UC Merced The Journal of Anthropology

Title Kamia and : A Linguistic Perspective

Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/23x3t6dd

Journal The Journal of California Anthropology, 2(1)

Author Langdon, Margaret

Publication Date 1975-07-01

Peer reviewed

eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Kamia and Kumeyaay: A Linguistic Perspective

MARGARET LANGDON

HE term Kamia and its many ortho­ We may first note that two basic variants T graphic variants, among others Kamya, of the term exist: Kamia [kamya] or [kami- Comeya, Comaiyah, Co-mai-yah, Comedas, ya] and Kamiyai [kamiya'y] or [kumiya'y]. Comoyatz, Comoyee, Co-mo-yei, Quemaya, While at first sight they seem to be no more Quemaya, Camillares, Comoyalis, and Co-mo- than variants of each other, a review of the yah (Henshaw and Hodge 1907; Kroeber literature suggests that they are not inter­ 1925:723; Gifford 1931:2-3), have caused changeable. Note for example the puzzling much confusion in the ethnographic literature. statement of Gifford (1931:18): "The Kamia The spelling Kamia was made famous by Kroe­ names for various tribes are as follows: ber (1925:723ff) and institutionalized by Gif­ Kamiyai or Kamiyahi, Kamia, and Diegueno." ford's (1931) monograph The Kamia of Im­ What he means is that the Kamia called both perial Valley in which he described specifi­ themselves and the Diegueiio Kamiyai. One cally the native inhabitants of Imperial Valley might well ask why then Gifford called them whom he visited briefly in 1928-1929. Be­ Kamia. The answer seems to be that they are cause of the local focus of his monograph, called Kamia by the Yuma and Mojave (Har­ Gifford used the term Kamia to refer unique­ rington 1908:324; Kroeber 1925:724) and ly to the group under discussion, although Kamiyai by themselves. I will discuss the "... it is an open question whether the linguistic implications of this difference Eastern Diegueiio and the Kamia should be below. regarded as a single people or as separate But first, I would like to characterize as peoples" (Gifford 1931:2), and although a precisely as possible the language of Gifford's designation similar to Kamia is attested by Kamia, as it emerges from the native terms various authors to refer to part or all of the sprinkled throughout the monograph, which group also known as Dieguefio. The problem, remains the only available source of this stated in its simplest form, is that the two speech variety.' The following specific obser­ names—Diegueno and Kamia—overlap to some vations confirm Gifford's (1931:1) statement degree for various people, but are apparently that "Linguistically, the Kamia are probably not synonymous, least of all for the people only subdialectally distinguishable from the they are supposed to identify. At the risk of Diegueiio." increasing the existing confusion, but with the Among the Yuman languages, only excuse that the reason for it might become Diegueiio and Cocopa exhibit as common clearer, I would like to take a linguistic sounds the voiceless laterals [I] and [1^], al­ perspective based on comparative observa­ though they also occur, but rarely, in Yuma. tions of Yuman languages and dialects, and If we therefore assume that Gifford's fairly even suggest a plausible etymology. common symbols thl, tl, tL, and L stand for KAMIA AND KUMEYAAY 65 one or the other of these sounds, the likeli­ trait is the pronunciation ts for what is hood of the language being Mojave or even normally cV and some instances of it are duly Yuma—the other neighboring languages—is recorded by Gifford: iyats 'soft or flour corn', quite remote. Some examples: wikwiniL hatsot 'orange colored fruit that grows on 'black hill (placename)', hiLmiarp 'a lineage', shrubs', watsuts 'fish scoop', etskaiyau 'chief kwatL 'a lineage', tuhatl 'a song cycle', horLoi singer at mourning ceremony'. A Mojave trait 'a song cycle'. Furthermore, neither Diegueiio is a shift from s to s, and we find Espayau nor Cocopa have the sound v in word stems. 'eagle's place' and Wiespa 'eagle rock' (cf. SD. In terms known to have cognates with v in spa-, M. "^aspd 'eagle'), isa 'a song cycle', ht. Yuma and Mojave, Gifford's recordings show 'bird' (cf. SD. ?/sa-, and the non-cognate M. w: wi 'mountain, rock' (Yuma, Mojave "^avv), ciyer 'bird'), wasopet 'sweathouse' (cf. SD. uwd 'house' (Yuma, Mojave "^avd). The word wa-swpit, M. '^ava supet 'closed house'), sahuk for 'people' recorded by Gifford is tipai. This '10' (cf. SD. saxuk, but note non-cognate M. is the word used by many of the southern San rap havik or ^arap). A distinguishing feature of Diego County and Baja California Diegueno Cocopa is a shift from c to s and Gifford groups, but not by the Northern Dieguefio records maisbaup, probably [mayspap] '14' who say 'iipay.'^ It is also unlike Cocopa (cf. SD. cpap, C. spap '4'), yasbak, probably where the word is capay. This Cocopa word [(n)yaspak] 'sunrise' (cf. SD. cpak, C. spa illustrates a sound change which has affected 'emerge, come out'), isaslich 'invisible spirit, Cocopa, where t has become c.