What is the Kumeyaay VSP?
This is a community-based project to tell history from the perspective of members of Kumeyaay Nation, located in southern California...through comics!
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History from Our Perspective, for Our Communities
The way history is portrayed…is laughable...[it] has impacted myself personally and people in my community and…it impacts our relationships that we have with the people around us...There are many reasons for Americans to resist acknowledging history. Especially, their own role in early US California.
Through a concerted effort on many different fronts, Indigenous Californians, with open minded allies, are gradually exposing the flaws in the Narrative and bringing out the real stories. - Mike Connolly Miskwish (Campo Kumeyaay Nation), "California Creation Myth" talk at San Diego History Center, June 2020 |
Introduction to the Kumeyaay Nation
There are 13 federally recognized Kumeyaay reservations in California.
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The Kumeyaay Nation extends from San Diego and Imperial Counties in California to 60 miles south of the Mexican border.
"The Kumeyaay people are defined as the native indigenous people of San Diego County south of the San Luis Rey River, East to the Salton Sea and south to the Mission at Santo Tomas in Baja California (including both Ipai and Tipai). The Mexican Bands, (who use the Spanish spelling, “Kumiai”), have become increasingly distinct in recent years as contacts have become difficult with border crossing restrictions. Four Ejidos in Baja identify themselves as Kumeyaay (Kumiai), and a portion of the population on a fifth Ejido. Mexico does not have Indian Reservations in the sense of the sovereign tribal territories of the U.S. The closest thing in Mexico are indigenous communal lands known as Ejidos Indigenista." - Mike Connolly Miskwish (Campo Kumeyaay Nation), Kumeyaay: A History Textbook Vol 1 (2006) Map courtesy of Mike Connolly Miskwish. |
Learn more at Kumeyaay.com, developed by Kumeyaay VSP Project Director Ethan Banegas (Luiseno-Kumeyaay)
What are "Community Engaged Comics"?
The Kumeyaay Visual Storytelling Project is a form of Community Engaged Comics. It is a partnership between Kumeyaay Nation members and NAGPRA Comics co-producers.
Native and Indigenous communities are calling for more accurate and Indigenous-centered accounts of Indigenous peoples’ experience--in the past and today, in mainstream schools and within Indigenous communities. We believe comics can be one method and medium to contribute to this aim. Community Engaged Comics are rigorously researched, and community authored and vetted, graphic narratives. The co-producers of NAGPRA Comics developed this method; it's similar to "community curating" museum exhibits. Community Engaged Comics are a form of collaboration where the result is a comic, and so much more. The comics are a means for community engagement, for community members to discuss and build together what they want to communicate and how. Community partners direct the project from conception to implementation to evaluation, and they are in control of content and distribution. We conduct community-based workshops and presentations and public events as part of our work together. Comics and associated lesson plans will be distributed via PDF for free and in print through the tribally owned business Tribal Print Source in California. If you want to learn more about our Project Team and how the project is structured, check out the About Us Page. |
Project Overview
Funding
California Humanities for All This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. This grant was awarded to the Campo Kumeyaay Nation. |
Whiting Foundation Public Engagement Fellowship
The Whiting Foundation provides targeted support for writers, scholars, and the stewards of humanity's shared cultural heritage. This fellowship was awarded to Jen Shannon. |
Website was created by Jen Shannon, March 2022