Abstract

Using Tribal GIS to Protect an Ancestral Origin Area
Track: Tribal/Indigenous GIS Programs
Authors: Kevin Capone, Shelly Knight, Lisa Woodward, Paul Macarro

A proposed open pit aggregate mine located in Southwest Riverside County California would completely decimate the Luiseño Ancestral Origin Area. The mine would be one of the largest open pit hard rock blasting mines in the United States at one mile long, a quarter mile wide, and over 1000 feet deep. The Pechanga Band of Luiseño Mission Indians being only 500 yards away from the proposed mine, with great hesitation had to publically divulge its' place of origin in an effort to protect this most sacred of cultural sites due to a failed EIR process. With unilateral support of all Luiseño Tribes the Pechanga Band conducted GIS spatial analysis and 3D modeling, with the results being one of several factors denying the project. Tribal GIS is pivotal in the ongoing battle Tribes have in the preservation and protection of cultural sites.