^ The absence ghost' (cf. SD. ncilic 'devil'). The word for of this shift in Gifford's material clearly 'one' is reported by Gifford as shit which fits excludes Cocopa. The speech of the Kamia is Cocopa exactly, the closest Diegueiio equiv­ therefore clearly a dialect of Dieguefio. alent being sm. There are, however, features which distin­ Two completely separate trends emerge guish it from other Diegueiio dialects. First of from the above. On the one hand, there are all, there are sporadic instances of features words that are probably direct borrowings not found in Diegueiio, but present in neigh­ from neighboring languages, i.e., yidut and boring Yuman languages. Thus, the sound d nyimet from Yuma, and shit from Cocopa. [d], common in Mojave, Maricopa, and On the other hand, and these are the more Yuma, is recorded by Gifford in yidut 'a numerous, there are words which can only be foot-high plant the black stems of which were interpreted as basic Diegueiio words which boiled and eaten', obviously the same word have undergone some sound shift normally recorded by Castetter and Bell 1951:203) as associated with another Yuman language, Y. / diit "... fungus which appears on the resulting in some cases in a blend of features mesa in spring . . . eaten by the Yuma.'"* An which cannot uniquely be ascribed to one of interesting word is nyimet 'mountain lion', the languages. Thus iyats 'soft or flour corn' attested as such in Yuma and Mojave, but as has the ts characteristic of Yuma, but has y nyemetaay in Diegueno. The borrowing of a characteristic of Diegueiio where Yuma Yuma word for a local plant is reasonable, should have d (note Y. tadic, SD. tiyac and it is probably noteworthy that the word 'corn'). While the borrowing of lexical items is for 'mountain hon' is recorded in connec­ unremarkable in a situation of geographic tion with the Creation Myth, since Colorado proximity and close kinship ties, the insights River influence on Diegueiio mythology has into the geographical spread of some Yuman been previously noted (DuBois 1906; Lawton sound changes which these words provide 1974:62 and Note 13). A specifically Yuma may be of considerable importance in the 66 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY detailed accounfing of the historical develop­ people do not think of themselves as Kume- ment of the several Yuman languages. yaay. The terms for 'Indian, people' which are When compared to the various dialects of sometimes used to designate the group are Diegueno itself, Gifford's Kamia is clearly 'lipay in the north and Tiipay or Metiipay in more hke Southern than hke Northern Die­ the south. What then, is the meaning of gueno, the latter dialect being distinct from Kumeyaay? I will propose that the statements all others by a shift of i to x in some of speakers of the language must be taken environments, and by the presence of a final quite Hterally and that they must reflect a -/^ in.some words (of relevance because they shared meaning. It seems likely then that have been discussed above are the words for Kumeyaay is not a tribal or national desig­ 'eagle' SD. spa, ND. ^ixpa-, and for 'rock' SD. nation, but a descriptive term which can ?avvr, ND. ^ewil^). apply to any group exhibiting the appropri­ Of some interest also are a few features ate characteristics. that emerge as idiosyncratic of the Kamia Additional information has come to light dialect, i.e., are unattested in Diegueno dia­ in the unpubHshed notes of J. P. Harrington, lects as well as in other Yuman languages. who visited Diegueiio territory at least once in Particularly noteworthy are a number of 1928 (the only date appearing in the notes), words which have k instead of the expected and probably earlier as well.* The relevant jc: kapcha 'muller' (D. xapeca), ka'tsuk 'dog' portions of these notes are quoted and com­ (SD. xatcukcuk), imkamuk '9' (SD. n^imxd- mented on below. muk), niaukap 'twilight' (D. n^a waxap). I During a visit at Mesa Grande, he inter­ also noted one instance each of 5 instead of c, viewed Isidro Nejo. We learn that he "... is t instead of s, s instead of f, and s instead of Kamjaj, lives near Mesa Grande school house, t: shi 'fish' (SD. ^aci-), tariip '5' (D. sarap), near Black Canyon Creek." Nejo identifies the xasha 'moon' (D. xal-^a), xaspa 'coyote' (D. Kumeyaay as "the people that live where the xatapa). While some of this might be attri­ sun sets." This statement agrees well with buted to faulty transcription, Gifford's re­ more recent ones by Mesa Grande consul­ cordings of the Dieguefio dialects and Yuman tants, since the ocean is to the west, except languages I am familiar with conform in broad that they do not consider themselves Kume­ outline to those of other investigators, making yaay, whereas Nejo does. When recently these differences worth bringing to the atten­ questioned about Isidro Nejo, Mrs. Lillie tion of Yumanists. Couro of the Mesa Grande band remembered Let us now return to the problem of the him well as a man who took particularly good word Kamia. In the phonetic form [kami- care of his apple orchard and vineyard and ya"y] or [kumiya'y], hereinafter Kumeyaay, agrees with the location of his place of it is reported in various areas of Diegueno residence as given by Harrington. She further territory. My own observations are that, when states that Isidro Nejo belonged to the San asked to comment on the meaning of the Pascual Band and hved at Mesa Grande be­ term. Mesa Grande or Santa Ysabel consul­ cause he had married a Mesa Grande woman, tants are likely to say: "It means the people Refugia Duro. All this fits quite well with close to the sea," or "They are the people of Kroeber's statement (1925:710): "The name Campo, and thereabouts." Campo consultants Kamia seems to be unknown to the northern may say: "It means the people from here." Diegueno, except in the form Kamiyai, as a Not too much can be deduced from this, designation for the inhabitants of the district except that Mesa Grande and Santa Ysabel of San Pascual, near the Luiseno frontier. The KAMIA AND KUMEYAAY 67

