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Culture & History of the Agua Caliente

The city council meeting on March 22, 2007 was an historic moment for Rancho Mirage and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. It was during this joint meeting of the two councils that an agreement was signed to annex the reservation land around the Agua Caliente Casino and its new 15-story hotel/resort. The agreement, in which the tribe would pay the City the equivalent of “bed-tax” and sales tax, capped a two-year period of sometimes-heated negotiations between the two bodies of how to mitigate the impact of the popular casino and new hotel just outside of the city limits.

Prior to the annexation agreement, some residents voiced strong opposition to the Agua Caliente’s planned hotel; many cited its height and the effect it would have on their views, while others feared increased traffic and light pollution. Still others worried that local police and fire services would be overburdened because the Agua Caliente land abutted the city. The annexation agreement included specific measures to handle increased vehicle traffic in the area, while the monies paid in lieu of “bed tax” will pay for any additional city services needed. The height of the new hotel should not have a significant impact on residents’ views because of the geography of the area. “There is about a 150 foot drop in elevation along Bob Hope Drive from Dinah Shore Drive to Ramon Road,” said Curt Watts, Economic Development Director of the City of Rancho Mirage. “For residents of Mission Hills, it should have no more impact on views than a one-story structure.”

With the annexation scheduled to become official in early 2008, this might be a good time to learn about the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians—who they are as a nation and a people; their reservation lands, their history, beliefs and customs.

They Were Here First
Archaeologists estimate that over 300,000 Native Americans called California home before contact with Europeans. Classified by language group and geography, they have determined around 75 distinct native groups with 61 unique languages and cultures. The Cahuilla Indians lived mainly in the mountains, deserts and passes of Riverside County. The Agua Caliente are one of nine bands of Cahuilla Indians. Archaeologists guess that the Cahuilla have been living continuously in this area for over 3,000 years, in communities along the shores of ancient Lake Cahuilla, in the canyons of the Santa Rosas and the San Jacintos, and even on the floor of the desert near the famous hot water springs that bubble up from the ground and give the tribe and the city their names.

Creation Story of the Cahuilla
Most Native American tribes have a creation story that has been passed down through the generations orally in storytelling fashion. The creation stories differ from tribe to tribe, but usually set forth the societal norms, customs and laws of each tribe.

The Cahuilla creation story tells of twin cosmic brothers, Mukat and Temayawut (also spelled as Tamaoit or Temayawet) who were born out of the abstract darkness from two formless masses, one male and one female. Out of this blacker than night darkness colors of red, white, blue and brown suddenly appeared and whirled around to create a great sphere, an embryo that struggled, but failed to be born. A second time, the colors appeared and formed another sphere that also failed to develop. The colors appeared a third time and as they whirled around lightning appeared. Two embryos appeared and grew rather quickly and were soon adult and able to speak. From the time they could speak, the twins constantly argued. At the beginning they argued over who was the older and could not agree. Temayawut asked what they could do to dispel the darkness. Mukat pointed out angrily that if Temayawut was the older and smarter one, he should know how to rid the darkness. Mukat said they should relax with a smoke and he reached inside and pulled a black pipe from his heart. Temayawut followed Mukat’s example and pulled a white pipe from his heart. Mukat then reached into his heart and pulled black tobacco, while Temayawut brought forth white tobacco.

“How can we smoke our sacred pipes if we have nothing to light them?” Temayawut asked. Mukat laughed and chided Temayawut for not knowing and still claiming to be the older brother. He then drew the sun from his heart, but it slipped through his fingers and rolled away. He reached into his heart again and pulled out the western setting sun to light the pipe. Temayawut reached into his heart and pulled out the eastern rising sun to light his pipe. Their smoke formed clouds in the darkness and Temayawut asked what they should do next. Mukat suggested they pull poles from their hearts and create the center pole of the world. Each pulled a pole from his heart and joined them to create the world’s axis, but it would not stand, so each pulled a snake from his heart to encircle the great pole, but it still would not stand. They then pulled rocks from their hearts to try to steady the pole, but it still would not stand. Finally, they each pulled a spider from his heart and the spiders wove intricate webs that held the giant pole firmly in place.

The twins happily climbed the great pole and looked down at the place they had come from. Temayawut asked, “What is that mass of cloud and smoke below?”

Mukat told him that it had come from their after-birth and contained all sicknesses that would befall man that-is-to-be. Mukat named all the illnesses and the brothers were sad about the suffering of their future creations. Mukat said they should also create special men that would have power to cure the sickness.

