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In this part of our web guide on American Indians, we will explore the Kumeyaay people, who inhabit the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the United States.

Also known as 'Iipai-Tiipai or by its historical Spanish name Diegueño, the Kumeyaay are indigenous to California. They are referred to as the Kumiai in Mexico.

The Kumeyaay are comprised of three related groups, the 'Iipai, Tiipai, and Kamia. The homelands of the Iipai and Tiipai were loosely divided by the San Diego River, with the Iipai north of the river, from Escondido to Lake Henshaw, and the Tiipai south of the river, in an area that included the Laguna Mountains, Ensenada, and Tecate. The Kamia were in the eastern desert areas that included Mexicali and bordered the Salton Sea.

The Kumeyaay languages are in the Yuman family of languages, although each of the Kumeyaay groups spoke distinct dialects, which are defined as 'Iipai (Northern Digueño), Tiipay (Southern Digueño) in northern Baja California, and Kumeyaay proper (Kamia), 'Iipai (Northern Digueño). However, some researchers consider that the wide range of dialect variations reflected only two distinct languages, 'Iipai and Tiipai.

The evidence suggests that the Kumeyaay homeland was inhabited for about 12,000 years. The Kumeyaay had land along the Pacific Ocean from what is now Oceanside, California, in the north to somewhere south of Ensenada, Mexico, and east to the Colorado River.

The Cuyamaca complex, a Precolumbian complex dating from the late Holocene, 11,700 years ago, is related to the Kumeyaay people. The complex included defined cemetery areas apart from living areas, the use of grave markers, cremated human remains placed in urns, and the use of mortuary offerings, such as miniature vessels, miniature arrow-shaft straighteners, and elaborate projectile points that were made specifically for mortuary use. Also found were many scraping tools, high use of milling stone tools, and clay-lined hearths.

When the Kumeyaay were first contacted by Europeans, they were made up of several autonomous bands with thirty patrilineal clans. Although the Kumeyaay were visited by a couple of Spanish explorers in 1542 and 1602, these contacts did not result in the Spanish settlement of Kumeyaay lands.

In 1769, a Spanish expedition anchored in San Diego Bay, establishing a fort to rule over the Kumeyaay village of Cosoy. Known as the Presidio of San Diego, this was the first permanent European settlement on the Pacific Coast of what is now the United States.

Spanish missions soon followed, including the Misión San Diego de Alcalá, which incorporated the Kumeyaay village into the mission. After years of sexual assaults and torture from Spanish soldiers in the Presidio and from mission staff, the Kumeyaay revolted, burning Mission San Diego and killing Father Luis Jayme and two others. Church leaders apologized and forgave the Kumeyaay, rebuilding their mission nearer to the Kumeyaay village of Nipaquay.

After defeating Spain in the Mexican War of Independence, the Mexican Empire claimed ownership of Kumeyaay lands in 1821. In 1822, Mexican troops took possession of all coastal lands from the Kumeyaay, granting much of it to Mexican settlers, who became known as the Californios.

Over the next decade, the Kumeyaay population was decimated by disease and increased tensions with Mexican soldiers and settlers.

The Kumeyaay were largely neutral during the Mexican-American War, but, at its conclusion, Kumeyaay lands were split between the United States and Mexico.

As compared with other California tribes, the Kumeyaay didn't suffer the same level of destruction from the California genocide, mostly because of the lack of gold in the mountains inhabited by the Kumeyaay. Additionally, Mexican officials in Baja California threatened to intervene if atrocities were committed on tribes along the border.

The 1850s brought the establishment of Kumeyaay reservations in California. However, under pressure from white settlers and the California Senate delegations, these treaties were rejected. Although President Ulysses S. Grant created reservations in the area, they tended to be small and lacked adequate water or food sources. American settlers continued to seize land, and white governmental authorities often displaced the Kumeyaay until around 1910, although most of the current reservations were established in the late 19th century.

Kumeyaay reservations in Mexico include San Jose de la Zorra, San Antonio Necua, La Huerta, Juntas de Neji, and Santa Catarina, which are part of the Kumeyaay Nation, which also includes twelve bands in the United States: Barona, Campo, Ewiiaapaayp, Inaja-Cosmit, Jamul, LaPosta, Manzanita, Mesa Grande, San Pasqual, Sanat Ysabel, Sycuan, and Viejas.

 

 

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