I. TRADITIONAL MANAGEMENT AND CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES

Michael Wilken-Robertson
Director, Native Cultures Institute of Baja California, A.C.

(This paper was condensed from the article Natural Resource Management among Indigenous Groups of Baja California: Traditional Practices and Contemporary Perspectives, in Baja California Indigena Symposium VI Papers, Native Cultures Institute of Baja California (CUNA), Ensenada, Baja California, 1997.)

INTRODUCTION

This I can assure you, the ancient ones never damaged a tree, no, never; they loved them as something very sacred. They would tell us not to go breaking the branches of the pines, not to play there, nor to climb up on any small tree, they said that they were almost just like humans; "They are watching us, they are taking care of us, they give us our food. Don't go around damaging them, don't be shouting, none of that," they would say, "take special care of them," for this reason we know very well that we must take care of these trees. Also the medicinal herbs, those they especially charged us to care for, we shouldn't just go out and cut for no reason, go out and cut them and throw them away to dry up, no. They told us many things, that we should even care for the rocks, just imagine! The rocks, the sand, the springs, the water flowing, all these things they said we must respect (Teodora Cuero, in Wilken, 1997).

The words of Teodora Cuero, traditional authority of the Kumiai Indian community of La Huerta, reveal a very practical sense of the interrelationships between humans and the environment. Like other members of Baja California's indigenous communities, Cuero has inherited a unique legacy of traditional knowledge regarding the management of natural resources developed over thousands of years of habitation in the peninsula. Although much of this knowledge has been lost due to the forced acculturation and extinction of most of the native groups of the peninsula, a growing focus on the immense and complex body of knowledge which still exists among a few elders of the surviving communities promises to provide new insights into traditional forms of environmental management as well as to guide current approaches to resource utilization.

Fortunately many aspects of traditional indigenous knowledge regarding natural resources still exist among the surviving groups of the northern peninsula. This profound understanding of the natural world, developed through thousands of years of dynamic interaction with the environment is perhaps one of the most important cultural resources of the indigenous communities, and one which deserves much greater study while it is still possible. Given the growing recognition of the absolute necessity for sustainable resource use, we would be wise to pay attention to those who have already managed the natural resources of the region for thousands of years.

Gatherers-hunters-fishers of the Peninsula

They say that back in the early times there was plenty of manzanita, barrel cactus, chia, pamita seeds, pine nuts, acorns, sweet acorns; all these things produced a lot and that's what people would gather to have food all year long. Certain times they would go down to the coast, to Eréndira, to the coast of Ensenada, and further on, wherever they could go along the shore to gather mussels and abalones which they would also pack up to carry later for food. They would go down there in winter because it wasn't so cold and once the winter was over, in springtime they would come up this way (La Huerta) since they knew that there would be greens and all kinds of things to eat. From here they would head up to the mountains during the hot time of year to pick pine nuts, acorns, pamita seed, chia and all those things. Once the pine nuts ran out, they would come back here and then back they go to the coast (T. Cuero, in Wilken, 1997).

During the vast majority of the history of human habitation of the peninsula, native people exploited a variety of ecosystems in the course of yearly cycles of movement through specific territories. The pattern for the Kumiai ancestors of Teodora Cuero may have been typical for most indigenous groups of the peninsula: gathering of different plant foods represented the most important subsistence activities, while fishing, gathering of shellfish and hunting of small and occasionally large game supplemented seasonally available plant foods. These gatherer-hunters-fishers were organized in small, highly mobile extended family bands that traveled in seasonal cycles over specific territory shared with other bands of the same clan (or shimul as they were called in the western Yuman territory) (Laylander, 1991).

While their exact route would vary from year to year depending on environmental factors (e.g. many plant resources are alternate bearing, wet or dry years may affect certain resources, etc.) the repeated utilization of specific areas over generations would logically lead to the selection of resource procurement strategies which either allowed those resources to survive or enhanced their populations. Paipai elder Benito Peralta and Kumiai elder Teodora Cuero echo the sentiments of many elders of Alta California when they tell us that in the old days there were more wild foods (Wilken, field notes, 1997), possibly a result of the decrease or abandonment of traditional gathering activities.

