Getting the Kumeyaay Back on the Coast

Speaker: Richard Carrico

Until quite recently the Kumeyaay (Ipai/Tipai or Diegueño) most often were typified as hunters and gatherers who subsisted off of acorns, rabbits, deer, and a variety of seeds and berries.  Fishing and collection of shellfish was occasionally mentioned although mainly by archaeologists working shell middens and coastal sites.  In part this neglect is because the majority of early anthropologists and ethnographers based their studies on inland Kumeyaay who may or may not have had much experience with the ocean and coast.

But another picture is gradually emerging, one that clearly depicts the Kumeyaay as accomplished fisher folk and exploiters of the coastal shores and bays. Join Richard Carrico as he explores the maritime Kumeyaay experience.