AN ETHNOBOTANY OF BAJA CALIFORNIA’S KUMEYAAY INDIANS _______________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of San Diego State University _______________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Anthropology _______________ by Michael Alan Wilken Spring 2012 iii Copyright © 2012 by Michael Alan Wilken All Rights Reserved iv DEDICATION This work is dedicated to Baja California’s native peoples—past, present, and future; and to all who work for the preservation of Baja California’s native cultures and landscapes. v ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS An Ethnobotany of Baja California’s Kumeyaay Indians by Michael Alan Wilken Master of Arts in Anthropology San Diego State University, 2012 The Kumeyaay Indians (also ‘Iipay–Tiipay, Ipai–Tipai, or Diegueño in the United States, or Kumiai in Mexico) have inhabited the landscapes of northern Baja California, Mexico, and southern California since long before European contact, originally making a living as mobile hunting, gathering, and fishing peoples in the region’s varied environments. The division of Kumeyaay territory in 1848 by two distinct nation states imposed on the region an international boundary as well as separate political and economic structures, cultures, and languages. Historical processes have reduced Kumeyaay territory and population, and transformed indigenous lifeways, yet a few elder Kumeyaay still speak their native language and maintain cultural knowledge of the environment. In this thesis, I explore the questions of how contemporary ethnobotanical knowledge of Baja California’s Kumeyaay Indians can make new contributions to scientific research of diachronic human– plant interactions in the study area, and how this knowledge can inform Kumeyaay cultural and linguistic revitalization through its incorporation in interpretive exhibits. I synthesize information from interviews conducted with 16 Kumeyaay plant specialists, documenting Kumeyaay knowledge of traditional uses for 47 native plants as food, medicine, tools, construction materials, and ritual resources, covering indigenous nomenclature, plant scheduling, harvesting, processing, and consumption, as well as cultural meanings associated with plants. I review archaeological, historical, ethnographic, linguistic, and botanical literature to situate the Kumeyaay ethnobotanical data in a regional and diachronic context. I discuss how this study contributes new information on the Kumeyaay and their interactions with the vegetative environment, and provide examples of how I have applied this information to support efforts toward Kumeyaay cultural and linguistic revitalization. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ABSTRACT ...............................................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES .....................................................................................................................x LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................... xiv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 2 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................7 3 PREHISTORIC LANDSCAPES OF THE KUMEYAAY REGION ..........................10 Environmental Setting ...........................................................................................10 Sources: Kumeyaay Prehistoric Archaeology .......................................................12 Prehistoric Cultural Chronology ............................................................................13 4 ETHNOHISTORY: LATE PERIOD LIFEWAYS IN TRANSITION .......................16 Sources ...................................................................................................................16 Ethnohistorical Landscapes of the 18th and 19th Centuries ..................................18 5 ETHNOGRAPHY: DREAMED, REMEMBERED AND CONTEMPORARY LANDSCAPES ............................................................................................................26 Sources ...................................................................................................................26 Ethnographic Context of Ethnobotanical Knowledge ...........................................30 The Dreamed Landscape: Kumeyaay Origins .................................................30 Remembered Plantscapes: Ethnographic Studies of Kumeyaay Hunting, Gathering, and Fishing Economy .....................................................33 Material Culture Associated with Plant Use ..............................................36 Healing and Plants .....................................................................................37 Contemporary Kumeyaay Landscapes ............................................................38 Juntas de Nejí (and Peña Blanca)...............................................................40 San José De La Zorra .................................................................................41 San Antonio Necua–Cañon De Los Encinos .............................................42 La Huerta ...................................................................................................42 vii Santa Catarina ............................................................................................43 6 SPEAKING OF PLANTS: KUMEYAAY LANGUAGE ...........................................44 Linguistic Sources ..................................................................................................44 Language Family Connections ..............................................................................45 Kumeyaay Language Today ..................................................................................46 7 RESULTS: NATIVE PLANTS AND THEIR ETHNOBOTANICAL USES ............53 Ethnobotanical Sources ..........................................................................................53 Presentation of the Data .........................................................................................54 Field Recordings: Citations and References ..........................................................57 Field Notes .............................................................................................................57 Native Plants and their Uses ..................................................................................57 Adenostoma fasciculatum (Rosaceae) .............................................................58 Adenostoma sparsifolium (Rosaceae)..............................................................59 Agave deserti (Agavaceae) ..............................................................................60 Agave shawii (Agavaceae) ..............................................................................60 Ambrosia monogyra (Formerly Hymenoclea monogyra) (Asteraceae) ..........65 Anemopsis californica (Saururaceae) ..............................................................66 Arctostaphylos sp. (Ericaceae).........................................................................68 Artemisia californica (Asteraceae) ..................................................................70 Artemisia tridentata (Asteraceae) ....................................................................72 Baccharis salicifolia (Asteraceae) ....................................................................73 Brahea armata (Arecaceae) ..............................................................................75 Brickellia californica (Asteraceae) ..................................................................76 Chamaesyce sp. (Euphorbiaceace) ...................................................................78 Dichelostemma capitatum (Thermidaceae) .....................................................79 Dudleya sp. (Crassulaceae) ..............................................................................80 Ephedra californica (Ephedraceae) ..................................................................81 Eriodictyon trichocalyx or crassifolium (Boraginaceace) ...............................83 Eriogonum fasciculatum (Polygonaceae) ........................................................84 Fraxinus parryi (Oleaceae) ...............................................................................86 Hesperocyparis forbesii (formerly Cupressus forbesii) (Cupressaceae) ..........88 Hesperoyucca whipplei (Agavaceae) ...............................................................89 viii Heteromeles arbutifolia (Rosaceae) .................................................................92 Juncus acutis (Juncaceae) ................................................................................93 Juncus textilis (Juncaceae) ...............................................................................94 Juniperus californica (Cupressaceae) ...............................................................98 Lonicera subspicata (Caprifoliaceae) ...............................................................99 Malosma laurina (Anacardiaceae) .................................................................100 Opuntia spp. (Cactaceae) ...............................................................................101 Peritoma arborea (formerly Isomeris arborea) (Cleomaceae) .......................104