According to Gregorio Montes, whose mother, grandmother and aunts are all basketmakers of San Jose de la Zorra Kumiai community, the harvesting of materials for the elaboration of baskets actually stimulates greater production of the resource:

The most important of the hand crafted products that we make are the juncus and willow baskets. The juncus material is found in areas where there is water, where the earth is moist, from these places the plant is extracted when the moon is full to give it greater strength and flexibility when it is worked; this benefits the plant because it reproduces more. The willow also gets cut and often one thinks that it has been destroyed, but that is not the case because it actually helps it, it is pruned and it develops more within a certain time (Ibid., 1997).

One management strategy for the harvesting of medicinal herbs is explained by Teodora Cuero:

We want the medicinal plants, the trees and all these things to continue, so for example when you pick a plant, you only pick this side, the north side. Not over here or over there, only the northern side. Also if it is the root of the plant you want to cut, you also just take the northern side (Cuero, 1997).

It may be hard for many non-natives to understand what it means to live in a place where one's ancestors have lived for thousands of years. For many indigenous people, it is hard to understand why government policies prohibit them from utilizing resources such as pine nuts that have been successfully managed by their people for thousands of years. Native people's relationship with the land and its resources has little in common with western concepts which treat land and its resources as a commodity from which the greatest possible immediate profit should be extracted. The cultural legacy passed on from the ancestors and the expectation that one's offspring will continue to live on the same land create a unique perspective among indigenous groups. Agustin Dominguez, cultural authority of the Kumiai community of San Antonio Necua, expresses this philosophy through the metaphor of gathering honey:

The mestizo comes and since he's not from here he says, "I'll take everything and leave them with nothing." But one who lives here says, "I'll take a little bit and come back another day, next time I'll take a little more." But not the mestizo, he comes and doesn't care since he's not from there, he says, "I'm going to take it, I won't be coming back so I'll take it all." That's the way it is (A. Dominguez in Wilken, 1977).

Bernabé Meza, commissioner of San Antonio Necua, emphasizes the responsibility to protect the land and its resources for future generations:

We like for there to be plenty of trees, since they attract the rain, the water and so on. We only cut what we need for ourselves, for example if we need one hundred posts, we cut one hundred posts and no more, we don't knock them down just to knock them down, no. That's why we're always taking care of them, we don't allow people from outside to come and cut down all our trees. If we don't take care of them, who will? [Meza in Wilken, 1997].

Native communities often face special difficulties (primarily economic) in obtaining the permits necessary to legally make use of their natural resources, or lack information and capital for their most advantageous and appropriate utilization. While many new forms of exploitation of resources may have negative impacts on the environment, traditional forms of harvesting may mitigate that impact, as in the case of juniper post harvesting as explained by Eufemio Sandoval:

About forty years ago we started to harvest juniper posts, however the government has recently prohibited the exploitation of these resources arguing that because this is an endemic species protected by law, the Indians must no longer cut posts even if we starve to death. In other words, the reality is that they take away a source of income and give us nothing as an alternative. Let me say that I agree that we must protect nature, but it should be truly protected. If we Indians have exploited juniper posts, we can say that when we began to exploit it we had ten thousand hectares of juniper, and we still have that same amount since we have never cut the plant to the root, but rather it has been a form of pruning that we carry out. We just take what is useful as a post and leave the rest to keep growing and developing. Not so in our neighboring ejido communities; with the pretext that the plants took up space in the areas where they wanted to plant crops, they destroyed huge tracts of juniper (Wilken, 1997).

Unfortunately the urgent necessity for communities to survive in a modern market economy creates new economic pressures which may be directly related to the degradation of the environment. For example, the lack of capital needed to process natural resources and market them as value added products means that most communities end up selling their products as raw materials for low prices. One of the cheapest forms of utilizing available resources is through free range raising of livestock, however when not carefully managed the land has been overburdened resulting in accelerated erosion and other forms of environmental degradation.

There is clearly a need for funding through government agencies, foundations or US indigenous communities for community based projects designed to promote value added forms of sustainable resource use. Baseline studies carried out in conjunction with the communities themselves would help identify the most appropriate and promising activities and would establish important linkages with universities, governmental and non governmental agencies, other indigenous communities and other potential partners. Training and empowerment of indigenous community members in the carrying out of sustainable development projects and the development of the necessary infrastructure for strengthening the role of regional indigenous organizations are critical to the long term success of this process.

