The Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians is a

federally recognized tribe A federally recognized tribe is a Native American tribe recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs as holding a government-to-government relationship with the US federal government. In the United States, the Native American tribe ...

of Cahuilla Indians, located in Imperial and Riverside counties in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

."California Indians and Their Reservations."
''San Diego State University Library and Information Access.'' (retrieved 17 May 2010) Their autonym is Mau-Wal-Mah Su-Kutt Menyil, which means "among the palms, deer moon" in the Cahuilla language.

Torres Martinez Indian Reservation

The Torres Martinez Indian Reservation is a federal reservation in Imperial and Riverside Counties, with a total area of . It was established in 1876Pritzker, 120 and was named for the village of

Toro Toro may refer to: Places *Toro, Molise, a ''comune'' in the Province of Campobasso, Italy *Toro, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria *Toro, Shizuoka, an archaeological site in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan *Toro, Zamora, a ''m ...

and the Martinez Indian Agency. In 1905 as the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

flowed into the area, most of the tribe packed their belongings and headed into the mountains as they were familiar with the reoccurring lake from their legends. Nearly half of the reservation was eventually flooded by the formation of the Salton Sea. In 1970, 42 of the 217 enrolled tribal members lived on the reservation. As of the 2010 census the population was 5,594.

Government

The tribe's headquarters is located in Thermal, California. Their tribal administration is as follows: * Tribal Chairman Joseph Mirelez * Vice-chairman Joseph Mirelez * Secretary Altrena Santillanes * Treasurer Elena Loya * Council Member Brandon Butcher * Council Member Gary Resvaloso * Council Member Proxy Desiree Franco

Economic development

The tribe owns and operates the Red Earth Casino in Salton City, California.

Cemetery

The tribe maintains a small (48 interments) cemetery on Martinez Road in Thermal.USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
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Notes

References

* Bean, Lowell John. "Cahuilla." Heizer, Robert F., volume ed. '' Handbook of North American Indians: California, Volume 8.'' Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1978. . * 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. .

External links

Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians
official website * {{authority control Cahuilla Chemehuevi Mission Indians Populated places in Imperial County, California Native American tribes in California Federally recognized tribes in the United States Native American tribes in Riverside County, California