Kumeyaay: Native Californians/ Iipai-Tipai

About the Exhibit

Now Closed - After being on view since the 1990s, the longstanding exhibition Kumeyaay: Native Californians/Iipay-Tipai closed on Monday, August 3. The Kumeyaay Cosmology exhibit will remain on view. 

In recent years, Museum staff and Kumeyaay community representatives have worked together to care for and update elements of the exhibition with traditional and contemporary Kumeyaay lifeways and cultural belongings. 

However, decolonizing museum practice involves more than revising existing displays.

Over the past several years the Museum's Exhibits Department has been working with community members from across the greater Kumeyaay Nation in San Diego County and northern Baja California to develop a new, larger exhibition that shares histories and living cultures through community voices and perspectives.

The greater Kumeyaay Nation encompasses many distinct communities whose members identify by different names including Kumeyaay, Kumiai, Iipay, Tipai, and Diegueño, among others.

More information about the new exhibition and its opening will be shared in the future.

Community members may reach out to the Exhibits Department to learn more about this process at museum@museumofus.org. 

For questions about access to cultural resources previously on display, please contact culturalresources@museumofus.org. 

The Museum of Us recognizes that it sits on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Kumeyaay Nation. The Museum extends its respect and gratitude to the Kumeyaay peoples who have lived here for millennia. They continue to care for and maintain connection to this ancestral homeland.

The Kumeyaay Nation maintains their political sovereignty, governance, and cultural traditions. The Kumeyaay Nation is a culturally vibrant Indigenous community full of dedicated artists, educators, professionals, innovators, leaders, athletes, culture bearers, parents, and caregivers.

Tradition, culture, and family are at the heart of Kumeyaay peoples’ way of life. It is through this pathway, that the Kumeyaay community celebrates their resilience, honors their ancestors, and strengthens the path for future generations.

This exhibition features content on traditional and contemporary Kumeyaay lifeways, including the art of pottery and basket making, food procurement, dress and adornment, traditional medicine, games, and ceremonies. Cultural resources highlight the rich cultural heritage and living traditions of the Kumeyaay Peoples.

The Kumeyaay Peoples are the Indigenous peoples of present-day Southern California (San Diego and western Imperial Counties) and Northern Baja California. For many generations before the arrival of the Spanish, they have occupied the deserts, mountains, and coasts, developing sophisticated means of adapting to the diverse environments.

With the arrival of Spanish settlers in the mid-1700s, Kumeyaay lifeways were forced to change. Today the Kumeyaay Peoples are present in thirteen bands located on reservations throughout San Diego County, and four additional bands in present-day Baja California, Mexico:

Campo Band of the Kumeyaay Nation

Viejas Band of the Kumeyaay Nation

Barona Band of Mission Indians

San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians

Inaja-Cosmit Reservation

Capitan Grande Indian Reservation

Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel

Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians aka Cuyapaipe

Manzanita Band of the Kumeyaay Nation

La Posta Band of Diegueno Mission Indians

Jamul Indian Village of California of the Kumeyaay Nation

Mesa Grande Band of the Kumeyaay Nation

Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation

In Baja California, Mexico:

La Huerta

Juntas de Nejí

San Antonio Necua

San José de la Zorra

Content Warning: Please be aware that the content of this exhibit may be difficult or disturbing for some visitors. This exhibit contains content related to the oppression of Indigenous Peoples and genocide.

Exhibit Images