The San Diego River loosely divided the 'Iipay and the Tiipai historical homelands, while the Kamia lived in the eastern desert areas.

The Kumeyaay or 'Iipai-Tiipai were formerly known as the Diegueños, the former Spanish name applied to the Mission Indians living along the San Diego River.

[7] The Kumeyaay had land along the Pacific Ocean from present Oceanside, California, in the north to south of Ensenada, Mexico, and extending east to the Colorado River.

In 1769, the Portolá expedition anchored in San Diego Bay and, once on land, traveled to the Kumeyaay village of Cosoy (Kosa'aay) to recover and resupply.

This included grazing and foraging livestock animals such as pigs, goats, sheep, cattle, horses, donkeys, and various birds, like chickens, pheasants and ducks; the latter dirtying local water sources considerably.

The Kumeyaay aligned with Quechan-led coalition, along with the Mohave, Yavapai, Chemehuevi, and other smaller groups on the Colorado River.

[22] After decades of debates and delays, the missions in Alta California were secularized in 1833, and Ipai and Tipais lost their lands; band members had to choose between becoming serfs, trespassers, rebels, or fugitives.

[24] The Kumeyaay pueblo fought against hostile bands and protected Mexican settlers, with a decisive victory over an anti-Christian uprising and capturing its leader, Claudio.

While the siege failed, the Kumeyaay managed to control much of the south, east, and most of the north of the settlement, with the town becoming dependent on sea access maintain connections to the rest of Mexico.

[21] The Mexican settlers became refugees on Point Loma as they waited for ships, hoping to evacuate from San Diego as Kumeyaay victories challenged their ability to hold the pueblo.

[24][25] After the Mexican–American War, Kumeyaay lands were split between the U.S. and Mexico through the Mexican Cession resulting from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

The Kumeyaay agreed to join the revolt alongside Cahuilla, Cocopah, and Quechan warriors, but made no military commitments to attack San Diego or capture Fort Yuma.

[30] On January 7, 1852, representatives of a number of Kumeyaay clans, including Panto, met with Commissioner Oliver M. Wozencraft and negotiated the Treaty of Santa Ysabel.

In 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant created reservations in the area, and additional lands were placed under trust patent status after the passage of the 1891 Act for the Relief of Mission Indians.

[20] During the Mexican Revolution, the Magonistas gained the support of the Kumeyaay with an enthusiastic base, particularly in the Tecate region; many Kumeyaay from both sides of the border were enticed by their anarcho-syndicalist message of indigenous liberation from the Mexican and American colonial nation-states starting with the end of the Porfirio Díaz dictatorship.

[38] In response to the casino construction boom, the San Diego County government maintained a policy of opposition to any growth in tribal expansion under any circumstance in fears that land would be used to build more casinos, which broke down relations between the County and the Kumeyaay, Payomkawichum (Luiseño), and Kuupangaxwichem (Cupeño) tribal reservation governments.

[46] Many bands began launching wine tours and festivals to attract tourists and foreign visitors from southern California and cruise passengers stopping at the Port of Ensenada.

The La Posta Band filed a lawsuit in August against the Trump administration seeking to block further construction of the border wall through their sacred cemetery (burial sites).

It was the Kwaapaay's role to protect traditions, hold ceremonies, and resolve disputes and was responsible for political, religious, and economic activities of the sib.

Kuseyaays were made up of male or female priests, doctors, and other specialists in the fields of health, ecology, resource management, tradition, and religion.

[49] Kumeyaay generally lived in dome-shaped homes made from branches and covered with leaves of willow or tule, called 'ewaa.

They also consumed the leaves and fruits of the prickly pear and copal cactus, as well as cherries, plums, elderberries, and Manzanita berries.

[49] Kamia Kumeyaay in the Imperial Valley practiced some forms of agriculture, producing maize, beans, and teparies.

[54] Granite was also plentiful in Kumeyaay lands, which was used to trade for pestles, steatite, eagle feathers, and colored minerals for paint.

[citation needed] To support their maritime economy, they manufactured fishing spears, hooks, and nets made of agave fiber.

[55] The Kumeyaay had a system of trail runners who carried messages and announcements between bands, which notified the presence of the Spaniards prior to Cabrillo's arrival in San Diego.

One Kumeyaay creation story involves the original state of the world as being covered with salt water and tule, without land.

Tuchaipa rubs tobacco in his hand and blows it three times, causing the heavens to rise up and form the sky.

[58] The Kumeyaay Community College was created by the Sycuan Band to serve the Kumeyaay-Diegueño Nation, and describes its mission as "to support cultural identity, sovereignty, and self-determination while meeting the needs of native and non-native students".

[61] More recently, Katharine Luomala points out that this estimate depended on calculations of rates of baptisms at the Mission, and as such "ignores the unbaptized".