Coronado Museum of History & Art

Before the blue arching bridge across the bay, before the Navy on North Island, and even before the Hotel del Coronado, there was just the land and the sea. And on this land lived a society of Kumeyaay Indians, peaceful by nature, but fierce hunters and providers.

The Coronado Museum of History & Art presents a new exhibit, “First Footsteps,” which will run through September 23, 2007. The exhibit features rarely seen images and artifacts capturing life on Coronado before contact with western civilization. This is the first exhibit of its kind, and the first official recognition of Kumeyaay presence on Coronado since the early 1900s when the remnants of the tribe were relocated inland.

An official exhibit opening for “First Footsteps” will take place at the Coronado Museum of History & Art, Thursday, June 28, from 6-8 p.m. Museum members are free. A $3 suggested donation is requested from all others. A Kumeyaay Elder will bless the exhibit that evening, and traditional bird singers will perform. Light refreshments will be served. Parking is free.

“First Footsteps” takes a close look at this little known chapter in Coronado and San Diego history. Even the Kumeyaay historians and writers have yet to tell the whole story of these coastal hunters, as many of their original villages and fishing sites are now underwater, and kept secret to avoid exploitation.

The Coronado Museum discovered a forgotten chapter of their own history through the late Joe Jessop, local yacht racer, philanthropist, historian, and heir to Jessop’s Jewelers. Joe had solid recollections from his family and youth in Coronado, and even a photograph to substantiate his story.

One day during an oral history Jessop told how the “Indians on Coronado were relocated to inland San Diego by the merchants on Coronado.” He recalled that, as a young boy (1902), there were six Indian families living on Coronado. And then, he recalled how they were suddenly loaded onto a wagon and moved to Mesa Grande, inland San Diego.

This was a typical action up and down the West Coast of the United States at this time. The clash of cultures resulted in a swift and decisive removal of our early inhabitants as western civilization, it seems, had come knocking on their door — not to visit, but to stay.

This exhibit takes a close look at the seasonal hunting habits of the Kumeyaay, their beliefs, and the food they ate and traded for. It also demonstrates how they traveled, how they adapted to their new home, and most of all, how important the land and the sea were to their every day life, their religion, and their mere existence.

One of the highlights of the exhibit is a photograph given the museum by Jessop showing a Kumeyaay Indian gathering wood on Coronado circa 1902. It is the only photographic evidence of Kumeyaay on Coronado. And yet, research has revealed many photos of area Kumeyaay, as well as artistic renderings, actual artifacts and maps, and other indicators and evidence of their time on Coronado. All of these serve to create “First Footsteps.”

A traditional reed boat is the centerpiece of the exhibit. The Kumeyaay accessed Coronado pre-contact either by paddling their reed boats across the bay, or walking around South Bay and up the Silver Strand at low tide.

“This is a story never told before,” said Joe Ditler, executive director of the Coronado Museum of History & Art, and the man who interviewed the late Joe Jessop. “Few people on Coronado, or San Diego for that matter, today realize what an important part our island played in the life, and the cycle of life of the Kumeyaay. We are very pleased to tell this story.”

“First Footsteps” is made possible through grants and funding from the County of San Diego and the Barona Band of Mission Indians, with material support from the San Diego Museum of Man, the San Diego Historical Society, and the Barona Cultural Center and Museum.

The Coronado Museum of History & Art and Coronado Visitor Center are open weekdays from 9 - 5, and weekends from 10 - 5. The museum is a not-for-profit organization, and daily admission is a $6 suggested donation.

The museum is located in the heart of historic downtown Coronado, at 1100 Orange Avenue. For more information on the museum contact 619.435.7242. For high-resolution images from the exhibit contact Joe Ditler, 619.742.1034 or write joe@coronadohistory.org.

Posted on June 25th, 2007 by admin
Filed under: Events, Exhibit, History