Kumeyaay


The Kumeyaay, also known as 'Iipai-Tiipai or by the historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of indigenous people who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the United States. They are an Indigenous people of California.
The Kumeyaay language belongs to the Yuman–Cochimí language family. The Kumeyaay consist of three related groups, the 'Iipai, Tiipai, and Kamia. The San Diego River loosely divided the 'Iipay and the Tiipai historical homelands, while the Kamia lived in the eastern desert areas. The 'Iipai lived to the north, from Escondido to Lake Henshaw, while the Tiipai lived to the south, in lands including the Laguna Mountains, Ensenada, and Tecate. The Kamia lived to the east in an area that included Mexicali and bordered the Salton Sea.

Name

The Kumeyaay or 'Iipai-Tiipai were formerly known as the Diegueños, the former Spanish name applied to the Mission Indians living along the San Diego River. They are referred to as Kumiai in Mexico.
The term Kumeyaay translates as "People of the west", with the word meyaay meaning "steep" or "cliff".

Language

All languages and dialects spoken by the Kumeyaay belong to the Delta–California branch of the Yuman language family, to which several other linguistically distinct, but related, groups also belong. Native speakers contend that, within their territory, all Kumeyaay can understand and speak to each other, if even after a brief familiarization.
Nomenclature and tribal distinctions are not widely agreed upon. According to Margaret Langdon, who is credited with doing much of the early work on documenting the language, the general scholarly consensus recognized three separate dialects:
Katherine Luomala considered that the wide range of dialect variations reflected only two distinct languages, 'Iipai and Tiipai, a view mostly supported by other researchers.
Kumeyaay is traditionally transmitted through oral narratives, song cycles, and ceremonial practices. Bird songs, which recount migratory journeys and ancestral histories, remain one of the most culturally significant forms of verbal art among Kumeyaay communities. Although the number of first-language speakers has declined, linguistic elements continue to appear in song traditions and storytelling, and community-based language classes and revitalization programs operate on several Kumeyaay reservations and at Kumeyaay Community College.
Language preservation efforts are active on both sides of the U.S.–Mexico border. Community-based initiatives such as Kumeyaay Community College, university collaborations, and programs within individual reservations support adult classes, documentation, and curriculum development. Archival and museum collections relevant to Kumeyaay language, history, and oral traditions are held at regional institutions such as the Museum of Us and tribal museums including the Barona Cultural Center & Museum.

History

Pre-European contact

Evidence of the settlement in what is today considered Kumeyaay territory may go back twelve millennia. Circa 7000 B.C. marked the emergence of two cultural traditions: the California Coast and Valley tradition and the Desert tradition. The Kumeyaay had land along the Pacific Ocean from present Oceanside, California, in the north to south of Ensenada, Mexico, and extending east to the Colorado River. The Cuyamaca complex, a late Holocene complex in San Diego County is related to the Kumeyaay peoples.
One view holds that historic 'Iipai-Tiipai emerged around one millennium ago, though a "proto-'Iipai-Tiipai culture" had been established by about 5000 B.C. Another view suggests that the "nucleus of later Tipai-Ipai groups" came together around A.D. 1000. The Kumeyaay themselves traditionally hold that they have lived in San Diego since 10,000 B.C. At the time of European contact, Kumeyaay comprised several autonomous bands with thirty patrilineal clans.

Spanish exploration and colonization

The first European to visit the region was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542. He had initially met with the Kumeyaay, but this did not lead to any colonial settlement. Sebastián Vizcaíno also visited in 1602 and met with a band of Kumeyaay during the feast of San Diego de Alcalá, thus giving the region of San Diego its name; however, this also did not lead to colonial settlement.

Missionization period

In 1769, the Portolá expedition anchored in San Diego Bay and, once on land, traveled to the Kumeyaay village of Cosoy to recover and resupply. After their recovery, the Spanish established a presidio over the village and the Misión San Diego de Alcalá, incorporating the village into the settlement of San Diego. In 1769, under the Spanish Mission system, bands living near Misión San Diego de Alcalá, were called Diegueños; later bands, living near Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, were called the Luiseño. The Spaniards brought with them new, non-native, invasive flora and domestic animals, which brought about some level of degradation to local ecology. This included grazing and foraging livestock animals such as pigs, goats, sheep, cattle, horses, donkeys, and various birds, like chickens, pheasants and ducks; the latter dirtying local water sources considerably.
After years of sexual assaults from the Spanish soldiers in the Presidio, and physical torture of Mission Indians using metal-tipped whips, the Tiipay-Kumeyaay villages led a revolt against the Spanish, burning down Mission San Diego and killing Father Luis Jayme along with two others. Missionaries and church leaders “apologized” and forgave the Kumeyaay, rebuilding their mission closer to the Kumeyaay village of Nipaquay or Nipawai. Ultimately, the Spanish solidified their control over the area until the end of the mission era.

