Kumeyaay
Also called the Diegueño, or Tipai-Ipai, these Indians' traditional lands are what are now San Diego County and northern Baja California. The Kumeyaay land extended from 50 to 75 miles both north and south of the present Mexican border, as well as from the California coast almost to the Colorado River. Theirs is a Hokan language of the Yuman branch. They are divided also by two dialects: Ipai (the northern dialectical form) and Tipai (the southern dialectical form). They depended on a variety of foods, from marine resources along the coast to vegetable foods such as acorns, to dry farming. In the 18th century, there were around 50 bands of Kumeyaay. The Mission San Diego was the first Spanish mission in California, established in San Diego in 1769 to convert the Kumeyaay, among other goals. The Spanish called them Diegueños because they lived near the San Diego river. In the late 18th century there were between 3,000 and 9,000 Tipai-Ipai, or Kumeyaay/Diegueño/Kamia. Before 1870, the southern and interior Kumeyaay largely avoided repression by the Mission San Diego, while the northern and coastal Kumeyaay had early contact with the missions, and fell under Spanish domination. After 1870, American immigrants moved into the area, taking the Kumeyaay land. Until 1910, the Kumeyaay largely starved on inadequate reservations or found menial labor on area ranches or in local homes. Today, there are around 1,200 Kumeyaay living on their reservations of Barona, Campo, Inaja-Cosmit, La Posta, Manzanita, Mesa Grande, San Pasqual, Santa Ysabel, Sycuan, Viejas (Baron Long), and the Jamul Indian Village. Their reservations of Capitan Grande and Cuyapaipe are unoccupied. Another 2,000 more live off-reservation. Various spellings of Kumeyaay may be found in older documents, such as Kumei, or Cumeyaay.