AUKA
Communication from the Native Peoples of Baja California

by Horacio Moncada,
Javier Ceseña and Steve Dryden

Traditional art, crafts, and culture were featured along the scenic waterfront of Ensenada, near the base of the huge flag on August 17th and 18th. A wide variety of native arts and handcrafts were displayed and sold, traditional and regional foods were prepared for consumption, and interested individuals attended demonstrations and workshops on basket weaving, pottery and use of native herbs. This annual gathering of regional Native Peoples included a traditional blessing, cultural dancing, singing, live music, offering guests a rare opportunity to discover and explore the unique culture of our Indigenous People. Community members of the Kumiai, Cucapa, Kiliwa, and Paipai joined forces to present an amazing cultural and marketplace event. “Kuri Kuri” gourd dance singers and the young children of these communities presented traditional dance exhibitions and more. This years event was attended by a record number of guests and many vendors completely sold out of handicrafts, pottery, baskets, and other prized items. Every year it seems that the Native Peoples of this region are being discovered, recognized and appreciated for who they are and what they mean to society in general.

The Kumiai of Guadalupe Valley are part of the Kumeyaay Nation extending from Ensenada to Oceanside, California. Kumiai is the Mexican spelling for Kumeyaay. The majority of these indigenous people live on twelve reservations in San Diego County and six reservations in Baja California. The Luiseño, Cupeño and Cahuilla nations are also indigenous to this region. These native peoples have lived and thrived in this region for thousands of years and still remain despite the hardship inflicted by the occupation of their lands by Spanish, Mexican and American colonizers. Prior to the establishment of the U.S. - Mexico border, members of the Kumeyaay nation were united and roamed freely along the coastal areas, inland valleys, mountains and deserts of southern California and northern Baja California.

Historically, the Kumeyaay were seasonal hunters and gatherers whose individual bands ranged along waterways from San Diego’s coastal region, east through the Laguna Mountains to beyond the Salton Sea in the east, and south beyond Ensenada. The Kumeyaay or Kumiai are of the Yuman language family, Hokan stock, and sometimes referred to as Diegueño. They are further subdivided into the Ipai, Tipai and Kamia bands. The Ipai lived in an area near the San Diego River (Mission Valley) as far north as Vista and eastward towards Escondido to Mount Palomar. The Tipai lived south of the San Diego River into Baja towards the valley of Santo Tomas and around the Ensenada region. Other bands included in the Kumeyaay Nation are: Kiliwa, Paipai, Cocopa, Mohave, Mancopa, Yavapai, Hualapai, Quechan and Havasupai.

Today, there are about 3,000 Kumeyaay living on reservations in San Diego County and in two small villages near Guadalupe Valley in Baja California. Basket weaving continues today with the Kumiai of Baja California with some desirable and collectible baskets selling for over $1000 US. Several women from San Antonio Necua learned basket weaving skills from their maternal grandmothers and great grandmothers and have passed these treasured art forms to anyone wishing to learn. Local materials are harvested during the spring, summer and fall with several varieties of willows used including: native black, red, golden, weeping, arroyo and sandbar. Another plant, Juncus, is only harvested during the full moon and is used as a foundation for their baskets. Juncus is the preferred material used for fine baskets, but each sewing strand must be trimmed to a uniform thickness and width. Kumiai baskets are a rare example of indigenous peoples historical use of local native materials and can be purchased in the village of San Antonio Necua or by contacting Horacio Moncada at ADESU in Ensenada at (646) 178-8093.

The United States - Mexico border continues to split the tribes of the Kumeyaay in two. The San Diego Kumeyaay to the north, and the Baja California Kumiai to the south. The establishment and economic success of casino operations on native lands in San Diego Country has greatly improved the lives of the Kumeyaay living in the US. For example, the Viejas Kumeyaay in San Diego have dramatically improved the quality of their members lives in recent years using tribal casino revenue. Just a few years back, Viejas Reservation unemployment was as high as eighty percent and sixty percent of the housing was substandard. Today, as a result of revenues from tribal government gaming, there is no unemployment. The Viejas Band has built new homes, improved older residences, expanded the Tribal Government Center, constructed a community park, fire station, and a senior citizens center. In addition they provide for the health and well-being of tribal members. And, the Viejas Band has embarked on a multimillion-dollar series of environmental projects to restore the reservation land, watershed, streams and wetlands.

Unfortunately, the Kumiai nation members living in Mexico are still among the poorest peoples in Mexico. The Kumeyaay or Kumiai tribes of Baja California are located in the following areas: Juntas de Neji, San Jose de la Zorra, San Antonio Necua, Cañon de Los Encinos, La Huerta, Santa Catarina, San isidoro, Ejido Tribu Kiliwas and El Mayor Cucapa. Of course, the indigenous peoples of Mexico do not have the benefit of casino gaming revenue and suffer from unemployment, lack of income and loss of traditional family and cultural values. Let’s take a quick peek into the world of the Kumiai living in Baja California and in this article we will visit three villages.

