DIGUENO KUMEYAAY IPAI TIPAI 1900s

Kumeyaay History, circa 1900s, San Diego County: Two Diegueño (Kumeyaay) men with child wearing Kumeyaay basket hats in front of an ewaa-kicha-style thatched shelter hut pose for a photograph, circa late 1800s or early 1900s, 1920s.

Indigenous California man standing holding a staff, a tumpline slung over his head supporting a bundle of fibrous material or basket container. Baskets and agave cordage net bags hanging off of exterior walls.

CALIFORNIA MISSIONS

The early SPANISH MISSIONS and later CALIFORNIA MISSIONS were founded on Christianity and used as fiduciaries to enslave and assimilate the Kumeyaay Indians, the aboriginal Native peoples of what became California, and their ancestral lands into 'civilized' society.

There is no doubt many California Indians found salvation through the Christian religion and protection under the mission systems, but thousands more Native resisters throughout the mission periods and 1848 California Gold Rush had paid for their freedom and self respect with their lives.

As documented in “The Missions of California: A Legacy of Genocide” Rupert Costo, the California Missions were a brutal, degrading experience for many Native American Indians.

Please see the KUMEYAAY.INFO CALIFORNIA INDIAN RESEARCH DEPARTMENT.