City set to open Kumeyaay Center

By GARY WARTH - Staff Writer

POWAY —- The long-awaited Kumeyaay-Ipai Interpretive Center in Poway is scheduled to be dedicated Thursday, and visitors can check out the exhibit “Poway’s First People: Art and Culture” beginning Saturday.

Watch the video at http://videos.nctimes.com/p/video?id=2258362

The center is a modest portable building that holds five cases of Kumeyaay Indian artifacts. The city hopes to have a permanent building within five to 10 years, said docent Suzanne Emery. The 5-acre site includes a re-created ‘ewaa, a domed thatch house, and authentic milling stations where Kumeyaay ground acorns into flour.

The center is at 13104 Silver Lake Drive. Following a City Council decision, the street name soon will be changed to Ipai Waaypuk Trail, meaning “First People.”

“It’s very definitely a protected, cultural site,” Emery said this week about the land, which the city began acquiring in 1987. The center is one of 23 parks owned by the city.

Poway is a Kumeyaay word meaning “meeting of the creeks” —- Poway Creek and Rattlesnake Creek —- or “point of an arrowhead,” Emery said. Hundreds of Kumeyaay lived in what was called the Pauwai Valley.

Despite its ties to the Kumeyaay, the city has not always been a good caretaker of its history. Many artifacts have been claimed by souvenir seekers, and before now the city has not attempted to open a center to showcase a historical collection.

The area remains rich in artifacts, however. Rain and burrowing gophers at times reveal pristine arrowheads on trails just outside the center’s downs, and color photographs inside the building capture the artwork Kumeyaay left behind on boulders throughout the city.

“This one is in the backyard of someone’s house in Rancho Bernardo,” Emery said, pointing at one of the photos. The exact locations of the boulders are kept secret to prevent vandalism.

Kumeyaay lived off the land in the area for about 1,000 years. The native people spoke a language called Ipai north of the San Diego River, while people in other areas of the county spoke a dialect called Tiipay. They lived in the area until about 1875, when farmers moved in and the reservation system was adopted.

After city officials learned that the site off Poway Road had been used by the Kumeyaay and contained artifacts, the Friends of the Kumeyaay began cleaning up the neglected property and made plans to preserve the land.

About $800,000 has been spent to improve the park, with half of the money coming from state grants and the other half from money raised by Friends of the Kumeyaay Interpretive Center and the city.

While the property has been off-limits to most visitors, third-graders have toured the trails as part of school lessons that tie in with the state standards for teaching students about their region’s history.

Displays in the center include re-created items such as agave sandals and wooden flutes made by Kumeyaay in Mexico, as well as artifacts uncovered in Poway. A few pieces of the collection arrived in a rusted Crisco can a man brought to Emery about six months ago.

“He sort of looked at me and said, ‘Ma’am, I grew up around here and sort of collected these,’ ” she said. The can contained several shards of broken Kumeyaay pottery and two of the eight arrowheads the center has on display.

Emery said she encourages more people to bring in artifacts they or family members might have to add to the center’s collection, which she said is focused on preserving the state’s history and promoting the contributions of the Kumeyaay community.

“What we know is gleaned from oral interviews with the elders we can find,” Emery said. “It’s so sad so much has been lost.”

The dedication ceremony is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday. The center will be open from 9 to 11:30 a.m. each Saturday, beginning this weekend.

A fundraiser for the center is planned for the California Center for the Arts, Escondido on Oct. 25. Tickets for the concert, Circle of Harmony, cost $25 and $50. For information, call (858) 748-0505 or visit www.PowayPerformingArts.com.

Contact staff writer Gary Warth at (760) 740-5410 or gwarth@nctimes.com.
(c) North County Times

Posted on October 8th, 2008 by hunwut
Filed under: Museum