• There are 18 Native American Tribes in San Diego County, more than in any other county in the United States.
• There are four Indian Nations indigenous to the San Diego area: Kumeyaay, Luiseno, Cupeno and Cahuilla.
• 13 of the 18 reservations in San Diego, including Sycuan, are Kumeyaay.
• Sycuan's lineage can be traced back to the San Dieguito Paleo Indians (approximately 10,000 B.C. in what is currently the Rancho San Diego area).
• In approximately 1,000 A.D., environmental changes forced the Kumeyaay people to move east.this group became known as the Southern Diegueno people. The Southern Diegueno (the original San Diegans) are the ancestors of the Sycuan Band in Dehesa Valley.
• Sycuan's language is called Kumeyaay, of which there is a southern dialect (Iipay) and a northern dialect (Tiipay).
• The Kumeyaay language is a Hokan language of the Yuman stock, which also includes Cocopah, Maricopa, Quechan, Mohave, Pai Pai, Yavapai, Havasupai, and Hualapai.
• The name Sycuan is derived from a yellow primrose flower indigenous to San Diego.
• Sycuan members over the age of 18 areb eligible to run for Sycuan Council positions (including Chairman or Chairwoman).
• The Sycuan General Council consists of all Sycuan Tribal members over the age of 18.
• The main leader of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation is the Chairman or Chairwoman.
• By federal definition, an Indian reservation is a designated area of land, recognized (by treaty or Executive Order) as being in the possession of a particular Indian nation or people, on which they have the right to exercise certain inherent sovereign powers of self-government and self-determination.
• The sovereign powers exercised by Indian governments on most reservations include:
-The power to determine the form of government, including the right to pass, interpret, and enforce laws, and to administer justice.
-The power to define conditions for membership in the nation or tribe.
-The power to tax.
-The power to regulate domestic relations of citizens or members.
-The power to regulate property use.
• Beginning in 1769, with the founding of the Mission of San Diego de Alcala by Father Junipero Serra, the traditional ways of the Kumeyaay and other indigenous peoples of the San Diego region came under attack. It was as a result of this historical period that the term "Mission Indian" was derived.
• In 1821, after Mexico won its independence from Spain, the Mexican government seized all the mission land. Mexico's rule over the San Diego region ended at the conclusion of the Mexican-American War with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848.
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• The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo arbitrarily placed an international boundary line through the territory of the Kumeyaay Nation. Despite the creation of the U.S./Mexico border, the
Kumeyaay maintain their territorial integrity and their social and kinship ties.
• On January 7, 1852, a number of Kumeyaay chiefs signed a "Treaty of peace and friendship between the United States...and the captains and headmen of the nation of Diegueno Indians." However, heavily influenced by the State of California, the United States Senate refused to ratify this and seventeen other California Indian treaty documents and placed them under an injunction of secrecy until 1905.
• In 1875, President Ulysses S. Grant issued an Executive Order that set aside eight reservations in San Diego County for the exclusive use of the Kumeyaay, including the Sycuan Reservation. In 1891 another Executive Order established an additional five Kumeyaay reservations.
• In 1924, in return for American Indian military service in WWI, Congress passed the American Indian Citizenship Act, there by declaring all Indians to be citizens of the United States, while retaining citizenship in their respective nations.
• In 1968, the American Indian Civil Rights Act was passed, guaranteeing U.S. civil rights to Indians living on reservations.
• In 1974, the Sycuan Fire Department was founded to protect houses and land, and to provide emergency medical services on the Sycuan Reservation.
• In 1975, Congress passed the "Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (Public Law 93-638) to further the goal of Indian Self-Determination.
• In 1975, the Sycuan Council established on the Sycuan Reservation a satellite of D-Q University based in Davis, California. D-Q University at Sycuan has a well-rounded curriculum that includes classes on Kumeyaay language and culture.
• In November 1983, Sycuan opened a 23,200 sq. ft. Bingo Hall with 26 employees.
• In 1981 Health Clinic opens for all Kumeyaay Indians. Sycuan now has an excellent medical/dental center on the Sycuan Reservation.
• On September 10, 1999, sovereign gaming Tribes signed a compact (agreement) with the State of California.
• On May 5, 2000, the Assistant Secretary of the Interior in the U.S. Department of Interior approved the Gaming Compact.
• On May 16, 2000, the Gaming Compact went into effect.
• In November 2000, Sycuan celebrated the Grand Opening of its state-of-the-art 305,000 sq. ft. casino.
• In May 2001, the Sycuan Tribal Development Corporation acquired Singing Hills Resort.
• In November 2001, the Sycuan Reservation was enlarged by 89.15 acres, when the U.S. Secretary of the Interior placed the Bradley and Big Oak Ranch properties in federal trust for the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation.
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