Photo: Basket by Kumeyaay artist Eva Salazar, who grew up in Mexico and now lives in San Diego, all Kumeyaay land.
by Sholók
(English translation below)
Ñaach YawTikwanm xemí, mat Tipay. Ñaxikwalh tewá,kwelhyap kwamaay uu-um ñamaayk paychá maayich may’mak kurr… parawii mat kewaylhuu-um ñamaayk paychá maayich kuwaay kurr. Ñaach ñaxikwalh mat uuyaw tewá; pes,ña’xemí iilyuwm yiiw shiimaap weyú. Melay ‘uuch palh ñekwii’nus matm. Ñaachtostilok wesaaw lyepish uusaw ñamaayk wa chemu’yaw tewá, ñaach ‘ii pistoolsunaarr, uu-um uuway shiiwilh YawTikwán metarr, melhyaay XuwimXamch miiaalhmarr ñamaayk ñaach ewaaw maayk wisapol kep’aw, parawii emúch kwechchut ‘iikuuy.Chamch kwa’xan ipaatm tewá.
Wa chemu’yawach ñechkuuyaw chka’nap Waax Kaliporrnmaaw. Ñekuunap tewá ñawaap teyach kwexaakwaalh, chocolat, ñawaach aashuux tewámeshiayk Meshik kwaypay ñematk, parawii Maaya paywechaach waarrchesk. Ñetaaxiltewá texilh charr kenaach iimá cha’yaaw mariaach tenam. Ñaach cham ñip uuway,pes uuchuuch p’aam tewá.
Ñaach ñemat chxwimwach ñiilyuw uu-um kewaay lhywii‘aashá kwaamaay. Ñaach uuyaaw Meshik YawTikwank maaw, ñii Maaya, teyach,chocolat, ñii mariaach. Ñaach naaman iilyuw rriipuypu ñap ñewich, ñip iilyuwntaatch ñekaanaap. Ñawaap ñekaliporrnipay, ñawaap ñerrawches. Mat tekatxaakaaym xmirr wañ mat’shuuxwirr, ñawaap shiimulh ñuk pii rraaw. Ñamaayk ñaachñechkna’nap ñiilyuw aanmakxwach melay maawches, ñamaayk lhyeyum ñaach ñetipayñiilyuw naaman uuyaawches. Ñaach uuyaaw ña’waap pii matm mattaam shaaxok nakaguataay,ñawaap ñekepxaw WiKwaAmém tewá, parawii ñawaap teyach ñexaakwaalh maw, pesñawaap siñaw ñexaakwaalh.
Californiop ‘aa kwelsawx maaw wii chuusii metipaymat iilyuw Californiaspuk. Tipaych cham-chaawam peyá mat chuusii maaw, pesñawaappu ñechshaam uucheyaawp xan, Ñamaayk ñawaach nemaa peyá tekxap ñiñuyches.
Tekatep munisip Waax Caliporrnk, waach mat Kumiaiñiichash wa, Mat Kuchumá. Kuchumáp kusiai Kumiai wenemaa Mat Metipay kepxawshin. Ñepil, matp tekat xaakaaym mat’shuuxwirr, metaarch iilyuw nexiimirrñechaawiwches. Ñepil ña ñawaach ñexiimirr ñuuman, yaylhpit mat’shuuxwirr,ñamaayk kepxaw shin ñiñuy.
Ñaxikwalh tewá, kwelhyap kwa’maay uu-um, matkewaaylh uu-um. Ñamaayk ñaach waam ñemat, uuyaaw kwelhyap ñemiich, mat ñemiich,parawii ñaach uu-umwach ñemat kwa’kurr uuyaaw maayiich wich maaw. Ñepil ñawaachuu-umxwach ña pii yayk.
I grew up in Tijuana, Tipay land. As a child, I used to look up at the stars and wonder what was beyond… and I used to look at thesoil and wonder what was below. I was very self-aware as a child; however, when you grow up in your own culture you become blind to it. You don’t realize certain things are unique to you. I snacked on tostilocos after school, I played with wooden pistols, admired the shrubland outside Tijuana, burned my feet with the sand in San Felipe and screamed after stepping on a sand spur, and the bighorn sheep was the symbol of pride to me. It was all part o feveryday life.
In school I wasn’t taught the history of Baja California. I was told we were the children of corn, chocolate, we came from the great Mexica empire, and the wise Mayas. They even dressed me up in a charro suit to dance to mariachi music. I loved all of it, but something was missing.
I had to immigrate to be able to look at my culture from a bird’s eye view. I realized the Mexica were not from Tijuana, and neither were the Mayas, corn, chocolate, and even mariachi. I started longing for that lost culture of mine that only my father used to tell me. We are Californios, always were. Before the land was split in half with the border ,our family was already here. I then felt the obligation to not let our history and culture disappear and soon started studying the ways of my people. I discovered we’ve been here for at least 10,000 years, we were created in Avi Kwa’ame, and we are not the children of corn, but the children of acorn.
Californio is a loose term used to call people from the cultural region of The Californias. Most indigenous peoples don’t identify with it anymore, but those of us who were stripped off our culture do, and now we are trying to reconnect with it.
Tecate is a municipality in Baja California, home to the heart of the Kumiai nation, Kuchumá Mountain. Kuchumá was a Kumiai wise man who tried to unite the nation. Now, the mountain is split in half with the border, explicitly demonstrating the fracture in our culture. Now is the time to heal the fracture, transcend the border, and reunite.
As a child I used to look up at the stars, down at the soil. When I left my land, I realized the stars were different, the soil was different, and had to gaze miles and miles back at my land to realize what I was missing. Now it’s time to look ahead.
Photo: From Wikimedia Commons
