Agua Caliente Cultural Museum - Palm Springs, California

Francis

Beautiful building and great landscaping outside. The price is $10 per person and overall we enjoyed our visit but the museum is quite small. It was good learning about the history of the area.

Katherine

We really enjoyed our time at the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum and Plaza. The museum is beautiful inside and out. The first part of the museum experience consists of a wonderful, artistically rendered immersive film that tells the creation story of the Agua Caliente people. You are seated as a gorgeous and moving animated telling of this story appears on curved walls above and in front of you, as the seats move gently to immerse you in its details. The floor also has related images, and all of these images are gorgeous. After the film, you enter the exhibit halls. The history of the Agua Caliente people is explained in a rich and respectful way. I learned a lot about artistic traditions, trials they faced, contributions, and cultural practices. The people working in the museum were knowledgeable, friendly, and engaging. They added a lot to the experience. I also appreciated the displays that had videos and recordings of members of the Agua Caliente people. It was meaningful and moving to hear their voices. There are interactive exhibits as well. I also liked that there are small rooms with videos that tell about history and natural events of significance. There is a large room that documents the history of the Agua Caliente people from about 1870 through today. This was done so well, with photos, videos, archeological pieces, advertisements, and other artifacts that told how difficult non-Natives made life for the Agua Caliente people. The colonists stole so much and treated the Natives horribly, as is standard in history. We learned how the Agua Caliente organized and responded to this hideous treatment. After this part of the museum, we visited a photography exhibit that has intimate and sometimes humorous, but always rich photographs showing Natives in the 20th century. These photographs underscore the jarring juxtaposition of Native culture with white industry and fashion. After leaving the museum, we walked along the Oasis Trail. The Oasis Trail is short and accessible. It has a small waterfall and follows a stream of unbelievably clear water. This was a very peaceful way to end our visit. I highly recommend visiting this museum.

A H.

A very interesting, immersive and impressive cultural museum. The artifacts in their collection are fantastic! I especially loved the small, delicate shells found at the site of the museum when they were building it. The shells are somewhere around 8,000 years old! The information about the area and the Tribe, from past to present, was thorough and in great detail. I really enjoyed the videos of current Tribal members speaking, really bringing it all full circle; Native Americans have always been here and will always be here.

Playa S.

Great museum. Really enjoyed learning the history of the local indigenous people. Small but well-curated. If you see all the exhibits and videos it can be done in under 2 hours.

Thomas M.

An excellent museum organized so that you can follow the history of the Agua Caliente People from pre-European contact to the present. Low cost, doable in a couple of hours, containing a variety of well-designed multi-media exhibits, containing many artifacts that are well marked, and concise, to the point, narratives. The only weakness was the introductory video presenting the people's origin stories. You can easily skip it; it didn't provide any insight into the people or their uniqueness.

Mat D.

Small but informative museum with friendly staff. Well constructed displays with modern visual touches. Definitely worth stopping in.

Tevita M.

Very interesting and educational ... love the new building and all the exhibitions/display and the stories.

It is a self guided tour that starts with a movie telling the stories of the local natives, their origin, and the beginning of humanity, according to their tradition. A must visit!

And it's conveniently located in the heart of Downtown Palm Springs. Head over to the spa and visit there ... there is a great Cafe restaurant inside there as well ... with a great selection of sandwiches, cold and hot drinks. Very clean and relaxing space!!

Joshua C.

We enjoyed our visit to the museum. Lots of great information & story telling.