Strength through peace, peace through unity. | |||||||
| Capital | Shalawa | ||||||
| Largest city | Santa Maria | ||||||
| Other cities | Santa Barbara, Arroyo Grande, Atascadero | ||||||
| Language official |
Chumash(official) | ||||||
| others | English, Spanish | ||||||
| President | John Laird | ||||||
| Prime Minister | Sam Blakeslee | ||||||
| Area | 3,789 sq mi km² | ||||||
| Population | est. 150,000 | ||||||
| Independence | Constitution ratified in 2000 | ||||||
| Currency | Chumash dollar | ||||||
| Organizations | Chumash-San Joaquin Alliance | ||||||
The Chumash Republic is a survivor nation located in the former California counties of Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara. Its' capital is Shalawa.
History[]
Before Spanish Contact[]
The Chumash people thrived at a very early period in California prehistory, with some settlements dating to at least 10,000 years before present. Sites of the Millingstone Horizon date from 7000 cal BC to 4500 cal BC; they evidence a subsistence system focused on the processing of seeds with metates and manos. During that time people used bipointed bone objects and line to catch fish and began making beads from shells of the marine olive snail (Olivella biplicata).
Some researchers believe the Chumash may have been visited by Polynesians between AD 400 and 800, nearly 1,000 years before Christopher Columbus reached The Americas. Although the concept is rejected by most archaeologists who work with the Chumash culture, studies published in peer-reviewed journals have given the idea greater plausibility. The Chumash advanced sewn-plank canoe design, which is used throughout the Polynesian Islands but is unknown in North America except by those two tribes, is cited as the chief evidence for contact. Comparative linguistics also may provide evidence as the Chumash word for "sewn-plank canoe," tomolo'o, may have been derived from kumulā'au, the Polynesian word for the redwood logs used in that construction. However, the language comparison is generally considered tentative. Furthermore, the development of the Chumash plank canoe is fairly well represented in the archaeological record and spans a time period of several centuries. This evidence strongly suggests that the Tomol was an indigenous invention.
Spanish Arrival and the Mission Era[]
Chumash people first encountered Europeans in the autumn of 1542, when two sailing vessels under Juan Cabrillo arrived on the coast from Mexico. Cabrillo died and was buried on San Miguel Island, but his men brought back a diary that contained the names and population counts for many Chumash villages, such as Mikiw. Spain claimed what is now California from that time forward, but did not return to settle until 1769, when the first Spanish soldiers and missionaries arrived with the double-purpose of Christianizing the Native Americans and facilitating Spanish colonization. By the end of 1770 missions and military presidios had been founded at San Diego to the south of Chumash lands and Monterey, to their north.
The Chumash people moved from their villages to the Franciscan missions between 1772 and 1817. Mission San Luis Obispo, established in 1772, was the first mission in Chumash-speaking lands, as well as the northernmost of the five missions ever constructed in those lands. Next established, in 1782, was Mission San Buenaventura on the Pacific Coast near the mouth of the Santa Clara River. Mission Santa Barbara, also on the coast, and facing out to the Channel Islands, was established in 1786. Mission La Purisima Concepcion was founded along the inland route from Santa Barbara north to San Luis Obispo in 1789. The final Franciscan mission to be constructed in native Chumash territory was Santa Ynez, founded in 1804 on the Santa Ynez River with a seed population of Chumash people from Missions La Purisima and Santa Barbara. To the southeast, Mission San Fernando, founded in 1798 in the land of Takic Shoshonean speakers, also took in large numbers of Chumash speakers from the middle Santa Clara River valley. While most of the Chumash people joined one mission or another between 1772 and 1806, a significant portion of the native inhabitants of the Channel Islands did not move to the mainland missions until 1816.
Doomsday[]
A bomb dropped on Vandenburg.
On September 25, 1983, a Soviet missile targeted Vandenburg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara. It was a low megaton bomb, meant to destroy just the base. Unfortunately the base's anti-nuclear defense systems failed to activate soon enough, and the base was struck. Fortunately, the wind pattern that day blew almost of all of the radiation east into the desert. An EMP sent the region back to the Dark Ages. Massive riots broke out across the land. Hundreds died in these riots, and many more died at Vandenburg.
The Santa Ynez reservation chose to remain isolated to prevent rioting. The mission's chief occasionally sent out scouting parties to report on how the outside world was doing, and to tell if riots ended. The people had no electricity so they reverted to using fires like their ancestors did. They resumed hunting, and even changed their diet to that of their forefathers. Many say that was how the Chumash survived: by using tribal methods to hunt and gather food.
Contact with Santa Barbara[]
Around the year 1986 the Chumash people began to run out of supplies to resource the people that lived in the mission, so the people abandoned the Santa Ynez reservation. When the people reached the cities they found that the riots had ended and that the surviving people had resorted to tribal societies like they did, so the Chumash had no problem adapting to the outside world. In fact they even taught some tribes how to hunt and farm.
With in the year 1990 the population of the Santa Barbara area had boomed, this occurred when the counties of San Luis Obispo, Kern, and Monterrey had refugees who flocked southward to find new land to live on, another occurred when survivors of Los Angeles, and Anaheim county's moved northward. The dominant ethnicity to arise where people who where of both Chumash and Caucasian descent, the population rose to about 80,000 with in the year 1993. A call was then made to establish a stable government within the region do to the rising population.