Making the Earth and the People
The twins then made the six directions: west, north, south, east, up and down; and then created the earth. Mukat pulled from his heart black earth and placed it on top of the world that was to be. Temayawut reached into his heart and pulled out white earth and placed it alongside the black earth, but the mass crumbled apart and was lost, so Mukat pulled spiders from his heart and his brother followed suit and the spiders spun enormous webs in all directions from the great pole that had been created. The twins then brought forth large quantities of black and white earth and it was spread about by massive amounts of ants that the brothers produced to form our world. The brothers helped the ants to spread the earth by producing two whirlwinds and Temayawut brought a great ocean his heart that circled the globe to help hold the earth in place. Then the twins brought forth the sky, but it bent and flailed in the darkness, so they created stars to pin the sky into place and the brothers sent the whirlwinds to the ends of the earth to help hold the ends of the sky in place. Then the brothers created all the animals and plants of the earth and began to make people.

The bothers used the clay of the earth to make their people, but Temayawut rushed and was not careful in creating his people—they were double-sided and some had many eyes or were web-footed and fitted with limbs of other creatures. Mukat was slow and deliberate in making his people and they look as people look to this day. Mukat found that it was too dark to continue making his people so he pulled Ma-nel, the Moon Maiden, from his heart to provide some light.

In the light, Mukat saw the misshapen and ugly forms that his brother had made and the two argued violently. Temayawut said that he would go to the bottom of the earth and take all of their creations with him. Mukat yelled that he should go, but he could only take his ugly creatures with him. Angrily, Temayawut sang the song that was his and the earth opened up with a giant earthquake as Temayawut and his creatures went into the earth. Mukat wrestled with the giant whirlwind as it tried to take the sky into the earth as well. Mukat won the struggle and you can still see the five stars where Mukat’s fingers pressed hard to hold up the sky. As Temayawut descended into the earth and as the large fissure began to close, the world’s mountains formed and the earth rumbled greatly.

With Temayawut’s departure, Mukat’s people came to life and began to move. As Mukat struggled to control the wind, the white people ran away to the far north. Suddenly the sun, which had eluded the brothers earlier, reappeared and burned the people who were closest to the sun to a black color and those further away from the sun a brown color, but did not affect the people who had run to the north. The appearance of the sun frightened the people and animals and they all began to speak in a clatter of noise. Mukat was disturbed by the noise, but listened carefully and found one person speaking his language, the Cahuilla language. Mukat kept this person, the ancestor of all the Cahuilla, at his side to create the Cahuilla people and let the others go.

Mukat’s People
Mukat and his people lived in a great community house for a time and Ma-nel, the Moon Maiden, taught the people how to be happy and play games. She would take the people and the animals to water every day and they would sing songs and swim and laugh and play. Every night they would go back to Mukat’s house and a small man named To would dance on top of rattlesnake’s head, as the rattlesnake would never join the people at the water. Rattlesnake did not have teeth and poison and lived curled up just outside of Mukat’s door. He did not like being teased and danced upon every night, so one day after Ma-nel took the people to the water, he complained to Mukat. Mukat gave the snake teeth and venom so the snake could protect himself and the people would learn not to tease. Mukat warned the snake that he could no longer live in his house after he used his teeth, and that night when the people came back happy from their day at the water, To jumped on rattlesnake’s head to taunt him and the snake coiled and fatally bit To on the foot. The snake slithered out the door and forever went to live amongst the rocks never to return to Mukat’s house.

Moon Maiden Leaves
In time, Mukat began to realize how beautiful Ma-nel was and wanted to take her as his wife. Ma-nel sensed this and decided that it was not the right thing as Mukat was her father, so it would be better for her to leave. Sadly, she went about her final duties of instructing the women how to use the plants as medicines and food and she disappeared. The people were heartbroken and grieved at the loss of their friend. The next time they saw her was when she appeared as the full moon in the sky.

Cahuilla Learn About Death
Mukat taught his people how to make the sticks for arrows and he coughed up arrowheads out of his lungs. Tahquitz, who had been given magic powers, held an arrow over his head and told the people to watch as he jammed the arrow through his stomach. The people gasped because it made no wound. Mukat divided the people into two groups and they began to run about and shoot arrows at the other side. They couldn’t see what they were doing as a great cloud of dust arose, but kept shooting the arrows. When all the arrows had been used, the dust subsided and the people were sad that some of them were dead and could not be revived. Mukat told them the dead would return and that night they came back to Mukat’s house as spirits. He told them of the next world, Telmekish, a place from where all the children were born, a place where they could spend eternity and never be sick.

