World War II & Beyond
Cahuillas served in the armed forces, and worked in war industries during World War II, and thereafter moved more rapidly into the mainstream of American life than had hitherto been possible. The number living on reservations, where sanitary facilities and other utilities were very slow to appear, in part because the U.S. government at the time was bent on termination of the reservations and providing special services to Native Americans. In the 1960s, the government began again to take an interest in the Indians, and took steps to bring living conditions more up to date. Natural gas, electricity, water, and telephone service gradually became more available, and housing was improved as part of the "Great Society" laws of the Johnson administration. Reservation people began to move back to the reservations, often given an impetus by the high cost of living in urban areas. As noted in the "Chemehuevi" section of this report, the Twenty-nine Palms Band of Mission Indians is now closely identified with the Cahuillas of the Coachella Valley, and shares the Cabazon Reservation. The descendants of the Cahuilla who once lived at Twentynine Palms have scattered, but many of them are enrolled at Morongo Reservation, which has a successful casino, and is the home of Malki Museum, the first museum in California established and run by Native Americans.