A History of Goleta, California - By Justin Ruhge, Historian

For thousands of years, the Central Coast and Goleta Valley was the home of a seafaring and house building people called the Chumash or Canalino. They made canoes of wooden planks and paddled into the Pacific Ocean to fish and hunt seals. They also traveled to the Channel Islands to trade with the Chumash who lived there. They built houses of boughs and reeds in the shape of cones or half oranges. Their foods were based on the fish from the ocean and creeks, shellfish, animals in the nearby forests and acorns, berries and seeds. A number of Chumash towns or villages of various sizes were located in the Goleta Valley and were known as Helo, 'Alkash, Helyik and S'apxilil. The central feature of the Goleta Valley then was a large lagoon that covered most of the valley and opened to the ocean on the south side. Near this entrance was an island on the lagoon on which was located the village of Helo.