Rise of the Coastal Kingdom and Civil War[]
In 1995, public pressure for a national government led to the formation of a new state, but controversy followed immediately when Martin Valen declared himself the "monarch" of the Central Coast Kingdom. Within two months he survived three assassination attempts, prompting him to impose nationwide martial law and warn that he would not allow the country he had established to fall into disorder. His attempt to create a secret security force further undermined his position when many recruits were revealed to be informants for a growing resistance movement. Five months after Valen seized power, civil war broke out and the country descended into instability.
The conflict, known as the Chumash Civil War, centered on two factions: the Liberation for a New Chumash (LNC), operating from the Santa Barbara Islands, and the Alliance to Restore the Kingdom (ARK), based in Santa Barbara. The opening battle at Santa Maria proved far more destructive than expected, resulting in approximately 2,000 military and 1,000 civilian deaths. Fighting then expanded across the region as both sides sought strategic advantage.
A decisive shift occurred in 1998 with the LNC’s Operation Thunder Storm—later the Battle of Camp Roberts—an effort to capture the ARK’s main military base. After six weeks of combat, the LNC secured the facility along with its weaponry and vehicles. This success allowed LNC forces to enter Santa Barbara the following year. Upon storming Valen’s compound, they found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, effectively ending his regime and concluding the war.
Establishment of the Republic[]
The aftermath of the five-year civil war, which claimed roughly 15,000 military and civilian lives, required substantial reconstruction. Santa Barbara, nearly destroyed during the conflict, became the focus of major rebuilding efforts. From its ruins emerged the new capital, Shalawa. The government also began long-term compensation programs for families affected by the war, many of which continue today. At the same time, rising cancer rates prompted the rapid establishment of research initiatives and medical facilities. These demands left the country largely isolated from the outside world until 2006, when the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand made contact through a radio broadcast.
Even before communication with the ANZC, the newly formed nation faced a series of urgent challenges. The surge in cancer cases led to the construction of hospitals on land once occupied by homes, contributing to a significant rise in homelessness. Economic instability followed; efforts to maintain a modest tax rate were strained by increasing fuel and resource costs. The most severe external threat came from the north, where the Free State of Santa Cruz—dominated by slavers and raiders—conducted repeated cross-border incursions to abduct civilians. These raids targeted anyone they could seize, regardless of status or background.
Invasion of Santa Cruz and Monterey[]
Chumash forces at the old Bixby Bridge in Monterey County
The Chumash Republic participated in the Central Coast Coalition in 2016-2017, taking a leading role with California, the Sierra Nevada Union, and some smaller co-belligerents in the Central Coast Wars of 2016. By 2017, the Monterey Lawless Zone had been formally annexed into the Chumash Republic, and Santa Cruz had been incorporated into the California Republic
Military[]
Chumash Armed Forces operating a checkpoint at the old PCH corridor
Army[]
The modern Chumash Army consists of roughly 10,000 personnel. A force of this size is considered essential due to persistent threats from raider and bandit groups to the east and raider factions operating from Ventura to the south. The army is organized into two primary divisions: an infantry division and an armored division. The infantry division comprises conventional ground forces, while the armored division operates tanks, Humvees, and other military vehicles. The only tank currently in active production is the M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, a light armored platform designed primarily for anti-infantry roles. In addition to its defensive responsibilities, the army also serves as the nation’s primary policing body, maintaining internal order throughout Chumash territory.
[]
The navy is made up of mostly converted civilian craft, but one frigate was salvaged from the ruined California coastline and relaunched as the CRS Santa Barbara. There are currently almost 5,000 sailors enlisted in the Chumash Navy.
An example of a civilian boat converted to military use.
Economy[]
The Chumash Republic relies heavily on wine production as its primary economic driver. With over 70% of global vineyards lost after doomsday, the region emerged as one of the world’s leading viticulture centers. The state exports roughly 10% of the remaining global wine grape supply and operates 12 government-run farms protected by continuous military security. Although these exports provide essential revenue, the nation’s economy remains fragile. Homelessness is slowly increasing, property faces persistent danger from raider activity, and internal markets struggle to stabilize. As a quasi-socialist state, the government directs major agricultural output and controls key industries, yet limited resources and ongoing security pressures hinder sustained economic recovery.
John Laird, the 4th President of the Chumash Republic (2019-present)
Government[]
The Chumash Republic's government is officially called a "Democratic Socialist Constitutional Republic", meaning the country has Socialist principles but also has rights (freedom of speech, right to bear arms, etc.). The countries electoral processes are almost exactly like that of the old U.S. government, there is a popular and electoral vote and the country is also comprised of 11 states. There are only two political parties the Liberal Socialist Party, more commonly called the LCP, and the Conservative Socialist Party, more commonly called the CSP.
International Relations[]
The Chumash Republic is a member of the League of Nations. Excluding Ventura, the country has built up as many strong relationships as possible with the former U.S. survivor states. They have found there strongest allies are those residing in the California Republicand the Free State of Alaska. They have also maintained a good relationships with the Navajo Nation, and Lakotah, since Chumash has a high Native population. They have remained virtually out of contact with the east coast.
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