Mike Hiles

The Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians fought long and hard to open a casino on Tribal land a quarter of a century ago. Much has changed since the early days, most notably the construction and opening of the current Soboba Casino Resort last year. The month of August is filled with Silver Anniversary promotions to commemorate the celebration.

With the help of grant funds from the Northern California Indian Development Council (NCIDC), the Soboba Public Works Department was able to implement a program to take care of much-needed cleanup and repair from federally declared disasters at the Soboba Indian Reservation.

After a highly successful academic career at California State University, San Marcos (CSUSM), Rachelle Peterson found a graduate program that could deliver what she wanted. With an ultimate career goal of working as a school psychologist serving the Native American population, this member of the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians found what she needed at San Diego State University (SDSU).

In an effort to keep the wide-open spaces of the Soboba Indian Reservation as pristine as possible, the Soboba Tribal Environmental Department implemented an annual Community Cleanup Day more than 10 years ago. This year’s event produced the best results so far as residents have used the state’s sheltering-in-place guidelines as an opportunity to clean out garages, sheds and yards.

When the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians Tribal Administration decided to have a safe reopening of its Sports Complex pool on July 6, luckily there were four lifeguards who had recently completed certification that could be on duty.