Images of America Sale

Archeological findings verify the occupation of San Diego County by Native Americans going back over 10,000 years, though little is recorded of their history before 1542, when Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed into San Diego Bay and claimed the local territory for Spain. The native population at that time is estimated to have been 20,000, just as it is today. There are 18 reservations in the San Diego County area (17 of which are currently functioning), more than in any other county in the United States. The four primary tribal groups making up the Native Americans of the San Diego County area are the Kumeyaay (also known as Diegueño), Luiseño, Cupeño, and Cahuilla. Each of these groups has faced many hardships and setbacks while attempting to rebuild their nations to the proud peoples they once were, still are, and always shall be.

The Colorado Desert lands that became Riverside County in the 19th century were home to diverse bands of California Indian people, including the Cahuilla, Gabrielino, Serrano, Luise-o, Chemehuevi, and Mojave tribes. Other Native Americans call the county home, including urban Indians who moved here in the 20th century. The tribes of Riverside County are survivors, descendants of sovereign people who left their mark on the county's history eons before the first European explorers entered the land. These historic photographs depicting the tribes and their way of life were culled from the authors' personal archives as well as the collections of the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians Museum, Twenty-nine Palms Tribe, Riverside Municipal Museum, and the University of California, Riverside.