For the anthropology of Baja California there is a clear need to reevaluate historical concepts of indigenous populations and cultures of the peninsula through an interdisciplinary approach combining archaeology, ethnography, physical anthropology, linguistics, history, environmental studies, and biology as well as other areas. It is also urgent to find funding for interdisciplinary projects bringing together indigenous elders with ethnologists, biologists and linguists to rescue invaluable traditional knowledge regarding natural resource management while it is still possible, and apply this information for the benefit of the indigenous communities.

Let's hope that somehow those who hear these words will pay special attention to our native communities, and look for a way that we can use our natural resources to create sources of employment, so that in this way we Indians can live peacefully [Eufemio Sandoval in Wilken, 1997].

II. ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS OF THE
INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES OF BAJA CALIFORNIA

JUNTAS DE NEJI (and Peña Blanca):
Contacts: Aurora Meza, Yolanda Meza, Josefina López

The Kumiai community of Juntas de Nejí is the northernmost of the indigenous communities of Baja California, located within the municipality of Tecate. Nejí is divided geographically into two separate polygons, both of which lie relatively close to the international border and within the Tijuana River Watershed and have a combined total of 11,590 hectares. The clans of Nejí have historically shared close familial and linguistic ties with the Kumeyaay (or Tipai) groups of southern San Diego County such as Campo and Jamul. Bordering on the western polygon of Nejí is the traditional Kumiai settlement of Peña Blanca, an unofficial neighboring settlement to Nejí that is unrecognized by the Mexican government. Neji's mountainous terrain includes wide areas of high chaparral, oak woodlands, granitic outcroppings, and in some areas pines, Tecate cypress and other flora indicative of the transition to the higher altitudes of the adjacent sierra. Water sources are scarce, usually consisting of small springs or shallow wells; these are used for both drinking water and limited gravity-fed irrigation.

Most of the inhabitants of Nejí have moved to Tecate, Valle de las Palmas, El Testerazo, El Hongo or the larger urban areas to seek employment, although many of them maintain contact with their community and express interest in returning to live "if there was work". The few remaining inhabitants eke out a living through subsistence agriculture, cattle ranching, and other seasonal labor in neighboring mestizo communities. Erosion is perhaps the most severe environmental problem for Nejí, especially in the eastern polygon where large scale grazing by neighboring ranches has caused serious soil and foliage depletion within the watershed.

Water quality and quantity also represent serious challenges, since none of the existing settlements has any kind of water system more sophisticated than hand dug water collection basins, a few with cemented retaining walls and none with effective lids, seals or other protection. Residents have been advised that they should boil or otherwise treat their water, but usually drink the water untreated "because we're used to it."

All of the settlements in the community are located far from the highway, accessible only by dirt roads in poor condition. Acorns are one of the most important natural resources utilized in the area of Nejí, and residents also depend on other wild foods and medicinal plants as well as occasional hunting as part of a diversified survival strategy. Although a tradition of juncus and willow basketry once existed in the area, there are currently only a few women occasionally producing baskets.

Land tenancy is a serious issue for Nejí with its limited population base and even more so for Peña Blanca, due to the lack of land tenancy documents. Both communities are undergoing invasion by squatters and encroachment by neighboring ejidos. One informant of Peña Blanca commented that members of a neighboring ejido interested in claiming the land for their own use have tried to destroy archaeological sites and any other cultural resources that might strengthen the Kumiai families' right to their land One of the most valuable resources for Nejí is the natural beauty of the landscape and its sense of remoteness, even though it is actually the closest community to the metropolitan areas of Tijuana and San Diego.

SAN JOSE DE LA ZORRA
Consultants: Rito Silva, Gregorio Montes, Gloria Castañeda

This community of 14,440 hectares in the municipality of Playas de Rosarito is centered in San Jose, a small, remote valley located about halfway between the former mission site of San Miguel on the Pacific Coast and the Valley of Guadalupe, also a former mission site and today Mexico's most important wine producing region. La Zorra, another traditional settlement now occupied by neighboring ranchers, is another small valley a few miles northwest of San Jose. As in most communities, resident's ranches are often spread out over a wide area, wherever permanent water sources exist. The lower altitude and relative proximity to the coast combine to create a mild climate where oak woodlands, chaparral and grasslands come together. A limited amount of agriculture, for the most part dry farming along with some irrigated crops, has been carried out since the early part of the century, however livestock grazing has also driven the local economy, as evidenced by visible erosion of the main arroyo. Large areas of topsoil adjacent to the arroyo were "washed away" during the storms of the early eighties, along with an earthen dam which had been built there. Very few seedling willows, sycamores or oaks can be observed, probably due to hungry cattle, and those trees that still stand are almost all older trees. Erosion has also been increased by the clearing of native shrub cover from large tracts of land for planting.

