The Plaza features the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum, The Spa at Séc-he that celebrates the Tribe’s ancient Agua Caliente Hot Mineral Spring, a Gathering Plaza, and an Oasis Trail.
In the heart of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, near the intersection of North Indian Canyon Drive and East Tahquitz Canyon Way in downtown Palm Springs, is the ancient healing Hot Mineral Spring known as Séc-he. The sacred spring funnels 12,000-year-old water from a depth of 8,000 feet to the surface and has provided the Agua Caliente people with water for drinking, cooking, bathing, ceremony, and irrigation since time immemorial while also exerting a power to heal.
Although the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians honors Séc-he and its surrounding land through oral traditions that have been passed down for hundreds of generations, the ethnographic and archaeological record for this sacred site has remained sparse, with Tribal members and archaeologists being able to piece together only part of Séc-he’s story.
Until now.
On July 3, 2018, a little less than two months into construction of the Agua Caliente Cultural Plaza, cultural monitors on the site of this treasured natural resource discovered deeply buried Tribal artifacts. This prompted the most extensive Indigenous archaeology excavation and data recovery in the state of California and perhaps the world. The data recovery work revealed thousands of artifacts that doubled
the archeological time scale of human habitation in the Coachella Valley and at the sacred site.
A new book, 8,000 Years: Unearthing the History of the Agua Caliente People at Séc-he, brings this momentous discovery and recovery, and the field of Indigenous archaeology, to life. This stunning volume showcases the dramatic findings of months of research, analysis of field notes and photographs, and interviews with cultural monitors, Tribal members, and archaeologists, all to chronicle and share the single largest archaeological excavation in the Coachella Valley.
Through beautiful photography and thoughtful writing, 8,000 Years showcases the Agua Caliente people, their land, and the role of Séc-he in Tribal history.
The Agua Caliente Cultural Museum exhibits a selection of artifacts recovered from the sacred Tribal site during the Agua Caliente Cultural Plaza construction in 2018. Visit the Museum online at accmuseum.org.
Experience the power of the ancient waters at The Spa at Séc-he, which features 22 private mineral baths, world-class amenities and treatments, and more. Visit the Spa online at thespaatseche.com.
