Native American

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Downtown to Uptown

The Native Americans-The Kumeyaay

The Kumeyaay was a Native American tribe that lived in San Diego. They were exceptional when it came to survival. They lived a simple life with the environment as their only resource. The Kumeyaay were “very intelligent,” said Father Francisco Palou. They lived in villages. There used to be a Kumeyaay village in Mission Hills, home of about 40 families called Cosoy. The villages had little or no government. Most crimes went unpunished. The only exception was if someone important was killed.        

The clothing and houses of the Kumeyaay show how they lived with nature. The women wore skirts made from willow bark or agave fiber, and men wore agave or leather thongs. Tattoos were more popular among the women. The Kumeyaay lived in basket-like huts of tule where there were trees and water.

A replica of a tule hut

The Kumeyaay Had Many Traditions

Kumeyaay had many ceremonies for celebrating different occasions. The Kumeyaay believed a name should have to do with the person. They got their names between ages 2 and 5 from their elders. The name told a unique characteristic about the person. Ceremonies were important because they told the young the ways of their people. Their elders passed on the information to them by talking; they didn’t have a written language. Every village had a different language, but they were part of the Yuman language group.

Shamans were religious leaders and medicine men. They were paid gifts for their work. If the patient died the payment would be refunded. They also cremated the dead with clothing and belongings; a year later they held a mourning ceremony. Initiation ceremonies when boys and girls reach adulthood at about age 13 were also important.

A Kumeyaay Shaman

Kumeyaay use Nature

Acorns were the main food source for the Kumeyaay. They ground acorns to make flour. The Kumeyaay also hunted, gathered, and traded for food. Some animals were sacred and not to be eaten, like doves and bears. The Native Americans hunted deer, rabbit, quail, waterfowl, squirrel, opossum, and snake, but not all men were hunters. The people in the Cosoy village hunted in Mission Hills canyons and plateaus. They traded:

• sandals made of yucca fibers
• salt
• shells
• bear grass
• deerskin
• pumice stone
• dried fish
• jasper points
• soapstone

These Native Americans were the first of our people; they were considered a Stone Age people. They were the beginning of our history. The Kumeyaay lived for many years with nature in their own way until the Spanish came.

A map of where the Kumeyaay lived

An agave fiber skirt

A group of Kumeyaay men