People Decide Mukat’s Fate
It was these three incidents: the driving away of the Ma-nel; giving the rattlesnake lethal poison; and misleading the people about the danger of the arrows that made the people distrust Mukat and decide that he must die. They asked the white lizard to stay awake and report to them what Mukat did while they slept. The lizard reported that while the people slept, Mukat smoked his pipe and the smoke made the people sleep deeply. He would walk to the ocean and defecate and then return to his house. The people enlisted the help of the frog because the frog had the power to bewitch. The next night as Mukat walked to the ocean, the frog was waiting for him just below the water’s surface and caught some of the excrement. Mukat immediately began to fall ill. The next day Mukat asked the medicine men to cure him and they only pretended to try and make him better. Knowing now that he was dying, Mukat called his people to instruct them how to create fire from Palm Tree (then a person) to cremate his body as soon as he died. He also warned them to keep the coyote away so that it would not eat his body.

Death of Mukat
The bear dug a great pit with his big paws and the birds carried wood for the funeral pyre. The people asked coyote (who did not realize Mukat’s death was imminent) to go west to get the sun-fire to cure Mukat and as soon as the coyote left, Mukat passed. They brought the body to the pit and lit the fire by drilling a stick into Palm Tree, killing her but lighting the pyre. As Mukat’s body burned, the coyote looked back toward the village and noticed the smoke from the fire. Realizing he had been sent on a wild goose chase, coyote ran back to the village, jumped over the people into the fire where he was able to grab and eat the heart of Mukat. He immediately vomited and gained his emaciated appearance that the coyote has to this day.

Tahquitz Steals Souls
In the beginning, Tahquitz was a man whom Mukat created and to whom he gave great power. He was the first shaman. The people disliked him so very much, as he was mean and mischievous, that he ran away to the San Jacinto Mountains. His home is in a large rock. A meteor that is seen occasionally is believed to be Tahquitz hunting for wandering souls. The stealing of spirits is his main occupation. He takes them to his home in San Jacinto and eats them; he often steals people as well as their souls. Occasionally, a rumbling sound is heard coming from Tahquitz Canyon. The Agua Caliente say that some girl is begging Tahquitz to let her go and that he is growling at her. Once, all earthquakes were attributed to Tahquitz and whenever one occurred the Indians would hold a dance. When people are killed in an accident, it is often because their spirits have been stolen by Tahquitz.

Cahuilla Society, Ceremonies and Customs
The Cahuilla people were divided into two societies: the Istam (Wild Cat) and the Tuktum (Coyote). The societies were then subdivided by clans with the membership being through the father. Istam people could only marry members of the Tuktum society and vice versa. The Cahuilla lived in villages consisting of one or two clans throughout the passes, mountains and desert of what is now Riverside County. A look at their society and customs was found in the following report written in 1854 by Army Captain Christopher Lovell, who commanded a post at Jurupa, near Riverside when the Americans took over California following the Mexican-American War.

Crime and Punishment
The Government is in the hands of the Chief (called Net) of each village. Laws are made as required with the exception of a few standing ones, such as murder which is punished by death, and marriage between relatives is strictly prohibited. The usual mode of capital punishment is by shooting with arrows, or beating with a club, however, there have been instances in which a murderer has been punished by placing him in the grave dug for his victim, and burying him alive with the murdered man. When a murder is committed by poisoning, the murderer is put to death by poison; the poison used is a herb known only to their medicine men. Should a dispute arise, or crime committed, the party or parties are brought before the Net’s assistant, (called Paxaa), witnesses are summoned and their testimony taken, upon which he decides the case and the nature of the punishment to be inflicted. The offender is then delivered into the hands of the Net, who has his appointed agents to execute the punishment. The usual mode of punishment is whipping; however, the offender has the privilege of offering skins, or other articles of clothing, to avoid the punishment. Should the injured party accept, the sentence is commuted.

