In 2016 several merchants in Palm Springs, California, were shocked when their temporary occupancy permits were not renewed. The buildings they occupied sat on leased land owned by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians—approximately half of Palm Springs is owned by Agua Caliente. What is so unusual is the area is divided into mile-by-mile squares, like a checker board, and ownership/jurisdiction alternates between Agua Caliente and the City of Palm Springs.
The relationship between these two entities is largely cooperative because they understand their fates are forever linked—leases, for example, almost always get renewed. Recent studies have shown no evidence the land leasing arrangement has had any impact on property values, and even the City of Palm Springs leased land to build their new convention center. However, uncertainty still lingers for many who occupy leased land.
Technically, after the lease expires anything built on the land becomes the property of the landowners. For this reason, to get a loan to purchase a property on leased land, most banks require the lease to run at least five years beyond the payback period. To make matters more complex the Supreme Court upheld the right for Agua Caliente to determine their own development standards. In addition, both entities share the same infrastructure, so current legal disputes include water rights/distribution as well as Riverside County’s authority to tax land owned by Agua Caliente.
This situation makes the monumental work, shown here, by indigenous Alaskan artist Nicholas Galanin, so potent.
The work sits behind the visitor’s center at the gateway into Palm Springs—the historic playground of the Hollywood stars. Galanin’s piece was one of the installations in the Desert X Festival, which placed art along a 40-mile stretch in the Coachella Valley. The heroic event was one of the few art festivals that managed to move forward during the Covid-19 crisis. Galanin’s piece, entitled “Never Forget,” is similar in material and scale to the original “Hollywoodland” sign—a sign erected in Los Angeles to advertise a “whites only” subdivision. The words “INDIAN LAND” is Galanin’s way to remind visitors of the role Hollywood played in “whitewashing” US culture and misrepresentation of indigenous people.
Galanin explains: “My process of creation is a constant pursuit of freedom and vision for the present and future. Using Indigenous and non-Indigenous technologies and materials I resist romanticization, categorization and limitation. I use my work to explore adaptation, resilience, survival, active cultural amnesia, dream, memory, cultural resurgence, connection to and disconnection from the land.”
thank you david….my only experience with PS is the richard diebenkorn exhibit at the art museum about 5 or 6 years ago which was a stunning one off type of thing…..Luckily I got off of my behind and went….I appreciate the story you tell in relationship to the artist Nicholas Galanin….the America we now live in is finally starting to own our sordid past….Black Lives Matter, Me Too, etc, etc….maybe you know of the Artist Kara Walker….also consider the book KILLING THE DREAM by gerrald posner