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Archaeological records show the tribe, one of six bands of Luiseño Indians, has been in the Temecula Valley for at least 10,000 years. The word Luiseño is derived from Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, founded by Spanish missionaries in 1798. The mission established supporting ranchos in the region that used Indians as forced labor.
In 1875, a posse led by the San Diego County sheriff evicted the tribe from its village in what is now Temecula. Seven years later, President Chester A. Arthur established the Pechanga Indian Reservation, which today occupies roughly 6,800 acres just south of the city.
The tribe’s customs and beliefs are deeply personal and until the quarry proposal, the tribe did not discuss its creation story in public, tribal officials said. The tribe fears its heritage could be distorted.
In the tribe’s creation story, the world was born from the sky father and earth mother at “éxva Teméku” (Eck-vah tem-MEH-koo). This place, analogous to the Garden of Eden in the Bible, is roughly where two creeks combine to form the Santa Margarita River, which flows near the quarry site.
The proposed Liberty Quarry site includes land that is central to the Pechanga tribe’s beliefs about the creation of the world.
The first people, known as “Káamalam” (KAH-mah-lum), lived in “Káamalam Pomkí” (poam-KEY), which is in the hills above Temecula and includes the quarry site. Among the Káamalam was “Wuyóot” (We-YOUT).
Wuyóot was gifted with special knowledge and learned to make the first food to feed the Káamalam. But he was poisoned and died, marking the first time death ever visited the new world. The rocks cried in mourning.
Wuyóot was cremated at Káamalam Pomkí. Many tribal burial customs, including songs and the burning of clothes, arose from this funeral, Mark Macarro said.
After Wuyóot’s death, the Káamalam gathered in a Grand Council at Káamalam Pomkí. It was decided then that some Káamalam would become stars, rocks and other parts of the natural world. After that, the first people dispersed from Temecula to all points of creation.