© Frank H. Jump
Ancestors of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians settled in the Palm Springs area centuries ago and developed complex communities in the Palm, Murray, Andreas, Tahquitz, Snow Creek and Chino Canyons. Mirroring the migration stories of the Cahuilla, archaeological research has proven that humans have occupied the Tahquitz Canyon area for at least 2,000 years.
The Cahuilla and most other Tribes of the area belong to the Shoshonean division of the Uto-Aztecan linguistic family. Tribes in this group range from the Aztecs of Mexico to the Hopi, Papago and Pima of Arizona, the Ute of Colorado and other nearby regional Tribes, including the Serrano, Cupeño and Gabrielino. The Cahuilla people lived in villages, and several villages together made up a larger political and territorial unit called a tribelet, or sib. Each sib was divided into lineages, which consisted of both nuclear and extended families. Cahuilla society was also divided into two groups, or moieties, known as Wildcat and Coyote.
The Cahuilla Indian name for the Palm Springs area was Sec-he (boiling water); the Spanish in turn named it Agua Caliente (hot water). Later came the name “Palm Springs” in reference to both the native Washingtonia filifera palm tree and the Agua Caliente Hot 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’s waters were also utilized for healing purposes, as they are even today. – Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians – A Sovereign Tribal Government
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians website
