Although closely related to and only a couple of miles distance from Santa Ysabel, the Mesa Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians is a group that cherishes a singular independence.
Official Tribal Name: Mesa Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Mesa Grande Reservation
Address: P.O. Box 270, Santa Ysabel CA 92070
Phone: 760-782-3818
Fax: 760-782-9029
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Official Website: mesagrandeband-nsn.gov
Recognition Status: Federally Recognized
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Mesa Grande Band of Diegueno
Mesa Grande Mission Indians
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Region: California
State(s) Today: California
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Confederacy: Kumeyaay Nation – One of 13 bands.
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Reservation: Mesa Grande Reservation
The Mesa Grande Reservation is rather remote, very quiet, and scenic, high on a group of hills above the forests of Black Canyon (part of Cleveland National Forest). In winter it is often covered with a mantle of snow. For their living during the year, the families here commute to nearby towns, but also keep some horses, cows, and a few farms in a variety of frame, rock, adobe and mobile homes on 920 acres of land (some newly- acquired from the Bureau of Land Management). The land itself is interesting, unspoiled country, typical of the high 3500′ plateaus of the southern Coast Range.
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The coastal country where the Kumeyaay lived and the Salton Sea margins contain archaeological evidence suggesting that they are some of the oldest known Indian-inhabited areas in the United States; middens, or refuse heaps, have been found that date back some 20,000 years.
Bands, Gens, and Clans
The Kumeyaay were organized along clan lines called Sh’mulq. The clans maintained complex familial, spiritual and militaristic alliances with each other. When threatened by an outside adversary the clans would come togther under a Kwachut G’tag to meet the threat. See Kumeyaay Bands
Related Tribes: See Kumeyaay Bands link, above.
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