UC San Diego

ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS K’yip Nah (Listen Up!): We Are Still a Coastal People by Michael L. Connolly Master of Arts in Anthropology University of California San Diego, 2024 Professor Paul Goldstein, Chair After 275 years of domination and disenfranchisement from the coast of the San Diego – Tijuana region, the tenuous threads of Kumeyaay coastal identity, spirituality and community are reinvigorated through nested acts of participation and public speaking in non-Indigenous ceremonies. But how is this done without undermining the equally important sovereign identity that underlies the reality of Indigenous existence as political states within the United States? What appears to be simple acts of participation and sharing can also represent a complex effort to reforge a relationship with a place that holds tremendous spiritual importance. The type and level of each Kumeyaay contribution in such a setting represents both collective and individual expressions of sovereignty and individual expressions of personal identity. Representations of the Kumeyaay by urban populations have often been orchestrated by interests hostile to Kumeyaay and, at times, the physical existence of Kumeyaay people, since the earliest Spanish settlements. Only recently have challenges to many of the historical truisms of Indigenous identity been able to find expression within the dominant culture. A public event can provide an opportunity to confront aspects of historical subjugation while finding common ground and teaming up with other groups over shared values. This formation of identity and cultural allegiance can also serve to educate the public regarding the nature of Kumeyaay sovereignty and identity as a modern people.