Marriage Customs
When a Cahuilla man wants to marry and has made his selection, he seeks the consent of his parents. Once permission is obtained, he sends by a friend, a present of some kind to the girl of his choice, which is considered a proposal for marriage. Should the offering be received, his suit is accepted. When the wedding day comes, the female is decked out in her finest clothing and carried in the arms of one of her male relatives, to the hut of the expectant bridegroom, accompanied by all of her friends and relatives, strewing food and seeds at every step The relatives of the male meet the bridal party and take the bride, carrying her into the bridegroom’s hut while dancing and singing. The bride is placed next to the groom, and baskets of seeds are then showered upon their heads by their mutual friends to denote plenty. The couple is then left to themselves for two days and then presents are brought by their relatives. The marriage is then announced by the Net and celebrated by dancing and singing all night.

Food
The animal food, in general, used among them is deer meat, rabbit, hare, ground squirrel, hawk, quail, blackbird and small ground owl. The grasshopper, which grows to a large size, is considered by them a very delicate morsel. The pinon or pine nut, elderberry, wild grape, the heart of the mescal plant, a small species of the “Agave Americana,” which is found in abundance in the mountains, and various other roots and berries constitute to supply their wants.

Clothing
In the wild state they wear but little clothing such as the skins of the deer, the rabbit and a sort of matting made out of the bark of the swamp willow prepared. Moccasins are sometimes worn by them, made out of the prepared leaves of the mascall plant. Most of these Indians have adopted the dress of the whites by obtaining cast-off clothing from the Ranchos on which they or some of their people have been employed as herdsmen or laborers. Like most Indians they are fond of finery, but have no ornaments of their own manufacture. Small seashells are sometimes worn by them in lieu of beads, which are procured from a tribe of Indians near the coast. The feathers of the hawk and eagle are worn on their heads for ornament.

Pregnancy and Birth
As soon as the newly-married woman is found enciente, her locks are clipped and given to her mother or some near relative, who retains them until the death of the mother or child—on which occasion they are burnt. Immediately on the birth of a child both mother and infant are purified in the following manner: a hole is excavated in the hut or some convenient place, large stones are placed therein, and a fire kindled. After burning for a sufficient length of time to heat the stones thoroughly, the embers and ashes are removed and bundles of the wild tansy thrown in. All is then covered up with the exception of a small aperture in the centre, immediately over which the mother and infant are placed, wrapped in matting or skins. Cold water is then poured in upon the heated stones, which generates a large quantity of steam, so much as to be painful to the subjects. As soon as the stones become cold, the mother and child are removed and the fire renewed. This system of purification is kept up for three days, during which time the friends and relatives are feasting and singing in honor of the event. As soon as the child can walk a grand feast is given, with dancing and singing for the purpose of naming it, which is done by the Father.

Death Rituals
At the death of a person the relatives collect for the purpose of mourning and lamenting their loss. Their grief is expressed by howling and wailing, a requiem is sung in a low plaintive tone of voice accompanied with a rocking motion of the body. The ceremony being through, the corpse is taken to the place of interment, accompanied by the friends and relatives of the deceased, howling and wailing. The body is then placed in the earth, wrapped in matting or some other covering, all of the effects of the deceased together. A large quantity of food is deposited with the body; the friends and relatives frequently divest themselves of their clothing and throw it into the grave for the use of the dead. They believe that all of their race will, after death, go to the Deity they worship, whom they believe to be in the east under the earth; that they will exist in body as in this life in a world similar to this; that their animal wants will be bountifully supplied; that their allotted period of life is the same in the next world as in this; at the expiration of which both body and soul dies forever; that crime and punishment also exist there, in which world they see and converse with their god, but cannot approach him.

Bird Songs
The Bird Songs they sing are the oral history of their people passed down from the generations in song form. They tell of the migrations of their families, of the births and deaths of their ancestors and of the beautiful places they have lived, gathered and hunted.

Tribal Dances
Their dances are wholly of a religious character and dedicated to their Deity with the exception of one in honor of the Eagle as the Chief of birds. An Eagle which has been tamed and kept for the occasion is introduced and placed in their midst, around which they circle, clapping hands, shouting and singing songs in its praise. During the dance the bird is continually pulled and hauled around by the wings until it dies from exhaustion. The skin is then prepared, and stuffed for the use of the children in their early dances. Their religious dances are generally held around a fire, accompanied by clapping of hands, shouting and singing in praise of their God. During the dance, they frequently blow with their breath in order to waft their songs of praise to the ears of their Deity.

