San Pasqual Battlefield would be returned to tribe under state bill

4 weeks ago 4

After the defeat of a similar bill introduced last year, a state Assembly member is introducing a new proposal to return ancestral land to the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians.

The bill introduced by Assemblymember David Alvarez (D-San Diego) in February 2025 failed in the appropriations committee. Alvarez announced last week that he will revisit the effort with Assembly Bill 2770.

For the last few years, leaders with the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians have advocated for returning the 50-acre San Pasqual Battlefield State Park to tribal ownership.

Tribal leadership hopes to use the land to teach their younger generation about the band’s history, said Stephen Cope, chairman of the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians.

“It would be huge because we would be able to showcase our history and how we survived,” he said. “It’s part of our history.”