SAN DIEGO — San Diego leaders and community members on Tuesday came together to mark San Diego’s 250th anniversary during an event held in Presidio Park.
The event celebrated the culture, history and achievement in the place where California began – San Diego.
During San Diego’s 250th Anniversary Civic Ceremony with dignitaries, the Kumeyaay flag was raised alongside the American, Mexican and Spanish flags at Presidio Park – a place where different cultures with deep roots changed the region.
“The history belongs to the people and for too long, we have not felt ownership of that. Today, we have ownership of that and we are changing the story,” said Johnny Eagle Spirit Elliot, Manzanita Kumeyaay Tribe.
The Kumeyaay people were already in the land that would become San Diego when on July 16th, 1769, the Spanish landed on its shores after making their way from what is now Baja California.
“We are thinking of this as a time to reflect. A time to think back and think forward and wrestle with what is a very difficult and troubled legacy from the past,” said San Diego History Center historian, Andy Strathman.
In a collaboration with the Kumeyaay Tribe and San Diego History Center created a new exhibit at the Junipero Serra Museum showcasing San Diego’s vital source – the San Diego River.
“The San Diego River is the foundation for what is here and what evolved here,” said Strathman.
For 14-year-old Jason Santos, with the Kumeyaay Tribe, San Diego soil runs deeper than 250 years.
“To show future generations that this stands here now because there were people here before. They helped create a foundation of what San Diego is today.”
Tuesday’s ceremony is one of the three ceremonies this year to honor San Diego’s 250th anniversary.