Baja California’s Cultural Heritage Council voted unanimously on May 18 to declare the spiritual, ceremonial, craft, and traditional knowledge practices of the Kumiai nation as state cultural heritage. The decision, made during an extraordinary session in Mexicali, grants legal protection for the first time to Kumiai ceremonial spaces, including Cerro Cuchumá, a 2,500-foot peak near Tecate that the Kumiai consider their most sacred site. The declaration came after U.S. government detonations damaged sacred areas at the mountain’s summit, an incident that has become a flashpoint in binational indigenous rights.
Cerro Cuchumá: A Binational Sacred Site Caught Between Two Governments
Cerro Cuchumá, known in English as Mount Cuchama, straddles the U.S.-Mexico border just east of Tecate. The mountain holds deep ceremonial importance for the Kumiai, an indigenous nation whose communities span both sides of the border. The Kumiai have used the peak for spiritual gatherings, vision quests, and ancestral ceremonies for centuries. On the U.S. side, the mountain falls within the community of Tecate, California, in San Diego County.
The mountain gained broader attention in 2023 when the U.S. government carried out detonations near its summit as part of border wall construction activities. U.S. Customs and Border Protection oversaw blasting operations along the border corridor in the Tecate area, and Kumiai leaders on both sides reported that the explosions cracked rock formations and disrupted sacred sites at the peak. The damage prompted protests by Kumiai community members, who gathered in Tecate in early 2024 to demand protection for the site.
Mexico’s federal government has not issued a formal diplomatic protest over the detonations. But the Baja California state government moved to act after four Kumiai communities filed a joint petition requesting legal protection. The communities of Juntas de Nejí y Anexos, San José de Tecate, Peña Blanca, and Tanamá submitted the request to the state’s Secretaría de Cultura, Baja California’s culture ministry. In their petition, traditional Kumiai authorities wrote that Cerro Cuchumá “constitutes one of the most sacred spaces for our people, representing a link with our ancestors and a fundamental axis of our ceremonial practices, identity, and worldview.”
Carlos Adolfo Gutiérrez Vidal, Baja California’s undersecretary for community culture, confirmed that the extraordinary session focused specifically on defending Kumiai cultural rights in light of the damage caused by U.S. detonations. Alma Delia Abrego Ceballos, the state’s culture secretary, presided over the vote.
Kumiai Cultural Heritage Declaration Creates New Legal Protections Near Tecate
The heritage designation was approved under the Ley de Preservación del Patrimonio Cultural del Estado de Baja California, a state law governing cultural preservation. Before this vote, Kumiai sacred sites had no formal legal status under Baja California law. The designation now obliges the state government to protect, conserve, and ensure respect for Kumiai ceremonial spaces.
The Kumiai communities also requested a specific guarantee: permanent access to Cerro Cuchumá for all Kumiai people, including those living in California. This demand highlights the binational character of the Kumiai nation. Roughly 500 Kumiai live in Baja California across several communities southeast of Tecate, while several hundred more belong to bands recognized by the U.S. federal government in San Diego County, including the Ewiiaapaayp Band and the Campo Kumeyaay Nation. The Kumiai and the Kumeyaay are the same people, divided by the international border drawn in 1848.
If the access guarantee holds, it could affect how land around Cerro Cuchumá is managed. The mountain sits near hiking trails and rural roads that draw visitors to the Tecate area. Property development on the Mexican side of the mountain’s slopes could face new restrictions. Any future construction or excavation near designated ceremonial sites would need to account for the heritage designation.
The designation also sets a precedent for Baja California’s other indigenous communities. The Paipai, Kiliwa, and Cochimí peoples, who live in communities scattered across the northern part of the state, have their own sacred sites that lack formal legal protection. The Kiliwa, with fewer than 50 native speakers remaining, are considered one of the most endangered indigenous groups in the Americas.
The Kumiai communities have called for ongoing monitoring of Cerro Cuchumá and enforcement of the new protections. Baja California’s culture ministry has not yet published a timeline for implementing specific conservation measures at the site. The next regular session of the Cultural Heritage Council is expected later in 2025. This story was first reported by La Jornada Baja California.