The Morongo Band of Mission Indians is a

federally recognized tribe This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the Unite ...

in California, United States. The main tribal groups are

Cahuilla The Cahuilla , also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California.Serrano. Tribal members also include

Cupeño The Cupeño (or Kuupangaxwichem) are a Native American tribe of Southern California. They traditionally lived about inland and north of the modern day Mexico–United States border in the Peninsular Range of Southern California. Today thei ...

, Luiseño, and

Chemehuevi The Chemehuevi are an indigenous people of the Great Basin. They are the southernmost branch of Southern Paiute.Mission Indians Mission Indians are the indigenous peoples of California who lived in Southern California and were forcibly relocated from their traditional dwellings, villages, and homelands to live and work at 15 Franciscan missions in Southern California an ...

, some, such as those at Morongo, were never a part of the

Spanish Missions in California The Spanish missions in California ( es, Misiones españolas en California) comprise a series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of California. Founded by Catholic priests of ...

. The Morongo Reservation is located in

Riverside County, California Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Uni ...

in the

San Gorgonio Pass The San Gorgonio Pass, or Banning Pass, is a elevation gap on the rim of the Great Basin between the San Bernardino Mountains to the north and the San Jacinto Mountains to the south. The pass was formed by the San Andreas Fault, a major tran ...

. Established as the Portrero Reservation by executive order in 1876 under President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...

, and called Malki by the Native Americans, the ''Morongo'' name was adopted by 1908 when the land was

patented A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

to the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. The tribe has developed a large casino and hotel resort at

Cabazon Cabazon (Spanish: ''Cabazón'') is a unincorporated community in Riverside County, California, United States. Cabazon is on the Pacific Crest Trail. In the 21st century, the area has become a tourist stop, due to the Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa ...

to generate revenues for tribal welfare and economic development.

Reservation

The Morongo Reservation () is located at the base of the San Gorgonio and

San Jacinto Mountains The San Jacinto Mountains (''Avii Hanupach''Munro, P., et al. ''A Mojave Dictionary''. Los Angeles: UCLA. 1992. in Mojave) are a mountain range in Riverside County, located east of Los Angeles in southern California in the United States. The mo ...

. It is more than in size. On May 15, 1876, President

established this and eight other reservations in the area by

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...

."California v. Cabazon"
''Mary Ann Irwin.'' (retrieved 5 September 2010) Approximately 954 of the 996 enrolled tribal members live on the reservation. The name ''Morongo'' is derived from the Serrano

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, mea ...

, ''Maarrenga''. The first official "Captain" of ''Potrero Ajenio'' (aka ''San Gorgonio Agency''), recognized by the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...

, was the hereditary leader of the Maarrenga, known to Americans by his English name, John Morongo. As time went on, the Bureau began to refer to the tribe as the ''Morongo Band of Mission Indians''.

Government

The Morongo Band of Mission Indians is headquartered in

Banning, California Banning is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 29,505 as of the 2020 census, down from 29,603 at the 2010 census. It is situated in the San Gorgonio Pass, also known as ''Banning Pass''. It is named for Ph ...

. They are governed by a democratically elected tribal council. Their current administration is as follows: * Charles Martin, Chairman * James Siva, Vice-Chairman * Mary Ann Andreas, Councilmember * Lisa Yots, Councilmember * Teresa Sanchez, Councilmember * Brian Lugo, Councilmember * Theresa Mathews, Councilmember

Education

The reservation is served by the Banning Unified School District.

Languages

Takic languages The Takic languages are a putative group of Uto-Aztecan languages historically spoken by a number of Indigenous peoples of Southern California. Takic is grouped with the Tubatulabal, Hopi, and Numic languages in the northern branch of the Uto-Az ...

