Wayfinders Circle Tuhayamani'chi Pal Waniqa

About

Tuhaymani’chi Pal Waniqa (The Water Flows Always) follows a Cahuilla, Cupeño father and daughter attempting to reconnect in a journey through their Indigenous roots in the ancient springs of the Mojave Desert, just as a new water-mining project threatens their very existence. The film addresses the efforts of protecting water resources and the sacred places of Indigenous nations, permeating the relationship between father and daughter seeking to strengthen their bonds and ancestral roots within their ancestral territory.

Key Participants 

Sean Milanovich, Ph.D. (Cahuilla) – NALC Vice President

Sean Milanovich is actively involved in organizing our Learning Landscapes program. He also serves on the Board of Directors for NALC partner organization, Paayish Neken, and is an enrolled member of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. Sean’s journey began as a youth walking the canyons and mountains of the Mojave Desert with his father and family members, learning through direct experience the teachings of his Cahuilla and Cupeño ancestors. He took to teaching and education early on, leading trips with his own children and other tribal youth to springs and other sacred sites throughout the Mojave. He earned his MA in Public History from University of California, Riverside in 2012 and spent time leading curation efforts at both the Cahuilla Heritage Museum and the Riverside Metropolitan Museum. He earned a Ph.D. in Native American History from UC Riverside in 2021, publishing his extensive dissertation “The Treaty of Temecula: A Story of Invasion, Deceit, Stolen Land, and the Persistence of Power” about the brutal invasion of California and the ongoing effects on Indigenous Peoples and lands of the area. He lives with his wife Maria and family on the Agua Caliente Reservation in Palm Springs.  Sean also represented the NALC at the first ever gathering of the Wayfinders Circle in Ecuador in October 2022.

Gina Milanovich (Cahuilla, Cupeño) – Film Student

Currently a junior earning her BA in Film and Native American Studies at the San Francisco State University, Gina spent her childhood walking the trails and swimming in the waters of the Mojave Desert with her father and extended family. She was deeply interested in writing and cameras from a young age, and realized her desire to tell stories through film while working as a volunteer at the renowned Palm Springs International Film Festival, a capacity in which she still serves today. For the film Tuhaymani’Chi Pal Waniqa, Gina led both on and off camera as a strong creative voice and a learning participant in her and her father, Sean’s journey to many of the sacred sites and relatives across the Mojave. Working on the film inspired her to pursue a second major along with her BA in Film Studies and work towards her degree in Native American Studies as well. Excited about graduating and continuing to tell her people’s stories, Gina is developing a documentary project on the famous all-Female Tribal Council of Agua Caliente of the 1950s and 1960s, which made huge strides forward in terms of land rights and sacred site protections for the Cahuilla and other tribes of present-day Southern California.

Michael Madrigal (Cahuilla) – NALC President

Michael Madrigal is a founding member of the NALC and has served on the Board of Directors for a number of years. Currently NALC Board President, Michael helps to lead the organization overall and set goals and initiatives within the organization. Michael is an enrolled member of the Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians and currently lives and works from the Soboba Indian Reservation where he grew up. A BA and MA degree holder in Ethnic/Native American Studies and a noted Ivillu’at language learner and teacher, Michael is dedicated to strengthening Indigenous Peoples’ relationships with language and homelands.

T. Robert Przeklasa, Ph.D. – NALC Executive Director

Robert “Dr. Bob” Przeklasa served on the Board of Directors of the NALC for six years before becoming the executive director in June 2021. Previously, he served as executive vice president of California Indian Nations College and has many years of experience with tribal and environmental issues. After receiving his BA and MA and Teaching Credential at Cal State Fullerton, Robert earned a Ph. D. in Philosophy from University of California, Riverside, where he took particular interest in the Mission Indian Federation, a Tribal Rights organization formed in Southern California in 1919 that advocated for decades for the rights and land of the original people of Southwest. A highly experienced outdoor educator and dedicated fundraiser and tribal advocate, ‘Dr. Bob’ is at home in both the board room and deep in the desert that he has spent much of his life working to preserve.

Matthew Leivas, Sr. (Chemehuevi) – Former NALC President

A highly respected Chemehuevi elder, Tribal scholar, environmental activist and Salt Song singer, “Matt” Leivas has worked his entire adult life to preserve the history and sacred sites of the Mojave Desert. In 1938, his mother, Gertrude Hanks, was among several thousand Chemehuevi who were forced to flee their fertile homeland in the Colorado River Basin when the Parker Dam was constructed in order to transport water to rapidly growing coastal California cities. Born in Parker, AZ on the Colorado River Indian Tribes Reservation (CRIT), Matt is the youngest of two brothers, five sisters and several older half-siblings. At an early age he worked with Tribal elders to help reestablish the Chemehuevi homeland along the shores of Lake Havasu. Today, the Chemehuevi Indian Reservation spans almost 30,000 acres and has a burgeoning farm and vibrant cultural programs which were initiated in large part by Matt. He continues to reside and work from his home on Chemehuevi lands, helping to raise his grandchildren and keeping his People’s culture and attachment to the land and water as strong as possible.

Daniel Leivas (Chemehuevi) – Tribal Farm Manager

As Farm Manager for the Chemehuevi Tribe, Daniel Leivas oversees the sustainable planting and harvest of organic fruit – from melons to pomegranates – ceremonial gourds, and diverse species of shade trees that provide spaces for solitude and gathering for the community. He also manages the Chemehuevi’s agricultural water intake program, which consistently draws well below the Tribe’s government-allotted annual limit from Lake Havasu, which was created in 1938 when the completion of the Parker Dam flooded the Colorado River valley. Daniel lives with his family on the Chemehuevi Farm, not far from his father, Matthew Leivas, Sr. A respected Salt Song Keeper, he and his family have been active in preserving sacred places and fighting extractive industrial projects throughout the Mojave.