The Sycuan Band is one of thirteen Kumeyaay tribes, each a sovereign nation with their own federally established reservation. The aboriginal territory of the Kumeyaay people for the past 12,000 years extended from Escondido in north San Diego County, south to modern-day Ensenada, Mexico, and east to the Salton Sea.

The traditional Kumeyaay were skilled hunters and innovative agriculturalists who achieved a sophisticated and scientific understanding of the plant and animal life, and waters of their territory.

In 1891, with passage of the Act for the Relief of the Mission Indians, the United States recognized the sovereign status of the California Indians. Today, the people of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation stand proud, making the most of their relatively small reservation land base. Mindful of their rich ancestral past, the self-reliant members of Sycuan are planning and working diligently for the benefit of their future generations.