The note ends with a suggestion for a book, The Chumash People: Materials for Teachers and Students, that “provides excellent information for children about the Chumash people.” She then goes on to say that the legend of The Rainbow Bridge is still “very much alive” in the Chumash Indian community, and that there are still ceremonies performed for Hutash, the earth goddess (around which the story revolves). I don’t think this immediately besmirches the quality of this book, but it made me pause for a second. She thanks the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural history for their “time, attention, and reference materials pertinent to both the writing and illustrating of this book.” I’m sure the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History was no doubt helpful, but makes me wonder how much contact Wood actually had with the Chumash community directly. In the ‘storyteller’s note’ on the first page, Wood explains some basic information about the Californian Chumash people their ancestral homelands, their historic ways of life, and that this story has been handed down orally for generations. It explains how the Chumash came to be and how they came to live where they live. The Rainbow Bridge is a retelling of a traditional Chumash creation/migratory tale.
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