Isidro Nejo, his daughter Lorenza (left), and his wife Refugia (right) at his house at Mesa Grande, ca. 1925. occurrence of this name at San Pascual may nacion. They live at Huerta and here too." possibly be due to the settlement there of a These statements were recorded from Bartolo group of southern Diegueno during or after at his home in San Jose (which 1 assume to be mission times" and also with Harrington's the same San Jose which is still a Diegueiio (1908:329, Note 4): "Kamya refers to the village a few miles east of Tecate). This fits eastern Dieguefios. The Kawia [Cahuilla] and well with the identification given by Meigs western Diegueno are called xakwitc^^." (1939:86): "KwaU kumiyai or coastal Kwatl, Of interest also is the use of Kumeyaay as lived near the old San Miguel mission and a modifier to another name, a practice still extended for an undetermined distance north known today, reported repeatedly by Harring­ and south. Another group of them lived at ton south of the International Boundary. This and west of Jacume, south of the border." usage confirms the hypothesis of a descriptive Another group mentioned to Harrington term since modifiers follow the noun in by Bartolo is the "kwano kamjaj." About Diegueno syntax. I quote Harrington: "kwal them, in one place we find the comment: kamjaj trbn, antes lived in costa [tribal name, "otra palabra [another language(?)]" and in used to live on coast]. All the Cueros here are another "... live at La Grulla, de Ensenade kwal kamjaj." Cuero and its EngHsh equiva­ poca [close to Ensenada]. Pero yo pienso yo lent Hyde are common Dieguefio names to no hay kwanus [But I think there are now no this day and both in turn translate to the kwanus]. they talk like informant." I have no native word k^^aP' 'skin, hide', the name of a idea who these people might be. In addition, well-known "clan." He also notes: "the Cuero Harrington notes: 68 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY

