The largest state park in the contiguous United States, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park features new exhibits at its Visitor Center that document the human history of this sprawling reserve in eastern San Diego County. The museum also incorporates a Cosmology Dome that helps illustrate Kumeyaay beliefs about the meanings of the constellations and other phenomena of the night sky. Discover such Kumeyaay traditions as pottery and basket-making, games and ceremonies. The cultural heritage of the Kumeyaay people is the focus of this permanent exhibit at the Museum of Us, the Balboa Park institution devoted to stories of the human experience in San Diego. Kumeyaay: Native Californians/Iipai-Tipai Exhibit at the Museum of Us The Cupa Cultural Center was founded and is operated by the Pala Band of Mission Indians. This center in the Pala area of Inland North County is dedicated to preserving, perpetuating and enhancing traditional cultural practices of the Cupeño people. The Kumeyaay-Ipai Interpretive Center at Pauwai, a partnership of the city of Poway, Friends of the Kumeyaay and the San Pasqual Band of Indians, explores the lives of the Native Americans who populated the Poway area. Kumeyaay-Ipai Interpretive Center at Pauwai The Barona Cultural Center & Museum is dedicated to the history and heritage of the Barona band in San Diego. The Iipay~Tipai Kumeyaay Mut Niihepok (Land of the First Peoples) outdoor exhibit area, opened in Old Town in 2021, commemorates the area's Kumeyaay heritage. Native American Heritage Sites Iipay~Tipai Kumeyaay Mut Niihepok Of the 20,000-plus Native Americans who make up the four tribal groups in San Diego County, only a small percentage live on reservation land.

The county's tribal bands are part of four distinct cultural groups: the Kumeyaay/Diegueño (also known as Iipay~Tipai), Payómkawichum (Quechnajuichom/Luiseño and Acjachemen/Juaneño), Kuupiaxchem/Cupeño, and Cahuilla peoples. Two additional tribal bands here have no federally recognized lands: the San Luis Rey Band of Luiseño Indians and the Mount Laguna Band of Luiseño Indians. (One reservation is governed jointly by the Barona and Viejas bands.) The tribal bands that govern those reservations are the Barona, Campo, 'Ewiiaapaayp (Cuyapaipe), Inaja-Cosmit, Jamul Indian Village, La Jolla, La Posta, Los Coyotes, Manzanita, Mesa Grande, Pala, Pauma, Rincon, San Pasqual, Santa Ysabel, Sycuan and Viejas. San Diego County has the most Native American reservations of any county in the United States, with 18.

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