, part of the Uto-Aztecan language family. The main aboriginal group of the San Gorgonio Pass are Pass Cahuilla, who call the area ''Maalki''. The Serrano, who had traditionally intermarried with the Pass Cahuilla, and who have lived in the area since well before the inception of the reservation, call the area ''Maarrkinga'.'' The Cahuilla and Serrano languages are technically considered to be extinct as they are no longer spoken at home, and children are no longer learning them as primary languages. Joe Saubel, a Morongo tribal member and the last pure speaker of Pass Cahuilla, died in 2008. The last pure speaker of Serrano was an enrolled member at Morongo, Ms. Dorothy Ramon, who died in 2002. Recent generations have found a renewed interest in their native languages, however. Many families are working to have their children educated to speak Pass Cahuilla and/or Serrano. In 2012, the Limu Project announced that it had successfully reconstructed Pass Cahuilla, and it is offering an online course. The project also offers online courses in Maarrenga' (Morongo Band "Serrano" dialect) and Yuhaviat (Santos Manuel Band "Serrano" dialect).

Programs, economic and cultural development

Gaming

The tribe opened a small bingo hall in 1983, which became the foundation of what is now one of the oldest Native gaming enterprises in California. The government of

, attempted to shut down the bingo hall. The tribe joined with the

Cabazon Band of Mission Indians The Cabazon Band of Mission Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Cahuilla Indians, located in Riverside County, California.Pritzker, 120 Reservation The Cabazon Indian Reservation was founded in 1876. It occupies located in Coachella, ...

in suing the local government, a case that eventually was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. On February 25, 1987, the court upheld the right of sovereign Indian tribes to operate gaming enterprises on their reservations. The

Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa is a Native American gaming casino, of the Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians, located in Cabazon, California, United States, near San Gorgonio Pass. The casino has 310 rooms and suites. A , 27-story resort, M ...

was opened in 2004 in Cabazon, California. It is open seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The hotel has 310 rooms. Several restaurants and bars are part of the complex: Desert Orchid: contemporary Asian cuisine, Potrero Canyon Buffet, Cielo: Pacific Coast Steak and Seafood Restaurant, Serrano, Sunset Bar and Grill, a food court, Mystique Lounge, and the Pit Bar. The club, 360, is open on weekends.

Water

The tribe participated in development of a water bottling plant on the reservation. It is operated by Nestle Waters North America Inc., which leases the property from the tribe. The plant bottles

Arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as sign ...

spring water, as well as purified water sold under the brand Nestle Pure Life. In his 2010 book, ''Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water,'' author Peter H. Gleick said the plant was producing more than 1 billion bottles of Arrowhead spring water per year.

Cultural

The Malki Museum on the Morongo Reservation is open to the public. It maintains the Malki Museum Press, which publishes the '' Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology'' and scholarly books on Native American culture. The reservation is also home to the Limu Project, a tribal community-based nonprofit organization that helps families preserve knowledge of their indigenous languages, history, and cultural traditions.

Churches

Two churches are on the Morongo Reservation. They are the Protestant Morongo Moravian Church and the Catholic St. Mary's Mission, maintained by the Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Community.Moravian Church: Western District
:

Notable tribal members

Marigold Linton Marigold Linton (born 1936) is a cognitive psychologist and member of the Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians. In 1964, she became the first Native American to earn a doctorate in psychology. In 1974, she co–founded the National Indian Educa ...

(b. 1936), psychologist, educator, and author

References

Bibliography

* Eargle, Jr., Dolan H. ''California Indian Country: The Land and the People.'' San Francisco: Tree Company Press, 1992. . * Gunther, Jane Davies. ''Riverside County, California, Place Names; Their Origins and Their Stories'', Riverside, CA, 1984. LOC catalog number: 84-72920. * Hinton, Leanne. ''Flutes of Fire: Essays on California Indian Languages''. Berkeley: Heyday Books, 1994. * Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. .

Citations and notes

External links

Morongo Band of Mission Indians
official website

tribal museum at Morongo Reservation, Banning California
The Limu Project
nonprofit organization providing language and cultural revitalization * {{authority control Cahuilla Chemehuevi Cupeno Luiseño Serrano people California Mission Indians Native American tribes in California Federally recognized tribes in the United States Native American tribes in Riverside County, California Cabazon, California San Gorgonio Pass