San Antonio Necua or Cañon de Los Encinos is a community of 6262 hectares located into a northeastern nook of the Guadalupe Valley. This rural village lies on the outskirts of Mexico's prime wine producing region and at the base of a series of mountain ranges, including the prominent Sierra Blanca which provides an important source of water for the community. The original settlement of San Antonio Necua, at the base of the mountain, and other traditional settlements such as Jamatay were slowly abandoned as residents moved down to the Cañon de los Encinos (Oak Canyon) on the edge of the wide Guadalupe Valley in order to be closer to employment opportunities. Necua is the only indigenous community of Baja California to enjoy the benefits of water systems, electricity and other services. Although the dirt roads are sometimes impassable during the rainy season, most of the year San Antonio Necua is the most accessible of all the communities.

San Antonio Necua's main water infrastructure has been recently upgraded and improved thanks to Mexican and US EPA government grants along with the help of national and international volunteer groups. The community's location near a major watercourse, the Guadalupe River, has little benefit for the community itself, since the city of Ensenada maintains a series of wells in the vicinity which displaces large amounts of water for municipal use. Grazing of livestock plays an important economic role in the community, where animals are maintained both in confined areas as well as free-ranging. A new development plan calls for a cultural and visitor center, botanical gardens, and a retail sales outlet that will improve the economic situation and promote sustainable development while preserving culture, tradition and the environment.

San Jose de la Zorra is a community of 14,440 hectares in the municipality of Playas de Rosarito and located in a small, remote valley about halfway between the former mission site of San Miguel on the Pacific Coast and the Valley of Guadalupe. La Zorra, another traditional settlement now occupied by neighboring ranchers, is another small valley a few miles northwest of San Jose. As in most communities, resident's ranches are often spread out over a wide area, wherever permanent water sources exist. The lower altitude and relative proximity to the coast combine to create a mild climate where oak woodlands, chaparral and grasslands come together. A limited amount of agriculture, for the most part dry farming along with some irrigated crops, has been carried out since the early part of the century. Kumiai members here are looking for partners to form a cooperative grape growing venture in this valley to take advantage of the abundant, high quality water. Many residents of San Jose de la Zorra work in the wine industry.

Wetlands plants such as willow, salt willow and juncus are particularly important in this community, since they are the raw materials from which artisans produce a variety of forms of elegant basketry. The increasing demand for Kumiai basketry has become a major force in the local economy, where a large percentage of the local residents now depend to some degree on the income generated by this traditional activity. Fortunately, through collaboration with the Kumeyaay community of Campo, California and the CUNA Institute, a wetlands restoration project in the main arroyo is currently underway, with one of its goals being the reestablishment of basketry plants.

The Kumiai community of Juntas de Nejí is the northernmost of the indigenous communities of Baja California, located within the municipality of Tecate. Nejí is divided geographically into two separate polygons, both of which lie relatively close to the international border and within the Tijuana River Watershed and have a combined total of 11,590 hectares. The clans of Nejí have historically shared close familial and linguistic ties with the Kumeyaay (or Tipai) groups of southern San Diego County such as Campo and Jamul. Bordering on the western polygon of Nejí is the traditional Kumiai settlement of Peña Blanca, an unofficial neighboring settlement to Nejí that is unrecognized by the Mexican government. Water sources are scarce, usually consisting of small springs or shallow wells, many used for both drinking water and limited gravity-fed irrigation.

Many inhabitants of Nejí have moved to Tecate, Valle de las Palmas, El Testerazo, El Hongo or the larger urban areas to seek employment, although many of them maintain contact with their community and express interest in returning to live "if there was work.” The few remaining inhabitants survive through subsistence agriculture, cattle ranching, and other seasonal labor in neighboring mestizo communities. Water quality and quantity also represent serious challenges, since none of the existing settlements has any kind of water system more sophisticated than hand dug water collection basins, a few with cemented retaining walls and none with effective lids, seals or other protection. Residents have been advised that they should boil or otherwise treat their water, but usually drink the water untreated "because we're used to it." All of the settlements in the community are located far from the highway, accessible only by dirt roads in poor condition. Acorns are one of the most important natural resources utilized in the area of Nejí, and residents also depend on other wild foods and medicinal plants as well as occasional hunting as part of a diversified survival strategy. One of the most valuable resources for Nejí is the natural beauty of the landscape and its sense of remoteness, even though it is actually the closest community to the metropolitan areas of Tijuana and San Diego.

Today, thanks to good tribal leadership, help from government and non-government agencies, aid from US Tribes and with contributions of time, energy and money from regional, national and international volunteer groups, the Native Peoples of Baja California are surviving and the quality of their lives improving greatly. In these times of global warming, lack of respect for the environment and dysfunctional communities, new focus and attention is upon the people who have lived on the land here for over then thousand years with little or no impact on the environment. Many folks are asking themselves: how can these people who live so simple, with so little, be so happy? And, the Kumiai might be wondering about them, how can these people, with all these toys and all that money, be so unhappy? Maybe be that we all need a balance. Sometimes we take for granted the great gift we all inherit at birth: Planet Earth, with all the creatures, blue sky, rain clouds, rainbows, scented flowers, running waters, diversity in species, the oceans, the mountains, the air and all things natural and free. We’ve been so busy rushing around and consuming material goods in search of happiness, we’ve almost destroyed our great gift. Hopefully, as the Earth rebels, heats up, storms about and fights for life, maybe we’ll wake up just in time to survive. And if we don’t, well, maybe the Native Peoples will inherit the Earth, again...... they never left it, have respected it and have lived the simple life from the beginning of time!