5 SoCal Tribes Form New Chuckwalla National Monument Intertribal Commission

JOSHUA TREE, CA — Five Southern California tribes will band together to protect and care for the new Chuckwalla National Monument. This intertribal commission consists of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, the Cahuilla Band of Indians, the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, and the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT), who announced the commission on Monday in a news release.

The Commission reflects the connection of numerous Tribes to the landscape and their enduring commitment to protect these lands. The goal of the Commission is to ensure that Tribal values, expertise, cultural heritage, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge are incorporated into the management of the monument.

Joseph Mirelez, Chairman of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, spoke on the formation of the commission and what it stands for.

“The Chuckwalla National Monument is more than a habitat filled with trees, plants, and wildlife; for the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, it embodies life itself, and we are intrinsically linked to it, committed to safeguarding it,” Mirelez said. “It is our inherent role to be the stewards and guardians of these lands, and in this moment of federal government dysfunction, all the more important that we reassume it formally.”

Chuckwalla National Monument protects more than 624,000 acres of public lands south of Joshua Tree National Park.

It reaches from the Coachella Valley region in the west to near the Colorado River in the east. The monument lies within the traditional homelands of the Iviatim (Cahuilla), Nüwü (Chemehuevi), Pipa Aha Macav (Mohave), Kwatsáan (Quechan), Maara’yam and Marringayam (Serrano), and other Indigenous peoples. The name of the monument comes from the Cahuilla word “čáxwal” and refers to the Chuckwalla lizard, a species native to the region.

Jonathan Koteen, President of the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, spoke on why this is significant to the five tribes.

“Chuckwalla National Monument is imbued with religious, spiritual, historic, and cultural significance for Tribal Nations that trace their origins to these lands,” Koteen said. “The area contains an abundance of artifacts attesting to its connection to diverse human communities since time immemorial. The formation of the Chuckwalla National Monument Intertribal Commission will help ensure that Indigenous values and principles are integrated into the region’s land management plan.”

The Presidential Proclamation that established Chuckwalla National Monument acknowledged that “the Chuckwalla region has been profoundly sacred to Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples with ties to the Colorado and Mojave Deserts…”

The Proclamation directs the Secretary of the Interior to meaningfully engage with Tribal Nations with cultural or historical affiliation to the region, and to seek out opportunities for co-stewardship of the monument.

Daniel Leivas, Chairman of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, acknowledged the commission's plan.

“Tribal Nations, including the members of the Commission, have been connected to this landscape since time immemorial and will continue to steward this landscape into the future,” Leivas said. “The Chuckwalla National Monument Intertribal Commission will work towards a Tribally-led vision for the monument that benefits Tribal Nations, sacred objects within the monument, and the broader Chuckwalla landscape. We believe that by unity of action we can accomplish this vision, and we invite additional Tribes to join us in this effort.”

The Proclamation further directed the Secretary of the Interior to meaningfully engage with an independently established commission led by Tribal Nations with cultural or historical affiliation to the region. This includes engagement in the planning and management of the monument, according ot the release.

The landscape protected by the monument contains an abundance of historic artifacts and ancestral belongings, demonstrating its connection to diverse human communities since time immemorial. The cultural, geological, and ecological values in the Chuckwalla region continue to inspire and fascinate visitors from all over the world, providing a scientific research trove for generations to come.

Erica Schenk, Chairwoman of the Cahuilla Band of Indians, reminded of the cultural importance of the protected monument.

“Chuckwalla National Monument includes village sites, camps, quarries, food processing sites, power places, trails, glyphs, and story and song locations, all of which are evidence of the Cahuilla peoples’ and other Tribes’ close and spiritual relationship to these desert lands,” Schenk said.

Tribes led the effort to create the Chuckwalla National Monument, alongside local desert communities.

It was a proposal that attracted near-universal and bipartisan support throughout the region, and was endorsed by the cities of Banning, Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, Indio, La Quinta, Palm Desert, and Palm Springs, a bipartisan group of local elected officials, 300+ businesses, business groups, and Chambers of Commerce, and residents of the eastern Coachella Valley and neighboring areas. The California Legislature also passed a bipartisan resolution in support of the monument.

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