Wetlands plants such as willow, salt willow and juncus are particularly important in this community, since they are the raw materials from which artisans produce a variety of forms of elegant basketry. The increasing demand for Kumiai basketry has become a major force in the local economy, where a large percentage of the local residents now depend to some degree on the income generated by this traditional activity. Unfortunately the changes in the main arroyo have affected this emerging cottage industry. Artisan Gloria Castañeda notes that the materials necessary for making baskets are becoming increasingly difficult to acquire: "We have to go further and further away to find our materials". Fortunately through a collaboration with the Kumeyaay community of Campo, California and the CUNA Institute, a wetlands restoration project in the main arroyo is currently underway, with one of its goals being the reestablishment of basketry plants.

The existing water infrastructure in the community is the result of many different projects which have been carried out over the years, many of which were never completely finished. Water quality testing carried out in five indigenous communities in 1996 found the water in San Jose's school yard well to be the most highly contaminated of all samples taken. This may be indicative of nearby septic fields or cattle dung residue leaching into the water table, as well as the lack of a well sealed cover. The San Jose valley appears to have great agricultural potential, however ground water levels and quantities have not been reported.

SAN ANTONIO NECUA / CAÑON DE LOS ENCINOS
Consultants: Bernabe Meza, Agustin Dominguez,
Angel Dominguez, Javier Ceceña

Nestled into a northeastern nook of the Guadalupe Valley, this community of 6262 hectares lies on the outskirts of Mexico's prime wine producing region and at the base of a series of mountain ranges, including the prominent Sierra Blanca which provides an important source of water for the community. The original settlement of San Antonio Necua at the base of the mountain and other traditional settlements such as Jamatay were slowly abandoned as residents moved down to the Cañon de los Encinos (Oak Canyon) on the edge of the wide Guadalupe Valley in order to be closer to employment opportunities. Necua is the only indigenous community of Baja California to enjoy the benefits of water systems, electricity and other services. Although the dirt roads are sometimes impassable during the rainy season, most of the year Necua is the most accessible of all the communities.

Necua's main water infrastructure consists of several kilometers of pipe in poor shape leading from springs to a couple of water storage tanks just above the community. From these water is provided by gravity to residents. Many complained of water shortages during the dryer times of year. Because the community's drinking water system and irrigation system currently depend on the same source, the large amounts required for raising alfalfa tend to overtax the system. The community's location near a major watercourse, the Guadalupe River has little benefit for the community itself, since the city of Ensenada maintains a series of wells in the vicinity which displace large amounts of water for municipal use. Local wineries also use large quantities of water for irrigation, with the result that the creek is now dry most of the year, although there have been no studies carried out to measure the combined effects of this large scale pumping.

Grazing of livestock plays an important economic role in the community, where animals are maintained both in confined areas as well as free-ranging. The impact of this grazing is unknown, however as in most communities the evidence of accelerated erosion in areas of intense grazing can be easily observed.

One resident expressed concern about reduced numbers of deer, citing illegal poaching as a cause for concern. As in other communities, local residents wished to be able to monitor their own faunal resources, protecting them from poachers, keeping track of the animals' numbers and movements, issuing any permits and serving as guides if any hunting should be carried out.

LA HUERTA
Consultants: Teodora Cuero, Ofelia Muñoz.

The southernmost of the Kumiai communities, located on the eastern edge of the great Ojos Negros Valley and at the base of the Sierra Juarez, this community's 6268 hectares include fertile soil and plentiful springs, giving it rich agricultural potential, as its name La Huerta (The Orchard) suggests. In the past, when indigenous groups were more mobile, the site of La Huerta represented an important encampment in the yearly migration from the coast up to the mountains. Many Huerteños also remember the tradition of cultural and economic exchange with the Cucapa who came up from the Colorado River delta region every summer, creating a link with other groups of the Colorado River region and beyond.

