Overview
Since time immemorial, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians inhabited and governed some 2,000 square miles of ancestral land in the Palm Springs area. The members of the Tribe lived in several well-established communities in the canyons and surrounding mountains and desert floor.
The coming of the railroad had a dramatic impact on the lives of tribal members, especially when the Federal Government gave all the odd-numbered sections of land in the Coachella Valley to the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1860s.
When President U.S. Grant established the present Agua Caliente Indian Reservation by Executive Order in 1876, only the even-numbered sections were still available, thus creating the present Reservation in a checkerboard pattern.
To encourage economic development, the Federal Government allocated the bulk of the Reservation land to the individual members of the Tribe in a process called “allotment” that lasted until 1959. In the same year, and for the same purpose, Congress authorized only this Tribe and its members to lease their land for up to 99 years.
Much of Palm Springs and adjacent Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage and unincorporated Riverside County is built on such land allotted to individual Tribal members and leased to developers in this way. However, under the Tribe’s Constitution, adopted in 1955, and federal law, the Tribe maintains primary control over the use and development of all land on its reservation, including those parcels included in cities located on the Reservation.
The activities of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians have multiple economic impacts on the Coachella Valley, stemming not only from the last 10 years of its casino operations, but also the extensive holdings remaining in the Tribe’s historic land base, underlying much of what is now the Cities of Palm Springs and Cathedral City, and portions of the City of Rancho Mirage and Riverside County.
Today, much of the Tribe’s original Reservation of 31,500 acres has been highly developed into a modern desert tourism center, plus extensive upscale retail and residential uses. The Reservation includes billions of dollars worth of valuable real estate as well as critical desert and mountain habitat.
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Cahuilla Maiden
Three Cahuilla sisters fearful of the hot bubbling spring, saw a baby in the water. This Cahuilla Maiden tried to save the baby, but they perished in a whirlwind down with the water of the spring. Her two frightened sisters ran to their father, the Medicine Man. He witched the spring with mosquitoes and they carried his power to the spirits of the water below. The next morning the body of the girl came up, but she was dead. Then our people/ancestors gathered, prayed, and offered nourishment. With that, they gained strength to no longer fear the spring, but respected its spiritual healing.
The Agua Caliente Cultural Museum commissioned celebrated artist,"Doug Hyde" to create a bronze statue of a Cahuilla Maiden in conjunction with the renovations of the Spa. Mr. Hyde, a Native American, is a well known artist and is well acquainted with the Agua Calientes, having created the statues of the "Cahuilla Women" located on Tahquitz Canyon Way, in front of the Spa.
A member of the Cahuilla Tribe was used as the model for the "Cahuilla Maiden", which is located at the entry of the Spa on the corner of Tahquitz Canyon Way and Indian Canyon Drive.
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