The biggest reason I jumped at the chance to check out Pechanga was because of the Native American history attached to it. My 16 year old was on his high school golf team last year so that, Tiger Woods, miniature golf and Billy Madison was the extent of my golf knowledge. Sad, I know but I am trying to do better. What really sold me on Pechanga is the culture - Culture is huge to me and I love learning about it. It would be ignorant if I continued to live in California and not learn what's in my own backyard! When I was doing my research on Pechanga, I came across the Great Oak - I wasn't able to visit it on this trip but have it on my life list.
Journey at Pechanga is one of the only courses in the country to have Native American heritage woven through the 18-holes. Each of the holes bears a Luiseño name that gives a hint into what golfers may experience there. Golfers will also see kiicha, the Luiseño word for “home,” at various points throughout the course. They will see an ancient grinding stone that ancestors used to pulverize acorns in order to extract the meal inside. If golfers look hard enough, they will spot an adobe wall, hundreds of years old, between holes 5 and 6. To give visitors a real sense of how the Pechanga people may have lived, the course features a replica village along hole 10. Golfers, or those who want to take a stroll out to view the village, will see kiicha huts, hanging corn, and more that gives onlookers an up close look at how Native people lived and survived hundreds of years ago. Journey at Pechanga is the most culturally sensitive golf course in America.
Raymond Basquez, Jr., Pechanga Cultural Resources Monitor & Supervisor saying a prayer for Pechanga tribal elder Germaine Arenas who passed on earlier in the week
Acorn granary
Kiicha huts - I didn't crawl in but one of the editors I met on the media tour told me it's at least 10-20 degrees cooler in the huts!
Read more about my Pechanga adventures: Pechanga is more than a casino, Paisano's at Pechanga
Labels: Golf, Heritage, Inland Empire, Journey at Pechanga, Luiseno, Native American, Pechanga, Temecula