Student's Chumash History Essay Wins Contest

junior Sarah Brown won first place in an essay contest about local history with a paper on the Chumash, a Native American tribe that once thrived between Central and Southern California.

The 16-year-old won $500 and was presented with a first place certificate by Mayor James Bozajian at the on Saturday.

Entries were judged by members of the Calabasas Historical Society, which organized the contest.

Among other topics, Sarah's paper covered Chumash agriculture, the tribe's craftsmanship of canoes and its large dwellings that housed up to 50 people.

"I talked about their culture, food sources, and I led into how they reacted when the Spanish came and started building missions here and finished it off with how they're surviving in today's world," she said.

Sarah also works at the Calabasas Courier, her school's newspaper, and is in the process of self-publishing her own novel. She said she hopes writing will be a big part of her future.

There were also three honorable mentions in the essay contest:

A Beautiful Home by Lucky Ding, Agoura High School.

Historical Awakening in Calabasas by Ali Ashgar, Calabasas High School

The Cultural Diversity Between Multiple Tribes In Southern California by Alexi Chacon, Sierra Canyon School.

Sarah's essay and the honorable mentions are attached to this story.