The Southwest Border Area stretches from the Texas Gulf Coast to California's Pacific Coast past Central California. This region is rich in culture distinguished by Spanish American, American Indian, and Northwest European American people. Before American's took claim of this area in the 1830's, Spaniards occupied the Border Area, and before that even, American Indians arrived here more than thousands of years before.
The Chumash Indians started the history of Santa Barbara with approximately 8,000 - 10,000 Chumash living there. The Portuguese explorer Joao Cabrilho sailed through the channel in 1542 and in 1602, Sebastian Vizcaino gave the city its name. The Spaniards who did settle in Santa Barbara were missionaries and soldiers who came to build the Presidio and Santa Barbara Mission in 1872.
Currently, only 1% of the population is American Indian and Hispanic/Latinos make up 38% of Santa Barbara. The biggest demographic in Santa Barbara is the Anglo population.
The Southwest Border Area brings upon socioeconomic disparities, especially for the Hispanic and American Indian population. Along with African Americans, Hispanic and American Indians have the highest poverty rate in Santa Barbara, let alone California. Many American Indians are placed on reservations and the Santa Ynez Indian Reservation holds the only federally-recognized Chumash Indians in the country. 249 people reside on the reservation while other take homes just outside. The Santa Ynez Chumash population directly contributes to tourism by the development of the Chumash Casino Resort which brings in about 6,000 people a day.
*An interesting webpage about the Chumash Indians and their lives in Santa Barbara can be found here.
[Sources]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Barbara,_California
http://www.city-data.com/poverty/poverty-Santa-Barbara-California.html
http://www.santaynezchumash.org/reservation.html
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