Tomol

A tomol or tomolo (Chumash) or te'aat or ti'at (Tongva/Kizh) are plank-built boats, historically and currently in the Santa Barbara, California and Los Angeles area. They replaced or supplemented tule reed boats. The boats were between 10–30 feet (3.0–9.1 m) in length and 3–4 feet (0.91–1.22 m) in width. The Chumash refer to the tomol as the "House of the Sea" for their reliability. Double-bladed kayak-like paddles are used to propel the boat through the ocean. Some sources suggest the boats may have origins at Catalina Island and have been in use for thousands of years. Others suggest an origin on the Northern Channel Islands during the first millennium CE. The tomol has been described as "the single most technologically complex watercraft built in North America" and as being unique to "the New World."

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