# Point Conception

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{{Short description|Coastal headland in Santa Barbara County, California}}
{{Distinguish|Conception Point}}
{{Coord|34.448113|-120.471439|region:US_type:city|format=dms|display=title}}
[[File:Point Conception and Gaviota Coast.jpg|thumb|Point Conception and the [Gaviota Coast](/source/Gaviota_Coast) from the air, looking southwest. The [lighthouse at Point Conception](/source/Point_Conception_Light) is visible in blowup (click) at top left center. To the right (west) is Government Point, which partly encloses [Cojo Bay](/source/Cojo_Bay). The [Santa Ynez Mountains](/source/Santa_Ynez_Mountains) extend east (left) towards [Santa Barbara](/source/Santa_Barbara%2C_California).]]
[[File:Point Conception Lighthouse on bluff.PNG|thumb|300px|[Point Conception Lighthouse](/source/Point_Conception_Light) stands on a bluff {{convert|133|ft|0}} above the [Pacific Ocean](/source/Pacific_Ocean).]]
[[Image:Aerial-PtConceptionLight.jpg|thumb|Aerial photo of the [lighthouse](/source/lighthouse), looking toward the northwest.]]

'''Point Conception''' ([Chumash](/source/Chumashan_languages): '''''Humqaq'''''; [Spanish](/source/Spanish_language_in_California): '''''Punta Concepción''''') is a [headland](/source/headland) along the [Gaviota Coast](/source/Gaviota_Coast) in southwestern [Santa Barbara County, California](/source/Santa_Barbara_County%2C_California), United States. It is the point where the [Santa Barbara Channel](/source/Santa_Barbara_Channel) meets the [Pacific Ocean](/source/Pacific_Ocean), and as the corner between the mostly north-south trending portion of coast to the north and the east-west trending part of the coast near [Santa Barbara](/source/Santa_Barbara%2C_California), it makes a natural division between [Southern](/source/Southern_California) and [Central California](/source/Central_California),<ref>[http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2003/2001JC001302.shtml Characteristic patterns of shelf circulation at the boundary between central and southern California<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and is commonly used as such in regional weather forecasts.<ref>[http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/data/Forecasts/FZUS56.KLOX.html  NWS Coastal Waters Forecast], accessed 3/18/2013.</ref>  [Point Conception Light](/source/Point_Conception_Light) is at its tip and the [Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve](/source/Jack_and_Laura_Dangermond_Preserve) covers some of the surrounding land.

==Name==
Point Conception was named ''Cabo de Galera'' ("[Galley](/source/Galley) Cape") by Spanish maritime explorer [Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo](/source/Juan_Rodriguez_Cabrillo) in 1542. In 1602, [Sebastian Vizcaíno](/source/Sebastian_Vizca%C3%ADno) sailed past again, renaming the protruding headland ''Punta de la Limpia Concepción''<ref>{{cite book |last=Gudde |first=Erwin G. |pages=[https://archive.org/details/californiaplacen0000gudd/page/72 72] |year=1969 |title=California Place Names |url=https://archive.org/details/californiaplacen0000gudd |url-access=registration |location=Berkeley, CA |publisher=University of California Press |oclc=47781 }}</ref> ("Point of the Immaculate Conception"). Vizcaíno's name stuck, and was later anglicized to today's version.

==Chumash beliefs==
The [Chumash people](/source/Chumash_people) of the region have traditionally known Point Conception as the "Western Gate", through which the souls of the dead could pass between the mortal world and the heavenly paradise of ''Similaqsa''.<ref>{{Cite web
| last = Anderson
| first = John
| title = KUTA TEACHINGS: Reincarnation theology of the Chumash Indians of California
| access-date = 2013-05-07
| url = https://www.angelfire.com/id/newpubs/kuta.html
}}</ref>

It is called '''Humqaq''' ("The Raven Comes") in the [Chumashan languages](/source/Chumashan_languages).<ref name = "radic">{{Cite web
| last = Radic
| first = Theo
| title = The Chumash as the Keepers of the Western Gate
| work = Syukhtun Editions
| access-date = 2013-05-07
| date = 2002
| url = http://syukhtun.com/
}}</ref>

In 1978, the Point Conception area was occupied "by Chumash and other [Native Americans](/source/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States) trying to save it from development by a [liquefied natural gas](/source/liquefied_natural_gas) company."<ref>{{Cite web
| last = Anderson
| first = John
| title = Point Conception: The Chumash Western Gate
| access-date = 2013-05-07
| url = https://www.angelfire.com/id/newpubs/conception.html
}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Courtney Milne, ''Sacred Places in North America: A Journey into the Medicine Wheel'' (New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1995).

==External links==
{{Commonscat}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Landforms of Santa Barbara County, California
Conception
Category:Chumash
Category:Religious places of the Indigenous peoples of North America

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Point Conception](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Conception) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Conception?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.