Blood of the Band: An Ipai Family Story. The Ipai (also known as Kumeyaay) are the native people of northern San Diego County. This presentation illustrates how one Ipai family’s remarkable story forms part of the little-known yet profoundly significant long-term history of human habitation in the land that only recently has come to be known as southern California. Beginning with the ancestors’ accounts of the creation of the world that link the Ipai with the unique characteristics of our region’s natural world, the journey then goes through the archaeological, historical, ethnographic and contemporary accounts of the dramatic transformations through which the Ipai have persisted and ultimately prospered.

The presenter, David Toler, is a long-time leader of his community and a descendant of the La Chappa, Gauchena, and Nejo clans. He has served for many years as a member of the tribal council of the band of the San Pasqual Mission Indians in Valley Center, California. He is also vice-chair of the Kumeyaay Diegueño Land Conservancy, a board member of the Inter-Tribal Court of Southern California, and a member of the Kumeyaay Heritage preservation Committee. Sierra Talks are the San Diego Sierra Club's monthly meeting.