Games and Gaming
They have several different ball games, of which the two following are the most popular among them: first is that of foot ball, which is a ball of large size and made of the leaves of the Mascall plant. This game is played by four—two players and one ball to each side. The two balls are placed at the starting point, at which a stake is driven in the ground, the players immediately in the rear of their respective balls. A second stake is driven in the ground from eight to ten miles distant from the first. The game consists of driving the ball with the feet from the starting point to the second stake and back again. The side first in wins the game. Like most of their games it is one of a gambling nature; the object is a test of strength and endurance. Second is that of bat ball, which is played with a ball of small size. Eight or ten persons on a side compose a set. To each side there is one ball; each player has a bat for the purpose of striking the ball. The game consists in driving the ball from the starting point, at which a stake is driven in the ground, to a second stake, about a mile distant from the first, and back again. This is also a gambling game at which, as in all other of their games of hazard, an umpire is present to settle any disputes which may arise in relation to the game and hold the stakes, who receives, for his services, one-fourth of the amount wagered.

Their principal gambling games are Peon and a game of Arrows. The former, (the game of Peon,) consists in guessing in which hand a small bit of stick is held, concealed by another. Four persons on a side compose a set. There is present an Indian who acts as an umpire; in the event of any dispute arising in relation to the game, he holds the stakes and keeps the game. He has with him fifteen bits of cane, or wood, as counters. The side guessing, when correct, receives a counter; when wrong, the opposite side, each side guessing in turn, and so on, until one side gains all the counters. Singers are present to add to the entertainment. They, in turn, receive a small amount for their services. This is a favorite game with them, on which they frequently wager all they possess.

The latter (a game of Archery), [is one] in which any number of persons may engage. Each player has in his possession a bow and two arrows. He shoots his first arrow, from fifteen to twenty paces distant, and the second, with a view to come as near the first as practicable. The one coming nearest his first arrow counts one point; the game consists of four points. There is an umpire present to settle any disputes which may arise in relation to the game. He is paid one-fourth of the amount wagered for his services.

European Contact
The Cahuilla’s first contact with Europeans happened as Spaniard Juan Bautista de Anza passed through the area seeking an overland supply route from Mexico to the missions along the coast. De Anza passed through Cahuilla country south of Mount San Jacinto and did not come through the Palm Springs area. The Cahuilla, because of their location, had little interference from the Spanish missions. Other tribes that the Cahuilla knew and traded with were affected by the Spanish mission’s influence. The Gabrielino and Diegueno were sometimes held without permission and made to work at the missions. They did learn how to cultivate crops in the European manner. Some Cahuilla were hired as wage labor on some of the mission’s outlying ranches and learned Spanish and the new farming methods, but the majority of the tribe remained unaffected until the Americans took control.

American Control (1849-present)
Shortly after the United States took control of California, the gold rush of 1849 brought settlers to the west coast in droves. The Americanization of the Cahuilla began after the Mormons settled in San Bernardino around 1852. Soon, their invasion extended as far south as San Timoteo Canyon, with several settlers moving into the San Gorgonio Pass region. By 1862, the Bradshaw Trail from Redlands to Arizona was running and Palm Springs became an important stage stop and a one-day trip from Banning.

European Diseases
Like all other Native Americans, the Cahuilla were highly susceptible to European diseases that they had no immunity from. A smallpox epidemic in 1863 wiped out over 80 percent of the entire Cahuilla nation.

The United States offered land as an incentive to get a transcontinental railroad built. The Southern Pacific Railroad was given the odd-numbered sections of land for miles on either side of the tracks by the government as payment for building the railway. The government freely gave away land that had been Cahuilla territory for centuries.

Reservation Granted
The Cahuilla were left landless until 1877, when President Ulysses S. Grant made all of the even-numbered sections of land reservations of the Cahuilla, giving it the unique checkerboard pattern.

By the turn of the century, Palm Springs became the focus of Cahuilla activity. The Paniktum lineage of the Andreas Canyon was closely related to the Kauisktum lineage of Agua Caliente and joined them in ceremonies along with other groups who no longer had a ceremonial leader.

The Cahuilla were divided by geography as each band was granted a separate reservation. As mentioned, the Andreas Canyon people joined the Agua Caliente to form one reservation with a total of 31,500 acres. The other eight bands of Cahuilla are: the Cabazon Band near Indio; the Morongo Band near Cabazon; the small Augustine Band near Coachella; the Torres-Martinez Band in and around the western shore of the Salton Sea; the Ramona Band, Cahuilla Band, the Santa Rosa Band and the Los Coyotes Band all in the mountains surrounding the Palm Springs Valley.

