November is Native American Heritage Month

Haawka! Hello! That is how you can greet someone in Kumeyaay and English. November is Native American Heritage Month, and we acknowledge that San Diego County is the unceded ancestral and current homeland of four Tribal cultural groups:

• The Kumeyaay, formerly known as the Diegueño, whose land extends to northern Baja California, Mexico;
• The Luiseño, or Payómkawichum in the Luiseño language;
• The Cahuilla, or Ivilyuqaletem in the Cahuilla language; and
• The Cupeño, or Kuupangaxwichem in the Cupeño language.

There are 18 federally-recognized Tribal Nation Reservations in San Diego County, a greater number than in any other county in the United States. And in San Diego today, the Kumeyaay, Luiseño, Cahuilla, and Cupeño peoples live, thrive, and advocate for Indigenous self-determination and responsible stewardship of the region’s land, water, and other natural resources.

Many place names in San Diego County are derived from Kumeyaay words.

• Cuyamaca comes from ‘Ekwiiyemak, meaning behind the clouds or the place where it rains.
• Jamacha is from the word xamca, or bottle gourd.
• Pauwai, meaning arrowhead or watering hole, is known today as Poway.
• The precise derivation of Otay is disputed, but the place name comes from words meaning brushy, big mountain, or big.
• Matlahuayl means Land of Holes, referring to coves. This was transcribed by Spanish colonists as La Jolla.

To learn more about the Kumeyaay and other Tribal Nations of North America, check out these organizations and resources!

• The Barona Cultural Center and Museum in Lakeside is dedicated to the perpetuation and presentation of Kumeyaay culture.
• Kumeyaay Community College in El Cajon offers courses in Kumeyaay language, ethnobotany, history, and other topics.
• The Kumeyaay-Ipai Interpretive Center at Pauwai offers docent-led and self-guided tours of this archaeological site in Poway.
• The University of California at Berkeley’s California Language Archive contains recordings and further reading about the nearly 90 Indigenous languages of California.
• The Library of Congress’s Native American Heritage Month page brings together resources on Indigenous peoples across the United States.
• At the One Book, One San Diego Virtual Author Event with Carole Lindstrom on Friday, November 4th, the author will discuss the One Book, One San Diego Kids selection We Are Water Protectors, a picture book about Indigenous-led water and land protection movements across North America.