Kumeyaay Band File Federal Lawsuit Against Trump Administration to Halt Construction of Border Wall on Sacred Land in East County San Diego
By Nathalie Feingold
Several protests in the Laguna Mountains in East County and Downtown San Diego are occurring amidst concerns that the construction of the border wall, supervised by U.S. Customs
and Border Protection (CBP), involves the desecration of ancient Kumeyaay land.
The Kumeyaay are an ancient tribe that is believed to have inhabited San Diego County for over 12,000 years. They are a sovereign nation native to the area bordering San Diego and Baja California; members of the Kumeyaay tribal group reside on both sides of the border.
This construction project is of concern to the Kumeyaay because the site of construction is on possible ancestral burial grounds.
The La Posta Band of Diegueno Mission Indians, one of 12 bands of the Kumeyaay Nation, filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration. The lawsuit asks for an injunction to halt theconstruction of the border wall through their sacred burial grounds and to protect their religious and cultural heritage, as reported by the LA Times.
The lawsuit states that pre-construction blasting at the border unearthed human remains.
Evidence found on-site includes artifacts such as midden soil, which is a sign of cremation, as reported by KPBS.
“In the Kumeyaay faith, they don’t see the material as ‘human remains’; they see them as humans. When any human bones or particles of human remains are discovered, it’s considered to have a human soul. In other words, they are not looking at material, they’re looking at their ancestors,” said Tom Holm, executive director of the Kumeyaay HeritagePreservation Councias reported by the LA Times.
Border Patrol said that it relies on cultural monitors to make sure that no artifacts are destroyed, however, KPBS reported that no monitors were seen on-site, and protestors were told that the army skipped a consultation with the Kumeyaay tribe for reasons regarding “national security.”
Several laws are in place to protect indigenous ancestral sites, however, according to the Border Report, the Department of Homeland Security issued waivers for many of these laws as a way to expedite the construction of the wall.
There have also been several protests in Downtown San Diego outside of the Hall of Justice in an attempt by protestors to call attention to the construction plans in East County with one protest on July 31.
The demonstration featured speeches, traditional songs, a reflective march to the harbor and back and was bookended with the opportunity for protestors to come up and share with the crowd.
Using the Hall of Justice as the setting for their downtown demonstration was intentional, chosen as an ironic way to call attention to the injustices brought against the Kumeyaay people.
“What you see today is the occupation of all our territories and our land, a form of ongoing colonization, so these halls of justice really depend on the color that you are,” said Shannon Rivers, a member of the Tohono O’odham Nation, in a speech of solidarity with the Kumeyaay. Protestors successfully halted CBP’s construction plans on July 1, according to the LA Times.
However, the postponement is only considered a short-term victory as construction and blasting on Kumeyaay lands is ongoing, which necessitates the filing of the lawsuit.
“The Kumeyaay are not asking for anything more than the same respect and the same cultural respect almost every other faith enjoys,” Holm said, according to the LA Times.
This construction project comes after a recent acceleration on border wall construction by the Trump administration as part of his reelection campaign. In March, the Trump administration deemed construction of the border wall essential work and increased spending from $11.1 billion to $15 billion, as reported by the LA Times.