UC Riverside

Survival Strategies were chosen by Indians in the mountains of northern San Diego County from 1846 to 1907 according to their personal, individual transition situation and needs of their families, tribes and clans. These choices were complex and varied from clan to clan and village to village. Americans arrived and permanently settled in San Diego, California in 1846 during the Mexican War. By 1850 California had become a part of the United States. In 1848, gold was discovered in northern California and American Easterners received word of free, rich lands to the west. Luiseño, Iipay, Diegueño and Cupeño Indians adhered to their wisest choices in survival strategies according to the abrupt and immense changes that were overcoming them such as the organization of American law that affected them profoundly, American thievery of Indian land and resources, forced removals of villages and the establishment of reservations. Indian lives would never be the same. As Americans continued to flood onto Indian lands, Indians came under more and more pressure. During this time period, Indians responded with many strategies for survival from diplomacy to revolt, always choosing what was best for their families and the coherence of their socio-cultural foundations. These strategies carried and reflected the thread of ancient Indian culture, as the Luiseño, Diegueño, Iipay and Cupeño used their traditional cultural manners, traditions, oral law and customs to balance and correct the traumatic experiences raining down on them as they adapted to loss of land and resources. Luiseño, Diegueño, Iipay and Cupeño succeeded in their survival and are still alive and thriving today in the mountains of northern San Diego County. Some of their socio-cultural structure is not being utilized today, at the turn of the twenty-first century, as they have adapted to the American wave of colonization. However, they have succeeded in living wisely in two worlds and still keep Indian identity intact.