KUMEYAAY ON THE COAST

Sept. 17, 2015 the OB Historical Society presented: KUMEYAAY ON THE COAST- OVERLOOKED ASPECTS OF NATIVE FISHING AND MARITIME, by Professor Richard Carrico. The San Diego region has always been a mecca for those who want to fish and to enjoy the rich bounty of our bays and ocean. When guest lecturer Professor Richard Carrico says always, he means always—as in for thousands of years.
The Kumeyaay people of San Diego County are often portrayed as people who relied on acorns, deer, and rabbits as their primary food sources. While these foods were important, the Kumeyaay were also masters of the bays and oceans—they were maritime peoples thousands of years before arrival of the Spaniards.
Mr. Carrico has been researching the role of the ocean and bays in Kumeyaay culture, including the Ocean Beach area, for more than thirty years. Relying on archaeological, anthropological, and historical data, Carrico will peel back more than 3,000 years of history to provide an image of the Kumeyaay that has been largely ignored.
This discussion focused on the techniques and methods used by the Kumeyaay to procure a large variety of fish, shellfish, and other maritime food sources. Topics ranged from the types of boats and canoes used by the Kumeyaay, the importance of the oceans and bays in Kumeyaay oral tradition, the various locales exploited by the Kumeyaay including the deep ocean, the off shore islands, and San Diego and Mission Bays. Mr. Carrico also placed Kumeyaay fishing and maritime activities within the context of their overall cosmology including the many native maritime place names. His knowledge and humor were well received.