Currently several small family orchards exist, however most residents' subsistence strategies revolve around livestock ranching or otherwise working as day laborers on neighboring ranches or in the agricultural fields of the Ojos Negros Valley. Some residents also gather local natural resources such as herbs, jojoba, and wildflower seeds for sale to Mexican or US intermediaries. As in other indigenous communities, many traditional foods such as pine nuts and acorns have for the most part become inaccessible to Huerteños, since the traditional gathering areas have become the property of neighboring ejidos, and even when ejidatarios grant permission to collect, government regulations make it practically impossible for rural Indians to acquire the expensive permits necessary to gather legally.

Although the community has several springs and a major water source (El Barbon River), water distribution systems for purposes of both domestic use and irrigation are inadequate and poor water quality is a persistent problem. Existing water infrastructure (pipes, collection wells) is badly in need of repair and needs to be expanded to meet the needs of the growing community. Residents report a worsening situation, with water visibly "full of dirt." This same water is currently used for both drinking and irrigation. An unfinished Rotary Club "fish pond" project has also affected the water situation, and the general viability of the project remains to be proven.

Erosion has affected many parts of the community, possibly due to extensive grazing both within the community as well as further upstream in the same watershed. Logging and other activities upstream in the watershed may also be factors.

Parts of La Huerta's land base, and particularly a sacred site including a hot springs are threatened by encroachment from neighboring ejidos.

SANTA CATARINA
Consultants: Armando Gonzalez, Benito Peralta, Eufemio Sandoval (D.E.P.),

The nucleus of this community is centered around the former Dominican mission site of Santa Catarina, with outlying ranches concentrated in the western section of the 67,828 hectares of high plain, mountain and desert terrain that belong to the Paipai. The community was first formed as a permanent settlement in 1797 when the Dominican order established a mission on a small knoll overlooking a wide valley near a permanent stream. The Dominicans attempted to place members of the southern Kumiai and Paipai groups into a permanent settlement based on an economy of agriculture and livestock. Although the mission system failed and the Santa Catarina mission itself was destroyed in 1840 by an alliance of Indian groups, agriculture and livestock have remained an important part of the Paipai subsistence strategy along with wage labor and utilization of natural resources.

Following the destruction of the mission, the community moved several kilometers downstream to San Miguel, where a broad, fertile plain would provide excellent farmland until the 1950's. At that time, "floods washed away the topsoil, the plain filled up with sand, and the water went underground" (Benito Peralta).

The community moved back up to the area around the former mission site where it has remained through the present, although a limited amount of crops are still planted in the San Miguel area. Many permanent or seasonal ranches are also found around other permanent streams or springs throughout Paipai territory.

Raising livestock has long been an important economic activity for the Paipai, especially since the large amount of territory and its division into higher and lower altitudes conveniently allows for winter and summer grazing. Agriculture has for the most part been carried out at individual family ranches or parcels, as well as sporadic attempts at larger scale projects at San Miguel and on the wide plain adjacent to the mission site. The clearing of natural vegetation at this latter site has been blamed by residents for the accelerated erosion of the community's main stream, where much vegetation and topsoil has been lost, the stream bed has deepened, and sand has filled the wash.

Other examples of soil erosion were also mentioned by residents. "Nowadays, when it rains hard it opens up great big cracks in the ground. That didn't used to happen" . The impact of grazing needs to be carefully studied, since much of the erosion in the community follows the typical pattern of environmental degradation caused by overgrazing.

Elders also commented on long term climate change. "Winter rains used to come in October, now they might not come until December. The summer heat seems to burn more, we have seen plants like manzanita dried out by the heat. Many of the wild fruits no longer produce like they used to".

A growing number of artisans in the community generate a significant amount of income through the making of traditional paddle and anvil coil pottery. They gather clay from specific deposits, usually locations associated with specific families. Currently clay is gathered in relatively small quantities by hand.

