The Chumash people lived for centuries along the California coast between Malibu and San Luis Obispo. There were hundreds of villages in the land of the Chumash, usually built on high ground near a source of fresh water. This elaborate model of a village near Mission San Buenaventura is on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. Five missions were built in Chumash territory between 1772-1804. The Chumash did not have a written language but there is much we know of their way of life from archaeological studies, Spanish reports and Chumash communities that have survived down to the present day.