Land area

Land of the Diegueño in California, ceded 1852 (area 310)

Shape traced from the 1899 maps; approximate. Open on the map

1852
Ceded to the United States
By California Treaty L: Village of Santa Isabel, 1852 (unratified)

In the record

Land outside the reserve that the Diegueño were to give up under an 1852 treaty at Santa Isabel that was never ratified. The area covers about 3.5 million acres in what is now California.

The 1899 record names Kumeyaay (Diegueno) as the people of this land.

How it was taken: a treaty the Senate never ratified. The OSU treaty page marks it Unratified, and Prologue says the Senate rejected all 18 California treaties.

Today, Campo Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Campo Indian Reservation, California, Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians, Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel, California, Inaja Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Inaja and Cosmit Reservation, California, Jamul Indian Village of California, La Posta Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the La Posta Indian Reservation, California and 4 more carry the history of the people named here.

Written from the records linked here; open any of them for its sources.

See this cession on the map

Shapes come from C. C. Royce’s 1899 maps as georeferenced by the US Forest Service. They are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land. Royce recorded land the United States treated as ceded; the shape does not show a nation’s territory.

Who is doing the work

This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:

Working with these nations

Kumeyaay Diegueno Land Conservancy (KDLC) Nation government Acquiring and preserving sacred and culturally sensitive lands in Kumeyaay aboriginal territory Give on their site Website

Land return and Native-led work nearby

InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council Nation government Land conservation and return of coastal Sinkyone lands to tribal stewardship (nearly 5,000 acres protected) Give on their site Website
Koy'o Land Conservancy (Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe) Nation government Restoring traditional homelands to tribal members Website
Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria Nation government 450 acres (2026), first ancestral land return in the Big Chico Creek watershed
Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation Nation government About 900 acres returned Dec 2025

Native legal and land defense, nationally

Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website

Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.

Connections

Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.

Sources

Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1852-01-07primary record
Royce’s map sheet: California 1 (Library of Congress)primary record
USDA Forest Service, Tribal Lands Ceded to the United States (digitized Royce maps)reference work

The record’s fields

Area number in the 1899 record: 310
Dates in the 1899 record: 1852-01-07
Peoples as named in the 1899 record: Diegueño
States: CA
Counties: Imperial; San Diego
Map sheets in the 1899 record: California 1
Geometry: Approximate shape from Royce’s 1899 maps

Research notes

geometry_role is 'cession' for every USFS feature: no field in the source distinguishes cessions from reservations.

Kind: Land area
Confidence: Medium

Correct this record