Campo Kumeyaay Nation - About Our Homeland

Our Homeland

The Campo Kumeyaay live in a semi-arid environment with an abundance of plant and animal life. Historically, they knew how to manage their environment, making it healthier and more productive. The land provided everything the Kumeyaay needed.

Key Terms

Chaparral?

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An area populated by shrubs that is dry in the summer and rainy in the winter.
Shawii?

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A Kumeyaay word for food made from ground acorns. Acorns are the seeds of the oak tree.
Wetland?

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Land covered mostly with water, with occasional marshy and soggy areas.
Kuseyaay?

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A Kumeyaay name for people in their community who were specialists in particular areas. They offered advice and guidance to the people on many matters related to the environment, including where to build rock drop structures.
Biodiversity?

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The number and variety of species of plant and animal life within a region.

Video Transcript (PDF)

Explore: Kumeyaay Environmental Management

Try These Questions

The Campo Valley, where the Kumeyaay people live, is a chaparral environment. Which pair of images best represents chaparral?

Because this pair of images shows fire (which many chaparral plants benefit from) and a landscape dominated by shrubs and brush, it represents the chaparral best.

Historically, the Kuseyaay were spiritual people and specialists who acted as advisors. On which of the following did the Kuseyaay not offer guidance?

A) When to move to another area in the territory

B) What language to speak

C) When to harvest plants

D) When to burn an area to encourage plant growth

The Kumeyaay had their own language which they all spoke. But the Kuseyaay did advise their people on living in the natural world.

Historically, the Kumeyaay used many plants that grew in their region. Which of the following plants and uses are true for the Kumeyaay?

A) They used acorns from oak trees as food.

B) They used the wide-leafed yerba mansa plant for medicine.

C) They boiled the stinging nettle plant and ate it.

D) All of the above

The Kumeyaay knew their environment very well. They used these and many other plants to meet their food, clothing, and shelter needs.

Submit your answer

Next: Our Challenge

Choose Images for Story Project

Toggle Favorite Oak trees are an important part of the chaparral environment that dominates Campo Kumeyaay homelands. Oaks grow best in valleys where enough water is available. 2010
Toggle Favorite “There are hundreds of oak trees that go up through the valleys. And these provided one of our staples, which was the acorn.”
Toggle Favorite Oak trees have long been an important source of food for the Kumeyaay. The acorns, or seeds of the oak tree, are used to produce a food that the Kumeyaay call shawii. 2010
Toggle Favorite “When we’d go pick acorns, they would say, ‘You have to leave enough for the squirrels and the other animals.’
Toggle Favorite In the semi-arid chaparral environment of Kumeyaay homelands, wetland areas are most often found in the valleys where small creeks run and the water table is close to the surface. 2010
Toggle Favorite “And then when you get into the very lowest parts of the valleys, you encounter the wetland areas. And the wetlands were a big source of medicinal plants and foods.”
Toggle Favorite Coyote is one of many wildlife species that frequent the wetlands environment of the Kumeyaay homelands. 2007
Toggle Favorite “All the wildlife that comes in is really amazing.”
Toggle Favorite The homelands of the Kumeyaay are semi-arid, but they traditionally supported the Kumeyaay people with abundant plant and animal life. 2010
Toggle Favorite “Because we live in a area that we don’t get much water, we had to come up with techniques of, ways of, storing water, because in ancient times, we didn’t have ways of digging with drills like we do today for water.”
Toggle Favorite The Kumeyaay knew how to manage the land so that it would continue to provide for the people. Specialists known as Kuseyaay advised about techniques such as controlled burning, used to make the environment healthier. 2010
Toggle Favorite “And these Kuseyaay would offer their advice, and they would tell the shmulqs when it was time to move to another area, or when it was time to burn an area, or when it was time to harvest different plants. . . . They were astronomers, and they understood the constellations, and they knew the seasons.”

Go To My Story Project

Take Notes for Story Project

What is the local environment like? (land, water, climate, plants, animals)

This interactive experience requires Adobe Flash Player 9 or higher.

Name some ways the environment supports the tribe’s cultural traditions and economy.

This interactive experience requires Adobe Flash Player 9 or higher.

More Info

Toggle Favorite save to use in story project

Oak trees are an important part of the chaparral environment that dominates Campo Kumeyaay homelands. Oaks grow best in valleys where enough water is available. 2010
Toggle Favorite save to use in story project

Michael Connolly, environmental consultant and former tribal councilman

“There are hundreds of oak trees that go up through the valleys. And these provided one of our staples, which was the acorn.”
Toggle Favorite save to use in story project

Oak trees have long been an important source of food for the Kumeyaay. The acorns, or seeds of the oak tree, are used to produce a food that the Kumeyaay call shawii. 2010
Toggle Favorite save to use in story project

Paul Cuero, Jr., singer and tribal councilman

“When we’d go pick acorns, they would say, ‘You have to leave enough for the squirrels and the other animals.”
Toggle Favorite save to use in story project

In the semi-arid chaparral environment of Kumeyaay homelands, wetland areas are most often found in the valleys where small creeks run and the water table is close to the surface. 2010
Toggle Favorite save to use in story project

Michael Connolly, environmental consultant and former tribal councilman

“And then when you get into the very lowest parts of the valleys, you encounter the wetland areas. And the wetlands were a big source of medicinal plants and foods.”
Toggle Favorite save to use in story project

Coyote is one of many wildlife species that frequent the wetlands environment of the Kumeyaay homelands. 2007
Toggle Favorite save to use in story project

Michael Connolly, environmental consultant and former tribal councilman

“All the wildlife that comes in is really amazing.”
Toggle Favorite save to use in story project

The homelands of the Kumeyaay are semi-arid, but they traditionally supported the Kumeyaay people with abundant plant and animal life. 2010
Toggle Favorite save to use in story project

Paul Cuero, Jr., singer and tribal councilman

“Because we live in a area that we don’t get much water, we had to come up with techniques of, ways of, storing water, because in ancient times, we didn’t have ways of digging with drills like we do today for water.”
Toggle Favorite save to use in story project

The Kumeyaay knew how to manage the land so that it would continue to provide for the people. Specialists known as Kuseyaay advised about techniques such as controlled burning, used to make the environment healthier. 2010
Toggle Favorite save to use in story project

Michael Connolly, environmental consultant and former tribal councilman

“And these Kuseyaay would offer their advice, and they would tell the shmulqs when it was time to move to another area, or when it was time to burn an area, or when it was time to harvest different plants. . . . They were astronomers, and they understood the constellations, and they knew the seasons.”