Overview

Agua Caliente Cultural Museum is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that preserves, interprets, and provides access to the history and culture of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and other Cahuilla peoples.

Contact Information

219 South Palm Canyon
Palm Springs, California 92262
United States

view phone 760-788-1079

view website https://www.accmuseum.org/

Description

Museum collections focus on the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and other Cahuilla bands, and include artifacts from other Native Americans and indigenous peoples worldwide. The collections are available by appointment to researchers and students. A southern California basket collection of over 400 items features the works of Cahuilla basket weavers and their neighboring tribes. It is an excellent resource for comparative studies of styles, techniques, and materials. Cahuilla ceramics include ollas, cooking pots, pendants, and pipes. Shell beads, bone tools, and numerous stone utensils such as Manos, mutates, mortars, and pestles used for food preparation are represented in the collections. Historic period artifacts from early habitation sites include items such as cans, bottles, china, and buttons. The Tahquitz Canyon Archaeological Collection contains over 50,000 artifacts from the oldest and largest village site and is one of the most extensive excavation projects in California. The collection includes all field notes and photographs of the projects, as well as ethnographic and ethno historic reports. The Ruth Dunham Sheppard Collection has extensive artifact material from the Coachella Valley with accompanying field notes. Additional archaeological materials from various locations are included. Cahuilla history and culture of today are not ignored. Contemporary arts and artifacts are added continually to the collections.