The Tribal Members of the Jamul Indian Village of California trace our roots 12,000 years back to a time of independence and self-sufficiency. A part of the Kumeyaay people, our ancestors hunted, fished, and raised their families in present-day San Diego County and northern Mexico. They knew the land well, watching the seasons pass, Kupiihaw (fall), Hiichur (winter), Chiipam (spring) and Iipaal (summer) and teaching tribal traditions and values.
The Jamul Indian Village of California was established as a Tribe in 1981, although the Kumeyaay people have resided in southern California and northern Baja California for at least 12,000 years. Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo landed in present day San Diego Bay in 1542, making first contact with the Native Americans living in the region.
Tribal Elders recall stories of turbulent times after the Europeans arrived. These stories passed down from generation to generation, in both oral form and through pictographs that survive to this day. The Kumeyaay people referred to Europeans as Guacamal, and although trading occurred with early European explorers, the Kumeyaay people were eventually pushed east to present day El Cajon, Santee, Jamacha, and Jamul.
The original Village of the Jamul Indians is located beneath the Rancho Jamul Estates where many home sites and artifacts were discovered during the excavation for the multimillion-dollar homes. Our people also traveled north, south, east, and west to the ocean to gather food, and into the local mountains to gather acorns. This was evident when environmental and archaeological studies found shellfish remnants, fish bones, and shells.
The Jamul Indian Village Reservation was established in 1912 and is only 6.2 acres, a very small land base compared to other Reservations nationwide that encompass thousands of acres. Tribal Elders Kenneth A. Meza Sr., Carlene A. Chamberlain, Jesse L. Pinto Sr., and Raymond C. Hunter Sr. remember stories of the reservation’s establishment. As a young boy, Mr. Hunter’s uncle Hank Aldama was told to collect a small rock, no larger than his fist, and run as far north, east, south and west as his legs could carry him. This would become the boundaries of the reservation. Decades later, Mr. Aldama would recall with a laugh, “I thought I ran farther than that.”
Today, after the addition of several new parcels of ancestral land, the Reservation of the Jamul Indian Village encompasses 180 acres throughout the Jamul region.
Our Tribe made the most of our reservation in east San Diego County, although modern amenities were slow to arrive. Mrs. Chamberlain remembers taking trips to the well for water, carrying five gallon buckets. Their dwellings were meager, made mostly of scrap plywood and metal with dirt floors. The nearby creek provided Tribal Members a place to bathe and wash their clothes. Electricity did not make its way to the reservation until 1980, a date which Mr. Pinto and Mr. Meza recall clearly. Health and dental care were nonexistent until the 1980’s when the Indian Health Service funded an Indian Health Clinic for our Tribes within San Diego County.
The Jamul Indian Village member count is small relative to neighboring Tribes, although Jamul Members do have family members on other reservations. Electricity provided light for small gatherings on the reservation, mostly honoring Tribal ancestors and those who had recently passed away. The reservation contains a small church, Saint Francis of Xavier, behind which six generations of our Tribe’s Members are buried and in a cemetery maintained by the Tribal Members.
The Jamul Indian Village of California holds its ancestors in reverence, gathering each year to light candles and decorate the graves of those who have passed away. “Had they not been here and struggled for so long, we wouldn’t be here today. They gave so much,” said Mrs. Chamberlain of her ancestors.
The 1980’s were a pivotal time politically for our Tribe. After decades of work by Elders to engage with the federal government in a meaningful way, the Jamul Indian Village of California was formally recognized by the United States as an Indian tribe in 1981. By this recognition, the federal government acknowledged the sovereignty of our Tribe.
Tribal independence and the principle of self-determination continue to guide the people of our Tribe. Through struggle we have emerged stronger than ever with resolve to create a better future for generations to come. The construction of a world-class gaming facility has enabled this next chapter in the evolution of the Jamul Indian Village of California. With revenue from this facility, our Tribe is now able to fund health care, education, housing, nutrition, and other necessities for its Members, and it has become a valued community partner through donations to local charities and by providing jobs to the local economy.
The pathway to prosperity for our Tribe has been paved with the stones of both struggle and strength, and it now stands resilient and ready to define the next phase of its identity, one of respect for its past and a focus on the future.
2nd Addition 2008, Jamul
In addition to the formalized 18 Federal Reservations, that served as home to a majority of San Diego County Indians in the early 1900’s. There were pockets of families that lived off of the federal reservations. Perhaps, foremost among these was the Jamul Indian Village or Rancheria.
Proceeds to Fund Hotel Construction and Refinance Existing Debt Jamul, CA, April 3, 2022–On March 29, 2023, the Jamul Indian Village Development Corporation (JIVDC), owner and operator of Jamul Casino® and a wholly-owned enterprise of the Jamul Indian Village of California (the “Tribe”), closed on $515 million of Senior Secured Credit Facilities (the “Credit Facilities”) […]
Proceeds to Fund Hotel Construction and Refinance Existing Debt Jamul, CA, April 3, 2022–On March 29, 2023, the Jamul Indian Village Development Corporation (JIVDC), owner and operator of Jamul Casino® and a wholly-owned enterprise of the Jamul Indian Village of California (the “Tribe”), closed on $515 million of Senior Secured Credit Facilities (the “Credit Facilities”) […]
By Caleb Symons Law360 (December 16, 2022, 6:32 PM EST) — The U.S. government says a California federal judge acted properly in dismissing with prejudice a lawsuit over the alleged disinterment of Jamul Indian Village ancestors, telling the Ninth Circuit that tribal descendants presented a number of confusing and legally flawed allegations. Chief U.S. District […]
The REAP 2.0 Program seeks to accelerate infill housing development, reduce vehicle miles traveled, and increase the housing supply at all affordable levels. Jamul intends to support the program’s goals by applying as an applicant with a plan to create housing and critical housing infrastructure that will bring Tribal members home.
