Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians

<p>The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of the Cahuilla, located in Riverside County, California. They inhabited the Coachella Valley 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.</p>
<p>The Agua Caliente Indian Reservation was founded on May 15, 1876 through Executive Order signed by President Ulysses S. Grant covering 31,610 acres (12,790 ha). In 1877 and 1907 the Reservation was extended, to cover 32,000 acres of land.</p>
<p>Since 6,700 acres (2,700 ha) of the reservation are within Palm Springs city limits, 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. They also own land in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument.
Government</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Agua Caliente is one of three reservations where speakers of the "Pass" dialect of the Cahuilla were located, the other two being the Morongo Indian Reservation and Augustine Indian Reservation. Pass Cahuilla is a dialect of Cahuilla found within the Cupan branch of Takic languages, 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.</p>

<p>Since time immemorial, the Palm Springs area has been home to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians for generations. Archaeological research has discovered that the Cahuilla have occupied Tahquitz Canyon for at least 5,000 years, mirroring the migration stories of the Cahuilla people.</p>
<p>The Cahuilla Indian name for the Palm Springs area was Sec-he (boiling water); the Spanish who arrived named it Agua Caliente (hot water). And then came the name "Palm Springs" in reference to both the native Washingtonia filifera palm tree and the Agua Caliente Hot Mineral Spring. The Hot Spring waters provided the Cahuilla with clean water, a place for bathing, and a connection point with a spiritual underworld populated by nukatem, or ancient sacred beings. The hot spring waters were also utilized for healing purposes. The ceremonial life of the Cahuilla was a rich one. Elaborate ceremonies marked every important milestone in life. Today, remnants of the traditional Cahuilla society exist such as rock art, house-pits and foundations, irrigation ditches, dams, reservoirs, trails, and food preparation areas, which still exist in the canyons.</p>
<p>Crops in the Agua Caliente area were irrigated by water from nearby streams. Remnants of these rock-lined irrigation ditches from Tahquitz, Andreas, and Chino Creeks are still visible in areas untouched by development. Archival documentation from the mid-1880s tells of elderly Indians memories of parents working on these ditches when they were very young.</p>
<p>Women of the band were responsible for gathering all of the plants that were used for food. Some of the basic food plants were acorns, mesquite beans, seeds of all kinds, wild fruit, agave and yucca. In addition, the Cahuilla had an extensive trade system with neighboring tribes. Food, shells, animal and mineral products were traded with the tribes of the surrounding areas.</p>
<p>Tribal Office: (760) 699-6800, 5401 Dinah Shore Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92264</p>