The Indians of San Diego County and Baja California

Four tribal groupings make up the indigenous Indians of San Diego County:
the Kumeyaay/Diegueño, the Luiseño, the Cupeño, and the Cahuilla. The Diegueño are the largest group, and are classified in the Yuman language family, Hokan stock. They are divided into the Ipai (the northern dialectical form) and the Tipai (the southern dialectical form). The Southern Diegueño are known in their language as the Kumeyaay. For more information on the language, see Learn to Speak Kumeyaay. Some research shows that the Kumeyaay are the same as the Kamia, which are the Yuman-speaking Indians of Imperial County, over the mountains east of San Diego County. The Kumeyaay in Baja California (Mexico) are called Kumiai. Several Kumiai villages or communities exist, including San Jose de la Zorra, San Antonio Necua, La Huerta, and Juntas de Neji. For more information see Kumeyaay History and Maps.

The Luiseño, Cupeño, and Cahuilla Indians of San Diego County belong to the Cupan subgroup of the Takic language family of Uto-Aztecan. This language is sometimes called Southern California Shoshonean. They live in the northern part of San Diego County, and are related linguistically and culturally to the Juaneno, Gabrielino, Serrano, and Kitanemuk Indians. The Cahuilla are primarily in the desert areas of Riverside County, although they occupy the far northeasternmost reservation of San Diego County, called Los Coyotes. All of the Indians who traditionally lived in the San Diego area when the Spanish arrived in 1769 are called Mission Indians.

There are 18 Indian reservations in San Diego County, more than in any other county in the United States. However, most people have only heard of the reservations with successful bingo and gaming operations, which have been the reservations of Sycuan, Barona, Viejas, and now Pauma, Campo, Rincon, Pala, Santa Ysabel, San Pasqual, and La Posta, and soon-to-be-Jamul. The 1990 Census of Population and Housing lists around 2,200 Indians living on 17 of the reservations in the County, although there are many others living in the urban areas. The reservations may be divided by the following tribal groups, or rancherias.

Diegueño:: Barona, Campo, Capitan Grande (unoccupied), Cuyapaipe, Inaja-Cosmit, Jamul, La Posta, Manzanita, Mesa Grande, San Pasqual, Santa Ysabel, Sycuan, and Viejas.
Luiseño:: La Jolla, Pauma, and Rincon
Cupeño:: Pala
Cahuilla:: Los Coyotes

For more information on the Kumeyaay, please check The Kumeyaay Story, The Kumeyaay History and Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians.

See a Chronology of the Indigenous Peoples of San Diego County.

When searching the PAC (SDSU Library Catalog) or other libraries' catalogs, check under the following subjects:

: Diegueño Indians; Kumeyaay Indians, SEE Kamia Indians; Kamia Indians; Luiseño Indians; Cahuilla Indians; Cupeño Indians; Mission Indians, SEE Indians of North America - California; Yuman Indians; Indians of North America - California - San Diego County; Indians of North America - California

Also, you can check keywords such as: Kumeyaay, or Kumiai, or Barona, or Viejas Reservation.

Some of the major sources to read more about the histories and cultures of the Indians of San Diego County are the following:

Kumeyaay: A History Textbook, Vol. 1 - Precontact to 1893. Michael Connolly Miskwish. Sycuan Press, 2007 (Special Collections).

The Handbook of North American Indians, Vol.8, California. Washington, DC: Smithsonian, 1978. (pp. 550-563, Luiseño; pp. 588-591, Cupeño; pp. 592-609, Tipai and Ipai; pp. 610-618, History of Southern California Mission Indians). Call number: E 77 H25 v.8

Bibliography of the Indians of San Diego County: the Kumeyaay, Diegueño, Luiseño, and Cupeño. Phillip M. White and Stephen D. Fitt. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 1998. Call number: E 78 C15 W58 1998.

"Southern Diegueño Customs," by Leslie Spier. In University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology. Vol. 20, pp. 297-358. Berkeley, CA: The University of California Press, 1923. Call number: E 51 C15 v.20. Special Collections.

Indians of Southern California. Ruth Murray Underhill. Sherman Pamphlets, No 2. Washington, DC: Office of Indian Affairs, 1941. Call number: 970.1 U55139.

American Indians of San Diego County. San Diego, CA: League of Women Voters of San Diego, 1974. Call number: E 78 C15 L39.

Strangers in a Stolen Land: American Indians in San Diego, 1850-1880. Richard L. Carrico. Sacramento, CA: Sierra Oaks, 1987. Call number: E 78 C15 C342 1987.

Strangers in a Stolen Land: Indians in San Diego County from prehistory to the New Deal, 2nd ed. San Diego, CA: Sunbelt Publications, 2008. Call number: E 78 C15 C34 2008.

Indians of the Oaks. Melicent H. Lee. San Diego, CA: San Diego Museum of Man, 1989 (fiction). Juvenile Coll. Call number: 970.1 L479I39 1978.

For current information on the Indians of San Diego County and news on the reservations, check the San Diego Union-Tribune, or

use Proquest Research Library to search news. (SDSU users only)