, often referred to as the Chumash Revolt, Chumash Rebellion, etc. that occurred in 1824 across Missions Santa Ines, Santa Barbara, and La Purisima in modern day Santa Barbara County. We also discussed the legacy of the missions in California history education as well as the lives of California Indians.

For anyone wondering at my long hiatus from Political Payne both on this website and on YouTube, the reason has been mostly I slowed down my content production in the name of my education. I started at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo as an undergrad transfer student in 2021, earning my BA in 2023 and entering the Masters program that same year. The entire time in my studies I have worked towards researching the militancy of the Chumash in 1824 and the counterrevolution that followed at the hands of the Mexican military and the Franciscan missionaries, which I first became aware of as a newspaper reporter for my hometown weekly paper the Sun in Santa Maria, California. I also began working for a local municipality in 2022, and the juggle between full-time work and grad school has made content production difficult to say the least!

This year I am working to complete my Masters thesis on exploring 1824 and the Chumash War against the missions, and this interview was designed to help me and my thesis engage with an important perspective from Indigenous Californians, which I hope to engage more here and on my YouTube channel in the future. Also, sorry for the audio issues in the beginning and I hope the audio quality isn’t too difficult for folks to enjoy this awesome interview.

Please visit Alan Salazar’s storytelling website and his website for his books and other goods through Sun Sprite Handwork.