Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

Hudson, Timbrook, and Rempe (1978) have provided a series of provocative footnotes regarding individual members of the Chumash Brotherhood of the Canoe. These are individuals mentioned by Fernando Librado Kitsepawit and recorded in J. P. Harrington's notes on Chumash watercraft. In editing and annotating Harrington's notes, Hudson, Timbrook, and Rempe (1978) provide an excellent monograph on Chumash watercraft, and the criticisms that follow are not meant to detract from that aspect of their work. It is their discussion of Apolonio and Aniceto, canoe builders, however, that we find objectionable. The editors of this volume have "tentatively" identified these individuals on the basis of a cursory examination of the Santa Barbara Mission records. Because tentative identifications of this sort too often become historical fact, we wish to correct their errors before they become incorporated in other works. In at least one instance, Hudson and his colleagues made incorrect use of the baptismal records and they have incorrectly identified both Apolonio and Aniceto. However, the primary purpose of this paper is not to criticize Hudson, Timbrook, and Rempe, but to illustrate the use of the mission records. Only through an understanding of their basic organization combined with thorough examination of the mission records can genealogical data be accurately developed.