The Agua Caliente Cultural Plaza in downtown Palm Springs celebrates the history, culture, traditions, and modern life of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.
The 5.8-acre Cultural Plaza contains the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum and The Spa at Séc-he connected by a Gathering Plaza, landscaped terraces and pathways, and the Oasis Trail. Flowing water activates the outdoor space, filled with towering Washingtonia filifera palms and landscapes that capture the essence of the Indian Canyons and Tahquitz Canyon, the Agua Caliente people’s ancestral home.
The Spa at Séc-he, located at the Cultural Plaza, is a state-of-the-art wellness destination with soaking tubs fed by the ancient Agua Caliente Hot Mineral Spring.
For the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, no site is more significant than the place of the sacred Hot Mineral Spring at the Cultural Plaza. Since time immemorial, its pure mineral water provided the Agua Caliente people a place for social activities, physical healing, and spiritual connection. They have called the spring Séc-he, the Cahuilla word for “the sound of boiling water,” since the beginning, sharing the water with visitors long before the turn of the 20th century, making it the Coachella Valley’s first tourist attraction.
The 48,000-square-foot museum offers exhibits and programs covering topics from the Tribe’s history and culture to contemporary land stewardship and conservation. Galleries focus on the creation and migration stories, the Indian Canyons, Tahquitz Canyon, archaeological artifact recoveries, projectile points, and ollas and baskets.
With so many opportunities to reflect, learn, and experience aspects of the Tribe’s heritage, the Agua Caliente Cultural Plaza serves as a peaceful area to ponder this sacred destination that the Agua Caliente people call home.
Agua Caliente Cultural Plaza
100 N. Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs
aguacaliente.org
Agua Caliente Cultural Plaza
100 N. Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs
aguacaliente.org
