A tomol or tomolo (Chumash) or te'aat or ti'at (Tongva/Kizh) are plank-built boats, historically and currently in the Santa Barbara, California and Los Angeles area. They replaced or supplemented tule reed boats. The boats were between 10–30 feet (3.0–9.1 m) in length and 3–4 feet (0.91–1.22 m) in width. The Chumash refer to the tomol as the "House of the Sea" for their reliability. Double-bladed kayak-like paddles are used to propel the boat through the ocean. Some sources suggest the boats may have origins at Catalina Island and have been in use for thousands of years.[1] Others suggest an origin on the Northern Channel Islands during the first millennium CE.[2][3][4] The tomol has been described as "the single most technologically complex watercraft built in North America" and as being unique to "the New World."[5]
The boats are still constructed by Chumash, Tongva/Kizh, and Acjachemen people today.[5][6]
- ^ Helvarg, David (2016). The Golden Shore: California's Love Affair with the Sea. New World Library. pp. 20–22. ISBN 9781608684403.
- ^ Gamble, Lynn H. "Archaeological evidence for the origin of the plank canoe in North America." American Antiquity 67.2 (2002): 301-315.
- ^ Arnold, Jeanne E., ed. The origins of a Pacific Coast chiefdom: the Chumash of the Channel Islands. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2001.
- ^ Mikael Fauvelle & Alvaro Montenegro (2024) Do stormy seas lead to better boats? Exploring the origins of the southern Californian plank canoe through ocean voyage modeling, The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, DOI: 10.1080/15564894.2024.2311107
- ^ a b Wiener, James Blake (March 26, 2013). "Polynesians in California: Evidence for an Ancient Exchange?". Ancient History. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
- ^ "S2 E1: Rethinking the Coast with the Ti'at Society". KCETOnline, YouTube. November 4, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2020.