Mexican Indians

The Mexican Indian population is near extinction in Baja California. Of the original tribes in Baja California, only the Paipai and the Kumeyaay still exist. The population of the Paipai and the Kumeyaay number about 700. They struggle to survive in communities such as San Jose de la Zorra, Santa Catarina, and San Isidoro. These tribes speak Yuman of Hokan origin.

These Indian tribes look to the supernatural to solve their problems and tend to see their own lives as requiring continuous service to the gods. The shaman is a healer among the Indians. He uses supernatural means to cure illnesses, to insure the success of crops, or to assist in other situations requiring divine aid.

The original settlement pattern of the agricultural Indians centered on a number of household units clustered in spots convenient to cultivation sites or water. As a result, all contemporary Indians of the mountain regions live in scattered ranch clusters using the village as a religious and political centre. Most Indian villages have a church, a school, government buildings used for courts or meetinghouses, and small mestizo-operated stores as well as a few houses owned by Indians who spend most of the year at their ranches.

Housing is made up of the available local materials which are: stone, adobe, mud, planks, bamboo, or caves. Houses primarily consist of one room with a dirt floor and no chimney. Many Indians sleep on the floor on mats and blankets, but crude bamboo or rawhide beds are also used. Furniture is seldom more than a stool or two, although a few may possess tables. There isn’t any access to water, lights, and sanitary facilities.

Clothing combines the older styles of rural Mexico with modern lower class dress. Indians wear modern clothing with few reminders of earlier attire. Sandals are generally worn, along with homemade or commercial hats. Women\'s dress throughout tends toward a skirt and blouse with a head scarf. Men have short hair and women...