"Yeriio seems to think that kwai and kwal Baja Cahfornia, in agreement with consul­ kamjaj are two distinct aps. [appellations]. tants' repeated mention of 'people by the B [Bartolo] says there are only 2 names, sea', and appropriate enough for the western kwal kamjaj here and kwal matqa [matxa] on desert, [the latter] talk un poquito like branch of the kwal^. infs. They have long hair, halfway down It must be noted, however, that no arm, as Yumas do. They understand Yuma speaker of Diegueno I consulted ever volun­ too but their language is like infs. They live teered this etymology and that Mrs. Hutche­ at Calexico and extend as far hitherward as son, when asked whether Kumeyaay and qakum [Jacumba or Jacume]. They live at Poso Coyote, at juqa [yuxa, i.e., Yuha meyay or 'emat kumeyay could be related Springs], and as far as qkum [= qakum]." words, stated she had never noticed the similarity. This suggests that my proposal is The people here described clearly belong plausible only given a certain amount of time to Gifford's Kamia group. Although he did depth, and allowing therefore also for a not record the name himself, he mentions certain amount of semantic change for both Henshaw and Hodge's (1907) inclusion of the stem and its derivative so that the Quathlmetha [kwal'' matxa] as one of the connection is no longer immediately obvious. Kamia rancherias or bands. The word matxa If we further hypothesize that from 'steep' means 'wind' in Southern Diegueno. Confu­ the meaning of the derived word shifted more sion reigns again, for now we have the kwal^ to the notion of closeness to the sea, there is matxa as part of the Kamia of Imperial Valley even a plausible reason for calling the people (who, let us recall, call themselves kamiyai), of Imperial Valley by this name, since after but the kwai^ kamiyai around Tecate and all, they lived by the recently formed Salton west of there. Sea and perhaps at an earlier time by one of Phonologically, the form Kumeyaay ap­ the previous inland seas which apparently pears to be basic, with Kameyaay a reduced sporadically formed in the area (cf. Wilke and alternant of it. This suggests that the word is Lawton 1975:9-21). morphologically complex (as any three-syl­ What about the form Kamia [kamya] lable word typically is in Yuman languages), which is obviously the way the Mojave and consisting of the very common Yuman nomi- Yuma referred to their western neighbors? It nalizing prefix ku- (or kw-) which can derive a cannot a priori be excluded that this word has noun from any verb stem, and of a verb stem a separate etymology since it has a distmct meyaay which does not seem to have survived phonological shape. This is unhkely for sev­ as such in present-day Dieguefio. No satisfac­ eral reasons. First of all, the phonetic simi­ tory etymology suggested itself to me for larity coupled with semantic similarity cannot many years, until in 1972 Mrs. Christina be due to chance alone. Secondly, a stem myd Hutcheson taught me the verb meyay 'to be or miyd would have to underlie the word. steep' and its derivative 'emat kumeyay 'chff Such a stem is actually attested in Havasupai, lit. 'the place that is steep' (Couro and Walapai, Yavapai, and Paipai with the mean­ Hutcheson 1973:33, 37). Meyaay, in turn, ing 'sky, up, high'. Not only is the meaning could be related to meyay by the common not very appropriate, but this source for the process of vowel lengthening associated with word would necessitate the hypothesis that plurality. Kumeyaay then could mean 'the the name originated in a more distant part of steep ones' and by extension 'those from the Yuman territory (where it is to my knowledge chffs', a not inappropriate designation for unattested), was borrowed by the Colorado people living along the coast of southern and River groups (Mojave, Yuma), and by some KAMIA AND KUMEYAAY 69

