72 me• yah• whae | SPRING / SUMMER 2015 SPRING / SUMMER 2015 | me• yah• whae 73 living • OUTDOORS
Andreas Canyon in
Palm Springs offers the
second-largest reserve
of Washingtonia filifera
palms in the world.
72 me• yah• whae | SPRING / SUMMER 2015 SPRING / SUMMER 2015 | me• yah• whae 73 The Cahuilla
and the Palm:
A Harmonious Lineage
The Indian Canyons’ enormous Washingtonia filifera oases showcase the Tribe’s historic ties to this life-sustaining tree.
T
he history of the Cahuilla Indians
is inextricably interwoven into that
of western North America’s only
native palm tree, the desert fan
palm. Fittingly, part of the tree’s taxonomic
name, filifera, means “thread-bearing,” denoting
the delicate fronds that line its fan-shaped
leaves. (The Washingtonia part of Washingtonia
filifera is a nod to the first president and thus
the tree’s American-ness). Two of the world’s
largest naturally occurring palm oases of the
Washingtonia filifera are in Palm Canyon and
Andreas Canyon within the Indian Canyons in
Palm Springs. More than 150,000 people from
around the world visit the canyons each year.
The desert palm is frequently planted as an
ornamental in America’s warm growth zones,
but it truly is a child of the Southwestern
desert, growing in alkaline soil around natural
springs and streams. The desert palm is a sign
that signifies “water is here.” It is recognizable
not for extreme height — it’s stouter and
shorter than the Mexican palm — but for the
puffy “cloak” of dried leaves hanging down its
trunk. Like other palms, filifera is not actually
a tree like a pine or maple that has bark and
woody interior — it’s instead a “monocot,”
putting it in the category of grasses, wheat, and
aloe. Its nourishing moisture runs throughout
its trunk, so it forms no annual rings and is
rarely harmed by fire. Fire actually helps desert
fan palm groves, driving out burrowing insects,
stripping off the palms’ cloaks, and letting
sunlight reach the ground for hundreds of new
palm seedlings to sprout.
And fire is just what the Cahuilla people
provided for the palm groves that they called
home in the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto
Photography by Tom Brewster
Illustration by Jamey Christoph
74 me• yah• whae | SPRING / SUMMER 2015 SPRING / SUMMER 2015 | me• yah• whae 75 Hooded oriole
Icterus cucullatus
Western yellow bat
Lasiurus xanthinus
74 me• yah• whae | SPRING / SUMMER 2015 SPRING / SUMMER 2015 | me• yah• whae 75 W
ASHINGTONIA FILIFERA palms support a
variety of species, from insects to birds to
large animals. Rodents nest in the shag, attracting rat snakes. Hooded orioles create nests from palm leaf
fibers and also help distribute seeds. Gray fox, birds, coyotes, and rodents rely on palm fruit for sustenance.
While giant palm-boring beetles can eventually chew
through the palms’ trunks, they play an integral part in the trees’ life cycle by creating space for new palms to grow. Here’s a snapshot of some of the creatures you’ll find in and around the palms.
Tree of Life
White-footed mouse
Peromyscus leucopus
Giant palm-boring beetle
Dinapate wrightii
Desert bighorn sheep
Ovis canadensis nelsoni
Gambel’s quail
Callipepla gambelii
Coachella Valley
fringe-toed lizard
Uma inornata
Coyote
Canis latrans
Rat snake
Elaphe rosalica
Common gray fox
Urocyon cinereoargenteus
76 me• yah• whae | SPRING / SUMMER 2015
SPRING / SUMMER 2015 | me• yah• whae 77
Mountains and the Coachella basin for
thousands of years. According to Agua Caliente
tribal leader and historian Francisco Patencio
(1857–1947), Cahuilla medicine men would
order fires to be set to the palm groves to
clear out the palm-boring beetles and make
way for the juiciest, most lush crops of fruit.
In his book Desert Palm Oasis (Nature Trails
Press, 2010), James W. Cornett theorizes that
fire management would also be indispensable
for human communities living among desert
palms: “Co-researchers and I learned that
10 years after a fire, fallen flower stalks, fronds,
and trunks pile up and make it difficult to walk
through an oasis. Twenty years after a fire, the
debris is so deep and unstable that walking
through an oasis can be hazardous.”
The Cahuilla located permanent villages
at large palm groves, where oasis waters
evaporate into the leaves, creating a moist,
shady, cool microclimate that attracts game
and fosters myriad useful plants (cottonwood,
mesquite, and willow among them). The
Cahuilla turned the dried leaves of the palm
into huts, sandals, and cooking utensils. They
also harvested the succulent fruit, treasuring
its sweetness during season and drying it and
grinding it, seeds and flesh, into meal for a
nourishing mush off-season. Seeds were also
used for gourd rattles. All of these materials
were regularly traded with nearby Indian
tribes. By transporting the fruit and seeds to
other camps and settlements in the mountains
and valleys, the Cahuilla were integral to the
spread of the desert fan palm.
The Cahuilla have a creation myth that
best illustrates the way they conceptualize
their culture as interlinked with the desert
palm. In the myth, the first Cahuilla man,
Ma-ul, was growing old. Faced with his own
mortality, he wanted to leave his people with
something of lasting value. When he realized
there were no palm trees, he knew what
to give his people. Legend has it that after
finding a nice spring where water was coming
out of the ground, he stood still and firm until
slowly roots took hold and bark formed around
his legs. Then, from his hair sprouted palm
fronds. Ma-ul turned himself into the first
palm tree in the desert.
Palm Canyon holds the world’s largest
reserve of filifera; Andreas Canyon has the
second largest. The next time you hike or drive
by an “ordinary” desert fan palm, consider how
the Cahuilla nourished, and were nourished
by, this great treasure: a useful plant of shelter
and sustenance.
— Kristina Sigler
Palm Canyon boasts the world’s largest naturally occurring oasis of Washingtonia filifera palms and welcomes more than 150,000 visitors each year.
Historically, the Cahuilla used dried leaves of the palm to make huts, sandals, and cooking utensils, and harvested its succulent fruit for meals. 76 me• yah• whae | SPRING / SUMMER 2015
SPRING / SUMMER 2015 | me• yah• whae 77
A Day in the Indian Canyons
Visit the Indian Canyons at the southern end of Palm Springs to see the Washingtonia filifera. At 15 miles long, Palm Canyon boasts a moderately graded foot path and opportunities to picnic near a stream, hike, meditate, or horseback ride. The Trading Post offers maps, arts, books, jewelry, pottery, baskets, and refreshments. The tranquil and lush Andreas Canyon has more than 150 species of plants within a half-mile radius. Hike its scenic foot trail to spot birds, palms, centuries-old bedrock mortars and metates used for food preparation, rock formations, and Andreas Creek.
Ranger-led tours are available Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. but are subject to change. From Oct. 1 through July 6, the Indian Canyons are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. From July 7 through Sept. 30, Tahquitz Canyon and the Indian Canyons are open to the public 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Visit www.indian-canyons.com or call 760-323-6018 for more information.