Federal Government Tries to Assimilate
The federal government had a policy of assimilation, hoping the Indians would lose their culture and fade into American society. Children of the tribe were routinely shipped off to special “Indian Schools” to be Americanized and educated. For a time the government forbade Native Americans to practice their rituals and ceremonies as they were not the “Judeo-Christian” norm.

In the 1930s the Federal Government allocated the bulk of the reservation land to individual members of the tribe in a process called “allotment.” The Federal government hoped that Indians would become self-sufficient by farming their allotments or selling their allotments. The Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior hired “agents” to take care of land matters of the tribal members. The agents weren’t always looking out for the best interests of the Agua Caliente.

The Agua Caliente had impressive land holdings in Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage in the 1930s, but were only allowed to lease the property for periods up to 5 years. A lease for five years could not pay back an investor who would have to improve the property to use it, making much of the land unleasable.

The Agua Caliente also elected a secular leader to act as liaison between the clan and governmental agencies and other outside groups. His powers were limited and had no connection with the ceremonies. The elected Tribal Chairman and Council tried to find ways to make their people’s way of life better.

For decades, the Agua Caliente lived in abject poverty on the fringes of Palm Springs society. Many tribal members owned sections of land that were not suited for farming, leaving them without income and farming skills. Several generations of the Agua Caliente lived in poverty while eeking out meager incomes working as servants and gardeners in the area.

Congress Gives Agua Caliente More Control of Land
In 1959, the Agua Caliente Tribal Council lobbied Congress to change the rules for their Indian land. The Equalization Act of 1959 allowed the Agua Caliente to enter into leases of their land for up to 99 years.

The Agua Caliente signed a lease that allowed a developer to build the Spa Hotel over the site of the medicinal hot springs that gave Palm Springs its name. The hotel opened in the mid 1960s and was bought back by the tribe in 1993.

Alejo Patencio was the last Net of what is now called the Agua Caliente. The title of Net was passed from father to son unless the son was not qualified, in which case it reverted to another member of the family. The Net administered the affairs of the people of his group and settled clan disputes. His word was final and respected. He knew all the clan songs and legendary history as well as the landmarks of the clan's territory and food-gathering areas. He set the dates for all ceremonies and told his people when it was time to gather their various crops.

The Net ruled his domain from the roundhouse, or Kishumnawut, in section 14 of Palm Springs. Considered a sacred site, it was the location of ceremonial dances and the place where the clan kept the Maiswat, their sacred belongings.

When Patencio died in 1951, the roundhouse in section 14 and the sacred belongings were burned. The Agua Caliente have not had a Net for the tribe since that time.

“An edict was issued saying they would no longer talk about the culture or the Indian way because tribal members living in such close proximity to the white world were not paying proper respect, “ said Richard Milanovich, Tribal Chairman of the Agua Caliente for the past 23 years.

The Agua Caliente’s Constitution, adopted in 1955, gives the tribe primary control over the use and development of all land of the reservation, including reservation lands within incorporated cities. Palm Springs sought to impose its zoning regulations on tribal lands within its city limits in the early 1970s. The United States Court of Appeals ruled in 1975 that county or municipal ordinances may not be applied to tribal trust land, leaving the authority to control the use of the land to the tribe. The United States Supreme Court refused to review the Appeals Court ruling, so the City of Palm Springs and the Agua Caliente voluntarily entered into the nation’s first land use agreement between a tribe and a city.

Advent of Indian Gaming
The tribe now claims nearly 430 tribal members. With the advent of Indian Gaming in the 1990s, the Agua Caliente can truly self-determine the future of their people. The affable Chairman of the Agua Caliente, Richard Milanovich, is a community-minded businessman who has helped raise all tribal members up from below the poverty levels. The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians employ some 2,800 people in their operations, paying out more than $100 million in payroll each year. They are the largest single employer in the Palm Springs Valley.

For many years the federal government controlled Indian land and money through appointed agents and conservators or through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Some took advantage of the land-rich Agua Caliente. One conservator took more than $300,000 in “fees,” while another sold an Indian’s property and added it to his own estate. The ensuing scandal in the late 1960s convinced Congress to let Indians control their own finances.

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla also give back to their community. Since the advent of tribal gaming in 1995, the Agua Caliente have donated nearly $20 million to a host of local charities, civic organizations, police and fire funds and libraries. They also support many local special events and drives, fielding daily requests for support and donations from organizations around the valley and the state.

The Agua Caliente have just entered into a new compact with the Governor of California that will allow them to build another casino on their reservation and have an unlimited number of slot machines.