For more than 10,000 years the Pechanga People have called the Temecula Valley home and now a time of renewed optimism is upon us where we can build and plan a better life for our people and our region.
In Luiseño, the native language of our people, PECHANGA literally means "place where the water drips."
Pechanga
{pe-CHONG-ah}
It is derived from "pechaq" meaning "water is dripping" plus the suffix "-anga," which creates the locational form of the word.
It is the name of the spring at the foot of the mountain where our ancestors moved after their forced eviction from the ancestral Temeeku village in the late 1800s.
Mission
Protecting and Enhancing the Quality of Life
The Pechanga Tribal Government is committed to protecting and enhancing the quality of life for the Pechanga People, now and the future.
The largest naturally grown indigenous coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia) in the Western United States.
Its trunk is over 20 feet in circumference, and the above-ground portion of the tree is nearly 100 feet tall. Wi’áaşal’s largest branches reach the ground, supporting the tree’s weight and creating a sheltering canopy for countless generations of people and animals. The Great Oak is over 1,000 years old, making it one of the oldest living oak trees in the Western United States.
