The Morongo Indian Reservation is large, stretching for 32,000 acres across scrubby mountain land and desert in Banning, California. The reservation is about 100 miles east of Los Angeles and twenty miles west of Palm Springs, between the San Gorgonio and San Jacinto mountain ranges. There are almost 1,100 people living on the reservation. The majority of Indians who make up Morongo’s population are of Cahuilla and Serrano descent. In addition, there are also descendents from other tribes such as: Cupeno, Luiseno, Chemeuevi, Gabrileno, Paiute and Kumeyaay.

In the 19th century, the US Government began forcing various tribes to live together, despite their conflicting tribal backgrounds. At Morongo some groups came together voluntarily, and others out of necessity. The reservation was called Malki, a Cahuilla word, but was changed to Morongo, a derivative of Maarrenga, meaning ‘place of origin’. Morongo was also the surname of Captain John Morongo, a Serrano Indian who lived on the Reservation. People still argue over whether Morongo was Cahuilla first or Serrano. Over the past 150 years the Natives of the Morongo Reservation have been slowly assimilating through marriage to races such as Mexicans, Caucasians and African Americans.

Only in recent years has the Morongo Indian Reservation become a matter of public interest due to the advent of Indian Gaming. Starting with a small bingo hall in 1983, the tribe realized financial self-sufficiency. The leadership and successful business operations of the tribe allowed it to open its new $250 million dollar Morongo Casino, Resort and Spa in December of 2004. Morongo Casino, Resort and Spa boast a 27-story “Vegas Style” hotel that is the tallest building between Los Angeles and Phoenix. The casino itself is 600,000 square feet and sits on 44 acres adjacent to the I-10 freeway linking Los Angeles with the prominent desert resorts of Palm Springs. The casino made a staggering $600 million last year; that is $360 million dollars more per year than originally estimated. Morongo employs more than 3,000 people and its $60 million dollar payroll makes it the largest private sector employer in Riverside County.

With a monthly income averaging $30,000 for each Tribal Member, the new Morongo Casino has done more than just eliminate welfare and federal subsidy dependencies. The Morongo Band of Mission Indians has become one of the most successful tribes in California and ranks amongst the most successful in the Nation.

Life on the reservation prior to gaming was plagued by poverty; most Indians lived in dilapidated trailers and in some cases were forced to hunt for food. A Tribal Member reports that “at one time there was an enforced curfew of 10 pm” and others say that the barbed wire, which surrounds the formerly unpaved roads, was to keep people in. The reservation has only had electricity, indoor plumbing and potable water since the 1960’s. At one time there was a 90% unemployment rate and a 50% high school drop out rate on the Morongo Reservation. As with many other reservations, there were no jobs and illiteracy, teen pregnancy, suicide, and drug and alcohol addiction were not uncommon.

Although the casino seeks to improve the quality of life, there are still very few visible indications that conditions are changing for the residents of the Morongo Reservation. The majority of Indians still live in trailers, although some are new and they are slowly building homes. There is a huge meth-amphetamine epidemic for the Morongo Reservation and the Indians still suffer from drug and alcohol related dependencies. Although funding has increased for educational opportunities, some Indians are still uneducated and most lack higher education. Casino money now funds an after-school tutoring center and has paid for school buses, computers and a library. There is also a new Community Center for recreation that includes facilities for sports, tribal language and traditional bird-song classes.
Unfortunately, most of Morongo’s cultural heritage is dying because it is not being passed on from the elders. The Casino money has made Indians less dependent on one another for a means of survival, and they have become less familiar with each other. This distance shows itself through suspicion and internal feuds, which often end in serious injury or murder.

In order to be enrolled as a Tribal Member and be eligible for “per capita” on the Morongo Indian Reservation one must meet all of the following criteria: (Ordinance #3 in the Morongo Indian Constitution)
1) Be one eighth Indian blood or more
2) Age eighteen and over
3) The “family name” of which the descendant receives his/her Indian blood from must appear on the original land allotment papers for the reservation from 1928.
4) At least one natural parent has to have been enrolled whether living or deceased (Ordinance #3-87 Morongo Indian Constitution)

On November 16, 1985 The Morongo Tribal Counsel voted to amend Ordinance #3 that details the criteria to be enrolled as a Tribal Member. The Counsel instead came to the agreement that in order to be eligible for enrollment a person must only have one natural parent who is or was an enrolled member of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians (Ordinance #3-87). In 1928 the allotment act divided up twelve hundred acres of reservation land amongst the Indians and each was given five acres. The Casino is on tribal trust land and therefore Tribal Members think of themselves as “shared business owners” of the Casino. Some Tribal Counsel Members of The Morongo Band of Mission Indians have tried to say that the 1/8 Indian blood has to be descent from the “Morongo Bloodline” (Cahuilla and Serrano only). The tribe is currently enforcing this rule, which means that “Morongo,” is a family name used to exclude other Indians, even if they meet the criteria for enrollment.

Other Indian nations living without casinos sometimes have to rely on other unpleasant means of income such as use of reservation land as a garbage dump and toxic waste disposal. In some extreme cases Indians have used their reservation to store nuclear waste for the US Government. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is trying to renegotiate the compact between the tribes and the state to create a law that would impose a twenty five percent business tax on Indian Gaming and casinos. California State taxation of Indian Casinos poses a threat to the livelihood and progress of California’s Native American Indian Reservations. Indians are fighting to keep gaming alive in California.

The Morongo Band of Mission Indians make contributions regularly to the Special Distribution Fund (SDF) that gives five to ten percent of the casino’s income to help fund other tribes living on reservations without casinos. Morongo also gives money to Tribal Aid to Needy Families (TANF). Some descendants living on the Morongo Indian reservation, some of which are eligible for welfare, would benefit greatly from this five to ten percent going to outside tribes. The tribe has also made donations to the victims of Hurricane Katrina and donated $90,000 to other charitable organizations in 2004.

The importance of the project goes beyond the Morongo Reservation to other Reservations across the 560 Indian nations who face the same challenge to become self-reliant. Casinos are the way of the future for Indians to better their communities. Tribal Membership is a fragile issue and its requirements for descendants have become unclear on the Morongo Indian Reservation as casinos pave the way for the future of Native American Indians everywhere.