Natural resource management is a critical issue for the Paipai. Access to resources such as palmilla (Yucca schidigera), juniper, and piñon (pine nuts) depends on the ability of the Paipai to pay for expensive permits, especially when an environmental impact study costing 10 to 20 thousand dollars is required. Traditional management techniques often mitigate the impact on resources, however as utilization shifts from personal consumption to commercialization, studies are needed to determine the expanded impact of larger scale production.

SAN ISIDORO
Consultants: Gertrudis Alvarez

The smaller of the two Paipai communities in terms of both population and land base, San Isidoro's 25,718 hectares extend from the western edge of Trinidad Valley down the Rio San Antonio watershed toward the coastal lowlands. Most members of San Isidoro community live outside their boundaries in the area of Los Pocitos (a natural hot springs) or in Trinidad Valley, since there is "no work within the community." Some Paipai have sold their land rights to non-Indians, resulting in changing demographics and an uncertain future.

Water testing has not been carried out in this community, so water quality and quantity issues cannot be determined. Because the community has had few residents and only minimal agricultural and livestock projects, the environmental impact has also been minimal. There are several areas with wide plains and sufficient water for agricultural development, however major projects have not been carried out for lack of capital and technical assistance.

San Isidoro has a variety of eco-zones within its territory and consequently a diversity of natural resources. Currently members of the community are seeking permits to exploit palmilla (Yucca schidigera).

EJIDO TRIBU KILIWAS
Consultants: Cruz Ochurte, Ricardo Albañez, Jose Armenta

The southernmost of the surviving indigenous communities of the peninsula, the Kiliwa community is located at the base of the Sierra San Pedro Martir and east of the Trinidad Valley. The 26,910 hectares of Kiliwa territory extend down into a low desert region, crossing Mexico Highway 3. Most Kiliwa today live around Arroyo Leon or in outlying ranches, although some also live in nearby Trinidad Valley where there are more job opportunities as well as water, electricity and other services.

Survival for the Kiliwa requires a diverse subsistence strategy, including such aspects as small scale agriculture (mostly on individual ranches), raising livestock, harvesting of palmilla and jojoba seed, collecting honey, production of handcrafts and working as wage laborers on neighboring cattle ranches or in the fields of Trinidad Valley.

As the smallest remaining indigenous group of Baja California, the survival of the Kiliwa is a serious issue for biodiversity in the region, since this population and their traditional knowledge regarding the uses of their abundant natural resources are the result of thousands of years of adaptation to specific local environments. The disintegration of the community resulting from the lack of economic opportunities within the community make the need for sustainable economic development alternatives all the more urgent.

EL MAYOR CUCAPA
Consultants: Victor Navarro, Antonia Torres Gonzalez

The Cucapa originally occupied much of the lower delta of the Colorado River and surrounding desert areas. Today the Cucapa live primarily in the settlement of El Mayor Cucapa, while their relatives the Cocopah live primarily in Somerton, Arizona. El Mayor is located on Mexican Highway 5 about 56 kilometers south of Mexicali. The Cucapa land base is the most extensive of all the indigenous communities of Baja California at 143,000 hectares, however much of it is parched desert without potential for agricultural or livestock activities. A large part of this land is the usually dry bed of the Laguna Salada, which has been greatly affected by fluctuations in the quantity and quality of water flowing in from the Colorado River. In years when sufficient water is released upstream, the lake fills and the Cucapa are able to practice traditional fishing activities. However contaminants either from the river itself or from toxic waste dumped within the watershed have affected the fish, as well as stagnation caused when fresh water no longer flows into the lake, all of which on occasions have caused huge numbers of fish to die.

Illegal dumping of toxic waste has been a problem due to the proximity of Mexicali. A site where "the earth was burned and turned spongy" was described by residents as being located in a part of the watershed that feeds into the Laguna Salada. Although the site was reported to authorities, it has never been cleaned up. There also appears to be no plan for clean up of hazardous materials that might be spilled onto Cucapa land as a result of a highway accident.

El Mayor does have basic water and electric services, however water quantity and quality are serious concerns. Water testing is needed to determine quality issues. Currently water is provided to homes in the community, however quantities necessary for irrigation are not available without major water infrastructure improvements such as the drilling of wells, installation of pumps and distribution systems.

Economic activities include fishing, handcraft production (primarily beadwork, bark skirts and other traditional arts), wage labor in neighboring communities, tourist services, and exploitation of natural resources such as sand and stone.

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