Colorado River conflict

In the east, the Kamia-Kumeyaay were engaged in an armed regional conflict in the Colorado River region against a coalition of Yuman speaking tribes east of the Colorado River and the Cahuilla led by the Maricopa. The Kumeyaay aligned with Quechan-led coalition, along with the Mohave, Yavapai, Chemehuevi, and other smaller groups on the Colorado River. The Spanish mediated peace talks between the two warring factions in the mid-1770s, largely siding with the Quechan-aligned alliance. However, increased tensions between the Spanish and the Quechan led to resumed conflict in 1781, but with the Spanish being denied overland access to Alta California and siding with the Maricopa-aligned coalition. The Spanish would then refocus their attention westwards to secure their maritime access to Alta California on 'Iipay-Tiipay-Kumeyaay lands.

Early Mexican rancho era

First Mexican Empire and First Mexican Republic period

The Mexican Empire assumed ownership of Kumeyaay lands after defeating Spain in the Mexican War of Independence in 1821. The following year, Mexican troops confiscated all coastal lands from the Kumeyaay in 1822, granting much of the land to Mexican settlers, who became known as Californios, to develop the land for agriculture, beginning the California rancho era.
Kumeyaay fell victim to smallpox and malaria epidemics in 1827 and 1832, reducing their population.
Various disputes culminated to a skirmish between the Kumeyaay and Mexican soldiers stationed in San Diego in 1826, killing 26 Kumeyaay. This provoked Lt. Juan M. Ibarra to lead several attacks on Kumeyaay-controlled lands, and killed 28 people in his attack on Santa Ysabel on April 5 of that year. In retaliation, the Kamia-Kumeyaay attacked Fort Romualdo Pacheco on April 26 with the support of the Quechan, resulting in three dead Mexican soldiers and a fort that would never return to service.
After decades of debates and delays, the missions in Alta California were secularized in 1833, and Ipai and Tipais lost their lands; band members had to choose between becoming serfs, trespassers, rebels, or fugitives. This increased tensions between the Kumeyaay and the Mexican settlers as the economic instability threatened the security of Mexican and American merchants transiting through the area.

Centralist Republic of Mexico period

Under territorial governor José Figueroa, some of the Kumeyaay from Mission San Diego were allowed to resettle and establish San Pasqual pueblo in 1835, who would later become the San Pasqual Band of Diegueno Mission Indians. The Kumeyaay pueblo fought against hostile bands and protected Mexican settlers, with a decisive victory over an anti-Christian uprising and capturing its leader, Claudio.
With conditions worsening, the Kumeyaay led an attack on Rancho Tecate in 1836, forcing the alcalde of San Diego to send an expedition to suppress the Kumeyaay, but returned unsuccessfully. Because of the failed venture, Mexico failed to adequately suppress talk of Californian secession from American settlers in northern Alta California.
Further Kumeyaay raids on El Cajon and Rancho Jamul threatened the security of San Diego, as many residents of San Diego fled the city. The Kumeyaay were able to attack San Diego in the late 1830s. Kumeyaay advancements into Rancho Bernardo in the north and San Ysidro and Tijuana to the south at the end of the decade threatened to cut off San Diego from the rest of the Centralist Republic of Mexico. The Kumeyaay made preparations to lay siege on San Diego in the early 1840s and launched a second attack on San Diego in June 1842. However, San Diego managed to defend itself once more. While the siege failed, the Kumeyaay managed to control much of the south, east, and most of the north of the settlement, with the town becoming dependent on sea access maintain connections to the rest of Mexico. Together with Quechan resistance in the east, the Kumeyaay cut off Alta California of all land routes to the rest of the Mexican republic between the Colorado River and the Pacific Ocean up until the Mexican–American War, further threatening Mexican control of the southern Alta California coast. The Kumeyaay prevented Mexican usage of the ranchos around San Diego and evicted most of the Californios in the area by 1844, and continued launching raids deep into the Mexican controlled coast up until the start of the Mexican–American War. The Mexican settlers became refugees on Point Loma as they waited for ships, hoping to evacuate from San Diego as Kumeyaay victories challenged their ability to hold the pueblo.