The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation is a

federally recognized tribe This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the Unite ...

of the

Cahuilla The Cahuilla , also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California.Riverside County, California Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Uni ...

, United States.California Indians and Their Reservations.
''San Diego State University Library and Information Access.'' 2009. Retrieved Nov 1, 2012. They inhabited the

Coachella Valley , map_image = Wpdms shdrlfi020l coachella valley.jpg , map_caption = Coachella Valley , location = California, United States , coordinates = , width = , boundaries = Salton Sea (southeast), Santa Rosa Mountains (southwest), San Jacin ...

desert and surrounding mountains between 5000 BCE and 500 CE. With the establishment of the reservations, the Cahuilla were officially divided into 10 sovereign nations, including the Agua Caliente Band.

Reservation

Agua Caliente Band signage downtown Palm Springs

0020R Agua Caliente Indian Reservation Locator Map

The Agua Caliente Indian Reservation was founded on May 15, 1876Pritzker, 120 through Executive Order signed by President Ulysses S. Grant covering . In 1877 and 1907 the Reservation was extended, to cover of land. Since of the reservation are in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by lan ...

, the tribe is the city's largest collective landowner. The tribe owns Indian Canyons, located southwest of Palm Springs. The canyons are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. They also own land in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument.

Government

The tribe's headquarters is located in Palm Springs, California. They ratified their constitution and bylaws in 1957, gaining federal recognition. For many years the band was headed by Chairman Richard M. Milanovich until his death on March 11, 2012. Their current tribal council is as follows: * Chair:

Reid D. Milanovich Reid D. Milanovich (born 1982 or 1983) is a Cahuilla politician. Since April 2022, he has served as the Chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in Riverside County, California He has served five terms on the tribal council. Early li ...

(elected April 5, 2022) * Vice Chair: Vincent Gonzales III (since April 5, 2022) * Secretary/Treasurer: ''Vacant'' (since April 5, 2022) * Member: Jessica Norte * Member: John R. Preckwinkle III

Language

Agua Caliente is one of three reservations where speakers of the "Pass" dialect of the

Augustine Indian Reservation The Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians is a federally recognized Cahuilla band of Native Americans based in Coachella, California. They are one of the smallest tribal nations in the United States, consisting of only 16 members, seven of whom ...

. Pass Cahuilla is a dialect of Cahuilla found within the Cupan branch of

Takic languages The Takic languages are a putative group of Uto-Aztecan languages historically spoken by a number of Indigenous peoples of Southern California. Takic is grouped with the Tubatulabal, Hopi, and Numic languages in the northern branch of the Uto-Az ...

, part of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Though revitalization efforts are underway, all dialects of Cahuilla are technically considered to be extinct as they are no longer spoken at home, and children are no longer learning them as a primary language. The last native speaker of Pass Cahuilla died in 2008.

Programs and economic development

Tribal programs and family services

Tribal Family Services was established in 2003 to support social and educational programs for tribal members. Other services include cultural preservation, child development, and scholarships. The Jane Augustine Patencio Cemetery provides burial services. (Palm Springs artist Carl Eytel is one of the few non-Indians buried in the cemetery.)

Agua Caliente Cultural Museum

The Agua Caliente Cultural Museum in Palm Springs was founded by the tribe in 1991. It houses permanent collections and archives, a research library, and changing exhibits, as well as hosting an annual film festival.

Spa resort and casinos

The tribe owns three major casinos. The first two are the Spa Resort Casino (''now Agua Caliente Palm Springs'') in downtown Palm Springs, California at the original hot springs and the

Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa The Agua Caliente Casino is a gambling facility, run by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, in Rancho Mirage, California. The facility has over of gambling floor. The casino completed a 16-story, hotel tower which opened on April 18, 20 ...

in Rancho Mirage, California. The resort at Rancho Mirage also includes a hotel, fitness center and spa, the Canyons Lounge, and seven different restaurants. The Spa Resort Casino, opened in 2003, features gaming, the Cascade Lounge, and four restaurants. The hotel in Downtown Palm Springs closed in 2014. Ground was broken on the third Agua Caliente casino on November 4, 2019. It is located in Cathedral City, California and opened on November 25, 2020. The tribe annexed 13 acres of land to build the casino. The tribe is the only one in California to own more than one casino.

Indian Canyons

Tahquitz Canyon Tahquitz Canyon (, sometimes ) is located in Palm Springs, California on a section of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation. The canyon descends from the Riverside County San Jacinto Mountains. It was continually inhabited for at least 5,000 years ...

southwest of downtown Palm Springs is accessible for hiking and guided tours. The Indian Canyons (consisting of Palm Canyon, Murray Canyon, and Andreas Canyon) also accessible for hiking, horseback riding, and tours, are south of Palm Springs.

Golf courses

The tribe also maintains two golf courses in Indian Canyon which are open to the public.

Proposed downtown Palm Springs arena

In June 2019, it was announced that the tribe and entertainment company

Oak View Group OVG Oak View Group, LLC is an American Global Advisory, Development and Investment Company for Sports and Live Entertainment industries. Based in Los Angeles, it was formed on November 16, 2015 by Tim Leiweke and his business partner, Irving Azof ...

planned to build a privately funded arena on tribal land in downtown Palm Springs with the intent of the arena serving as the home ice for the expansion

Seattle Kraken The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and began play during the league's 2021–22 season. ...

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the lea ...

affiliate. The arena was planned to begin construction in February 2020, but was suspended in the midst of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. By September 2020, OVG's negotiations with the tribe had come to a halt and the agreement was ended. The Oak View Group chose to build their arena elsewhere.

Notable tribal members

* Tribal leaders who have been honored with "Golden Palm Stars" on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars include: ** Richard Milanovich - Chair of the Agua Caliente Band **

– Chair & Vice Chair of the Agua Caliente Band ** Flora Agnes Patencio – Cahuilla Indian elder ** Ray Leonard Patencio – Cahuilla Indian leader ** Peter Siva – Cahuilla Tribal Chair * Woodchuck Welmas (1891–1968) – professional NFL football player in the 1920s

Bibliography

* * Eargle Jr., Dolan H. ''California Indian Country: The Land and the People.'' San Francisco: Tree Company Press, 1992. . * Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. .

References

External links

Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians
official website
Aqua Caliente Cultural Museum

The Limu Project
language and cultural revitalization * * () * () {{Authority control Federally recognized tribes in the United States Native American tribes in California Cahuilla 1876 establishments in California