The Kumeyaay Way - Winter 2008 - (Page 7)

Commitment to Community covering a vast 18,800 acres. It was home to Kumeyaay liv- pay them for it,” said Newcomb, author of Pagans in the Proming in two villages located near water—El Capitan, on the San ised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery (FulDiego River, and the Los Coñejos Band on an eastern tributary, crum 2008). “You might pay rent to them or give them royalties Conejos Creek. Compared to many reservations of that time, or take out a lease…but you do something so that the ones who El Capitan had enough natural resources and a connection to own the land end up being the beneficiaries of that deal. But ancestral lands to provide the Kumeyaay with a place to call that never happened for the Indians.” And it didn’t for the Kumeyaay. home. The Kumeyaay livThe city seized all the water from the San Diego ing on the Capitan Grande River by building a dam and destroying the Indian Reservation adjusted to homes and farms nearby. Elders from the tribe passed their new land, much of it on the stories of homes being burned down to the familiar to them, and creground, original gravesites being uprooted, and cerated a life for themselves emonial sites ravaged—all to make room for the El near the waters—growing Capitan Reservoir. crops and raising livestock. Tribal leaders protested the state’s decision, but But as historian Helen Congress allowed the city to enforce eminent domain Hunt Jackson, author of A over the land, forcing the Kumeyaay to sell areas in Century of Dishonor, cauCapitan Grande for around $400,000. It was an offer tioned at the time: “the the Kumeyaay people were not allowed to refuse. valley is [was] too good; Hundreds of Kumeyaay were they won’t get to keep it.” removed from the Capitan San Diego River Unfortunately for the Grande and Los Coñejos Band Kumeyaay, Jackson was villages on the reservation. The correct: the situation for the bands of the Kumeyaay began Kumeyaay people was too good to split up for the move, dividto last. And as the non-Native ing families and friends who population grew, the demand for once traveled easily between the water began to rise with it. two villages. In 1898, the City of San Diego The Capitan Grande Band began planning for a reservoir of the Kumeyaay, today known that would consume much of the as Barona, purchased a 5,900El Capitan Reservation land. By acre parcel in Barona Valley (the 1919, the land was condemned, Barona Reservation). In addiand in 1932 the city of San Diego tion, 28 other families, includconvinced Congress to approve a ing members of the Los Coñejos plan to force the American IndiBand, pooled their resources and ans off of 2,800 acres of the Capipurchased a 1,600-acre parcel in tan Grande Reservation. Genthe Viejas Valley, once a ranch erations of Indians were forced owned by Baron Long (now the from their ancestral lands and Diverting Dam Viejas Reservation). their empty homes were burned. Before long, the fertile land that sustained the Kumeyaay for The River of Tears thousands of years would be under water, and tribal families Families took what they could carry, piling their lives onto carts would be pushed into the rocks. or trucks. Once the flooding of the land began, everything Steve Newcomb (Shawnee/Lenape), noted author, lawyer, would be lost in the floodwaters. Graves were uprooted from co-founder and co-creator of the Indigenous Law Institute, their burial grounds so that the bones of their ancestors could has written extensively about land and water rights. “Most of be reburied at the new reservations. Villages were abandoned the treaties and rights of Native people everywhere have been and homes destroyed. Everything was flooded out by the city of ignored or broken, especially when precious natural resources San Diego in the name of progress, all for the desire for water. were at stake. If you go to another country, anywhere in the The Kumeyaay refer to their forced relocation from the Capitan world, if that country’s people have a valuable resource, you Grande as the “River of Tears,” a nod to the Southern Cheromight try to gain access to that resource but you are going to kee’s brutal forced relocation known as the “Trail of Tears.” Winter 2008 7

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Kumeyaay Way - Winter 2008

The Kumeyaay Way - Winter 2008 Contents Kumeyaay History Looking Back at the River of Tears Keeping the Borders Open for All Kumeyaay Tribal Security—Safety First Cultural Embrace Viejas Tribal Member Rescues Eagle Education for All Future in Their Hands Viejas Pow Wow Honors Native American Veterans Growing Traditions—Viejas Community Garden Remember When

The Kumeyaay Way - Winter 2008

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