A
gua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians is an
economic force in the Coachella Valley
for more than 100 years.
AGUA CALIENTE BAND OF CAHUILLA INDIANS
“The Coachella Valley is an amazing place to call home,” Tribal Chairman Jeff L. Grubbe said. “Today, we purposefully invest in Coachella Valley’s future through government-to-government partnerships, charitable giving
and active partnerships with businesses and non-profit organizations. We are interwoven in this community, and
we have a deep commitment to the Valley’s continued vitality and success.”
Tribal Chairman Jeff L. Grubbe
The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians is a federally recognized American Indian tribe with more than 400
members. The Tribe stewards more than 31,500 acres of ancestral lands which include protected Bighorn sheep
habitat and land throughout Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage as well as Riverside County. The
Tribe is also one of Coachella Valley’s largest employers with about 2,500
team members working for the tribal government and its business ventures.
The Tribe’s history here goes back thousands of years. Near the turn of the 20th Century, the Tribe operated the
original hot springs bathhouse, offering visitors access to their sacred healing waters. Today, the Tribe operates two
destination resorts, a 36-hole golf course and maintains the world-renowned Indian and Tahquitz Canyons.
The Tribe is known for preserving its heritage while focusing on its future. In addition, the Tribe has a solid track
record for being tireless stewards of the environment.
“We are focused every day on maintaining our cultural heritage and celebrating our past,” Chairman Grubbe said.
“We are also this area’s first environmentalists. We have long loved, respected and cared for our environment, and
this is a quality that is passed from generation to generation for thousands of years.”
Sovereignty
An American Journey
Since time immemorial, the Agua Caliente has inhabited 2,000 square miles of ancestral land in the Palm
Springs area. In ancient times, the Cahuilla people lived
in several well-established communities on the desert
floor, in the canyons and surrounding mountains.
The railroad had a dramatic impact on the lives of the
Cahuilla people. In the late 1800s, the Federal government placed the traditional Tribal lands into square-mile
sections and granted the odd-numbered parcels to the
The Tribal Council is responsible for:
Southern Pacific Railroad. When the reservation was
• Protecting and preserving tribal property including wildlife and natural resources
• Overseeing the repair and maintenance of facilities on tribal lands
first recognized by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1876,
• Working with the United States Secretary of the Interior regarding federal and tribal matters
the Tribe was given the remaining even-numbered par• Cultivating tribal arts and culture.
cels. This allocation remains in existence today.
“Our mission is clear,” Chairman Grubbe said. “Our Council works to promote and In 1941, the Tribe signed a 25-year land lease allowsupport the health, well-being and development of our Tribal Membership. We also ing the City of Palm Springs to build a new airport, insupport and care for the community in which we live and work. We are honored to creasing access to the area by tourists. In the mid-1950s,
be active leaders in the Coachella Valley.”
the Tribe adopted its first Constitution and By-laws. A
first all-woman Tribal Council in the United States was
formed in 1954. This council successfully opposed federal termination efforts, obtaining the first long-term
land lease legislation in the United States for Indian
lands and clearing the way for Tribal land development
across America.
“Throughout my Tribe’s history, we’ve had great leaders,” Chairman Grubbe said. “If you look at everything
we have today, it’s based on the decisions those leaders
The Tribal Council
made to get us where we are now.”
The Agua Calie nte Band of Cahuilla Indians is a sovereign tribal government,
which means it is an independent authority that has the right to govern itself.
The Tribe’s Constitution and By-laws outline the two-tiered democratic structure of
the Tribal government: the Tribal Membership and the elected Tribal Council. With
input from the Tribal Membership, the Tribal Council establishes policy, governs tribal
activities and makes laws. The Tribal Council consists of five council members: Chairman Jeff L. Grubbe, Vice Chairman Larry N. Olinger, Secretary/Treasurer Vincent
Gonzales III and Council Members Anthony Andreas III and Jessica Norte.
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Partnerships & Economic Ventures
The Tribe maintains positive working relationships with local, regional and
federal governments through many collaborative efforts and partnerships. The
Tribe has shared and donated resources to support public safety services, transportation improvement projects, and community services. The Tribe has also
permitted field research on tribal lands in support of endangered wildlife and
habitat conservation.
The Tribe’s Planning and Development Department is an important part of
the Tribe’s governmental function. It oversees both developed and undeveloped lands which overlay into other jurisdictions.
The Tribe has developed Village Traditions, an upscale residential community in downtown Palm Springs that includes 24 townhomes. The Tribe
recently partnered with the Rilington Group to build the final phase of the
development, which includes 52 new single family homes.
The Tribe owns and manages about 44,000 square feet of office space for
commercial lease and tribal government operations.
The Tribe’s future developments include:
• A mixed-use lifestyle destination at the central gateway to the Coachella Valley on the west
side of Bob Hope Drive
• A 200-acre master planned development for commercial and industrial use at Whitewater
Ranch at the intersection of Highway 111 and Interstate 10
• An upscale office and commercial development near the Tribal Administrative Plaza on
Dinah Shore Drive just south of the Palm Springs Airport
• Various residential projects.
For more information on the Tribe’s economic development initiatives,
contact Economic Development Director Todd Hooks at
760-883-1350 or [email protected].