unheard-of coincidence sounds almost exactly NOTES like the Dieguefio designation. It should be noted also that the stem meaning 'sky, etc' is 1. While some descendants of the Kamia of Imperial may or may in the western languages. An­ Valley still speak the language, they have merged with other problem is that prestress y is very rare other speech communities and are not likely to have in Mojave and Yuma since in that position, preserved all peculiarities of the dialect heard by etymological y has systematicahy shifted to d Gifford. in these languages. If it therefore reflected an 2. Northern Dieguefio words used in the general earlier myd, the expected shape in Mojave and discussion are in the practical orthography of Couro Yuma would be "'mdd, which is unattested.'' and Hutcheson (1973). In citation for comparative If, on the other hand, we assume the origin of purposes with other languages, they are in phonemic the word to be Diegueiio, we have a plausible notation, and so are words in other dialects or other etymology, a reasonable explanation for the Yuman languages when not in phonetic brackets []. presence of prestress y, and even a possible Accordingly, c = ch, as in church, c = ts, as in cats, explanation for the absence of final y in s = sh, as in shoe, / (in Harrington's usage) =y, and Kamia: there is a general phonological rule in a = a, as in sofa (unstressed). Words quoted from Gifford are, of course, in his orthography. Abbrevia­ Cocopa, which is even sporadically attested in tions used are: ND., Northern Diegueno; SD., South­ Yuma, whereby a final y is deleted after a ern Diegueno; D., Diegueiio; C, Cocopa; M., Mojave; long stressed vowel. The word could thus have Y.,Yuma. spread through Cocopa to Yuma and Mojave. A final note should bring all this to the 3. For information on systematic sound changes in present time and report on a current usage of Yuman languages, see Wares (1968) and Langdon the term Kumeyaay. The need for tribal (1970). identity so strongly felt today calls for unam­ 4. Other possible instances of this sound are Mad- biguous non-Anglo designations. It is there­ kwahumai 'name of mythological twins' and mad- fore not surprising that the name Kumeyaay kawar 'brown fox', although these are less assured is spreading as the designation for the Indians with no known cognates available to me. They are of southern San Diego County and their just as likely to represent instances of lenis t, and, in language, a symbol of local unity as well as fact, the two words might even contain the same distinction from the northern county 'lipay morpheme mat 'reflexive-reciprocal'. and the south-of-the-border Tiipay. Note­ 5. reports that Mojave speakers single worthy is the estabhshment of the Kume­ out this feature when imitating Yuma speech. All yaay Tribal Affairs Office in El Cajon, con­ Mojave forms in this paper have been checked with cerned with matters affecting the southern her. San Diego County groups, and the offering of 6. In Kroeber and Harrington (1914), we note: a course at San Diego "... Mr. J. P. Harrington, who has had a brief State University. opportunity to hear Dieguefio . . . . " Harrington (1908) includes Diegueno numerals collected by him. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Mesa Grande notes may well have been collected I wish to thank Fred Hicks and Harry W. during the earlier visit. Harrington's unpublished notes on Diegueno are kept in the archives of the Lawton for some lively discussions on the Survey of California and Other Indian Languages at most appropriate name for the "Diegueiio" the University of California, Berkeley, and permission tribe and language, which stimulated the re­ to use them was kindly granted by . Judith search reported herein. Crawford meticulously copied the Diegueno material University of California, San Diego for me. 70 THE JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA ANTHROPOLOGY

7. This statement requires qualification. A form with Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin d is indeed unattested in Mojave and Yuma, but 78. Kroeber (1943:38, 39) reports Kameda'in Maricopa 1943 Classification of the Yuman Languages. and offers the following comment: "Evidently an University of California Publications in analogy formation on the basis of River d=y in Linguistics 1:21-40. other Yuman." REFERENCES Kroeber, A. L., and J. P. Harrington 1914 Phonetic Elements of the Diegueno Lan­ Castetter, Edward F., and Willis H. Bell guage. University of California Publica­ 1951 Yuman Indian Agriculture: Primitive Sub­ tions in American Archaeology and Eth­ sistence on the Lower Colorado and Gila nology 11:177-188. Rivers. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. Langdon, Margaret 1970 Review of Wares (1968). Language 46: Couro, Ted, and Christina Hutcheson 533-544. 1973 Dictionary of Mesa Grande Dieguefio. Ban­ ning: Malki Museum Press. Lawton, Harry W. 1974 Agricultural Motifs in Southern California DuBois, Constance Goddard Indian Mythology. The Journal of Califor­ 1906 Mythology of the Mission Indians. Journal nia Anthropology 1:55-79. of American Folk-Lore 19:145-164. Meigs, Peveril, III Gifford, Edward W. 1939 The Kiliwa Indians of Lower California. 1931 The Kamia of Imperial Valley. Bureau of Ibero-Americana 15. American Ethnology Bulletin 97:1-94. Wares, Alan C. Harrington, John P. 1968 A Comparative Study of Yuman Conso- 1908 A Yuma Account of Origin. Journal of nantism. Janua Linguarum, series practica American Folk-Lore 21:324-348. 57. The Hague: Mouton. Henshaw, H. W., and F. W. Hodge Wilke, Philip J., and Harry W. Lawton 1907 Comeya. Handbook of American Indians 1975 Eady Observations on the Cultural Geog­ North of Mexico. Bureau of American raphy of Coachella Valley. In The Cahuilla Ethnology Bulletin 30,1:329-330. Indians of the Colorado Desert: Ethno­ Kroeber, A. L. history and Prehistory. Ramona: Ballena 1925 Handbook of the Indians of California. Press Anthropological Papers 3:9-43.