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This is a creation story of the Kumeyaay of
San Diego County, whom the later Spanish
settlers called Diegueños. The Kumeyaay
were a Yuman-speaking people that
included the Lipay bands in the north and
the Tipay bands in the southern part of the
county. They shared the region with bands
of Luiseño near Oceanside, the Cáhuilla,
found mostly in Riverside County, and the
Cupeño, near
Warner Hot Springs. Over
the centuries, these groups blended
many cultural characteristics and generally
lived peacefully.
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As the creation story says, the Maker had
indeed made earth and sky good for the
people in San Diego County. The geography
provided coastal estuaries and a warm,
sunny cli
mate. A native grain, now extinct
and unidentified, once covered the valleys
and hillsides.
While rainfall
was li
mited and unpredictable,
the coastal plain was “filled to the bri
m” with
fresh groundwater: it overlay a large artesian
system that spurted forth springs and even
fountains. There were reeds, rushes and
willows for housing, clothing and baskets.
Berries, roots, nuts, acorns, big horn sheep,
antelope, deer, quail, rabbits and fish provid-
ed plenty to eat.
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T
he world in the beginning was a pure
lake. The Sky came down upon the
Earth. Tu-chai-pai, the Maker, and
Yo-ko-mat-is, his younger brother, sat
stooped together, bowed down by the weight
of the sky. Tu-chai-pai said, “We-hicht, we-
hicht, we-hicht.” He rubbed tobacco in his
hand and blew upon it three ti
mes.
Every ti
me he blew, the heavens rose
higher and higher above their heads.
Then he placed North, South, East and
West. The Maker said, “Men are coming
from the East and from the West.
Now I am going to make hills and val-
leys and little hollows of
water.”
“Why are you making all these
things?” asked Younger Brother. The
Maker explained, “When men walk
back and forth in the world, they will
need to drink water or they will die.”
So he made little water places for the
people. Then he made the forests so
they would have wood to burn. He
dug in the ground for mud to make
the first people, the Indians. He made
the Sun and Moon, and then he creat-
ed nothing more. Still, he was al
ways think-
ing how to make Earth and Sky better for all
the Indians.
Kumeyaay Story
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Chapter 1:
Ancient
Days pre-1769
Rosa Nejo carrying an olla
Campo, 1918
The San Diego Historical
Society