Kumeyaay People - History

History

Evidence of human settlement, in what is today considered Kumeyaay territory, may go back 12,000 years. 7000 BCE marked the emergence of two cultural traditions: the California Coast and Valley tradition and the Desert tradition. The Cuyamaca complex, a late Holocene complex in San Diego County is related to the Kumeyaay peoples.

One view holds that pre-historic Tipai-Ipai emerged around 1000 CE; however, others believe Kumeyaay peoples have lived in San Diego for 12,000 years. At the time of European contact, Kumeyaay comprised several autonomous bands with 30 patrilineal clans.

Spaniards entered Tipai-Ipai territory in the late 18th century, bringing with them non-native, invasive flora, and domestic animals, which brought about degradation to local ecology. Under the Spanish Mission system, bands living near Mission San Diego de Alcalá, established in 1769, were called Diegueños. After Mexico took over the lands from Spain, they secularized the missions in 1834, and Ipai and Tipais lost their lands; essentially band members became serfs.

From 1870 to 1910, American settlers lawlessly seized lands, including arable and native gathering lands. In 1875, President Ulysses Grant created reservations in the area, and additional lands were placed under trust patent status after the passage of the 1891 Act for the Relief of Mission Indians. The reservations tended to be small and lacked adequate water supplies.

Kumeyaay people supported themselves by farming and agricultural wage labor; however, a 20-year drought in the mid-20 century crippled the region's dry farming economy. For their common welfare, several reservations formed the non-profit Kumeyaay, Inc.