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Kumeyaay-Ipai Interpretive Center reopens in Poway

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Ever wanted to learn more about Poway’s history? The Kumeyaay-Ipai Interpretive Center is waiting to teach you about the Kumeyaay people and their history in Poway.

The center, which is at 13404 Ipai Waaypuk Trail, reopened on Sept. 19 after closing for August and is once again spreading knowledge to its visitors.

Headed up by the Friends of the Kumeyaay, the center is open to the public for guided tours of the grounds on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon (excluding the first Saturday of the month). It conducts tours for third graders on Thursdays and Fridays, which are by appointment only.

The center is also looking for volunteers to become docents, as well as donations of acorns.

The five-acre site, which is owned by the City of Poway and operated and maintained by the Friends of the Kumeyaay, features a model village, native plants and artifacts and areas where the Kumeyaay people lived and worked for thousands of years.

The education center acts as both classroom and museum and holds the center’s collection of both authentic and replica artifacts, including an 8,000-year-old quartz knife blade.

“People have lived in this county for 10,000 years,” said Suzanne Emery, vice president of the Friends of the Kumeyaay and one of its docents.

According to Emery, Poway has the remains of several villages scattered around it, and some of its rock are painted with pictographs that are 700 to 800 years old, done by the Kumeyaay people.

Third-graders who come to the center with their class get to spend two hours learning about the Kumeyaay people and getting hands-on demonstrations, including how they used agave fibers to make twine and how to grind acorns into flour using ancient metates. “It’s a hands-on experience for the kids,” said Emery.

After 45 minutes in the education center, the students are led on a tour of the grounds and get to see the model village and learn about native plants. Students also learn to count in Kumeyaay and paint a spirit rock.

There are about a dozen docents who volunteer their time giving tours and maintaining the landscape and doing habitat restoration, including a skilled botanist and a photographer. “We’re mostly retired history buffs,” said Emery, “who really like to share Poway (with the community).”

All the native plants around the center are labelled not only with their common and scientific names, but their names in Kumeyaay as well.

The only non-native plants on the site are a few pepper trees, mostly for shade, said Emery. None of the plants beyond the education center are watered, making it a great example of drought tolerant planting.

The center is in need of more volunteers, and as a result of having too few to give tours, has had to close the center on the first Saturday of the month, said Emery.

They also need donations of acorns, in either paper or net bags to prevent mildew (acorns cannot be donated in plastic bags or containers). The center uses about 78 pounds of acorns a year for the third grade visits, and it needs about 75 bags of acorns donated, Emery said.

Those wishing to volunteer their time or donate acorns can call 858-668-1292 or visit www.friendsofthekumeyaay.org for more information.

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