FIRST PEOPLE--KUMEYAAY ON KPBS + SDSU Press Books on the Kumeyaay of Southern California and Baja California: Geralyn Hoffman and Lynn Gamble’s A Teacher's Guide to Historical and Contemporary Kumeyaay Culture & William D. Hohenthal, Jr.’s Tipai Ethnographic Notes: A Baja California Indian Community at Mid-Century

"To the beginning of time" takes on a different meaning when referring to San Diego county and Northern Baja, California. In this case, it comes from the first true San Diegans, otherwise known as the Kumeyaay (also known as the Tipai-Ipai, Kamia, or Diegueño). KPBS' Emmy-nominated film First People - Kumeyaay  explores Kumeyaay culture with probing insight into their nation(s), located throughout the county of San Diego and in the north of Baja, California. There has been substantial interest in this native community, whose legacy and cultural identity cannot be neglected when thinking about the people and history that constitute modern San Diego/Baja culture.  Here is a teaser from the new documentary:

SDSU Press has been committed to documenting the myriad complexities of the Kumeyaay and other Native American nations for decades.  Two publications, still in print, and now on sale via our Amazon.com virtual bookstore are particularly salient:

A Teacher's Guide to Historical and Contemporary Kumeyaay Culture (A Supplemental Resource for Third and Fourth Grade Teachers) written by Geralyn Hoffman and Lynn Gamble, invites the reader to become one with the Kumeyaay Nation and delve into their modern culture. Gamble's interest and publications on a wide variety of topics from the Chumash Indians to the origin of the plank canoe allows for an insightful and in depth approach to the Kumeyaay culture.

Additionally, William D. Hohenthal, Jr. takes the reader back into history in Tipai Ethnographic Notes: A Baja California Indian Community at Mid-Century. This dynamic and enlightening book recreates the past through their ancient traditions, ethnographic info, and Tipai accounts of material culture, complete with a map that reveals elusive and dormant trails for the reader to explore.