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Contact: Melissa Julien, 760-367-5570
TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif.– Joshua Tree National Park staff are humbled to have partnered with members of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians on Saturday, March 9, 2024 as part of the restoration of the Oasis of Maara’ at Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP). Fan palm seedlings were planted in areas that once flowed with spring water but have since dried due to a decline in groundwater.
Fan palm seeds require wet soil to germinate, and the maximum depth that fan palm roots can reach to access groundwater is approximately thirteen feet. Declining groundwater threatened the survival of the fan palm oasis. In 1985, JTNP staff installed an irrigation system to sustain the palms in this culturally important landscape. Recently, the irrigation system failed to consistently provide water to the surviving palm trees, so park staff hand-watered the plants until a new irrigation system was installed in 2024. Thanks to financial support from the Joshua Tree National Park Association, both tribal and archeological monitors were on site to protect any cultural resources found during construction. The new system is fully functioning, and new palm seedlings are thriving.
The oasis is a significant place with cultural and spiritual importance to the Maara’yam (Serrano) people, who are represented by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, and to and the Chemehuevi people of the Twentynine Palms Band of Mission Indians. It is the creation place of all Maara’yam people, who had lived there since time immemorial. In the 1860s, they were joined by the Chemehuevi people who were displaced from their homelands at that time. By the 1880s the oasis began attracting western settlers and miners and served as a center for development in the high desert. Although both the Serrano and Chemehuevi peoples have not permanently lived at the Oasis since 1915, they maintain strong connections to the site.
Last updated: May 31, 2024