Pechanga band of Luiseno Indians Reservation
Location: Temecula Valley, California, USA
Area: 4,394 acres
As a sovereign nation with the ability to restrict membership, the Pechanga Band has disenrolled 25% of their tribe within the last decade. This appears to be due to increasing profits generated by their most successful enterprise, The Pechanga Resort and Casino, one of California’s most profitable casinos. This effectively creates a B-side society of disenrolled members, effectively “non-citizens”, left without a cultural identity.
The Celestial Enterprise questions the relationship of land use and property rights in the creation of a new sacred space for the disenrolled Pechanga members. Situated within the territory they believe to be the Luiseno Garden of Eden, the space is created to allow the disenrolled to reconnect with their sacred land of Puesk’a Moutain, on both a spiritual and entrepreneurial level. The space fosters a new sense of cultural identity for these disenrolled Native Americans, by providing the ground for them to recreate their traditions and continue to honor their ancestors. The sacred space is actuated through ritualized construction and raising of a field of hybrid totem poles organized according to an esoteric knowledge related to the orientation of stars. The Celestial Enterprise simultaneously establishes a profitable initiative which also connects to the celestial realm by harnessing solar energy using an array of parabolic mirrors embedded within totem pole structures.
Celestial Enterprise Masterplan
Temecula Valley Section
Divide between Celestial Enterprise and Pechanga Resort and Casino
Seasonal Star Char for Temecula Valley
Totem Pole Raising Ceremony
Luiseno Girls and Boys Initiation Rituals
Initiation Ceremony
Collection of objects and ritual hanging of offerings
Mourning Ceremony
Viewing Rooms Orientated towards a specific star's location in the night sky
Celestial Enterprise Pow Wow Ceremoy
Acting as a counter ritual to the existing Pechanga Pow Wow, in which over 60,000 Native Americans from across the United States come to celebrate their culture.
