One of my references for a Chumash association with Whales,
"Villages varied in size from poor desert communities with villages of as little as 100 people to the teaming Chumash villages with over a thousand inhabitants. Conical homes of arroweed, tule or croton were common, while whale bone structures could be found on the coast and nearby Channel Islands."
http://ceres.ca.gov/nahc/califindian.html

Allen L. Lee