Agua Caliente Band Of Cahuilla Indians Receives 320-Acre Land Donation

PALM SPRINGS, CA — The state of California Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy made a 320-acre land donation within the San Jacinto Mountain Range to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, both parties announced in a statement Thursday.

Now recognized as ancestral land, the donated acreage was purchased by the state of California in 1997 through the Conservancy as a means of protecting palm oases, cultural resources and other conservation goals.

"Returning these lands to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians is a powerful example of how we can right historical wrongs and advance healing for the land and people at the same time," said Wade Crowfoot of the California Natural Resources Agency in a statement "We are committed to working with California Native American tribes to support their return of ancestral lands and to help protect these landscapes for future generations."

The 320-acre plot is the first direct land-back transfer that the Conservancy has granted to a federally recognized tribe, according to Conservancy Executive Director Elizabeth King.

When added to a previous donation from the Friends of the Desert Mountains in April, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians has now received more than 600 acres this year.

"Preservation of our homelands is essential to maintaining our cultural heritage," said Tribal Chairman Reid D. Milanovich in a statement. "Integral to the identity of our Tribe is the thousands of years of knowledge and ancient wisdom held within these lands, our homelands."

—City News Service