Pechanga Tribal Nation

Museum Competition

Pechanga competitor cools museum bid

February 2, 2002
North County Times

John Gray, director of the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage, said his organization is "no longer actively pursuing" an alliance with the Southwest Museum, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. The end result could be that an obstacle to the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians for a collaboration with the oldest museum in Los Angeles has been removed.

Most of the Southwest Museum's collection, which includes artifacts from North and South American native cultures, remains in storage because of space limitations. Citing its commitment to cultural preservation, the tribe last May informally offered its resources to help solve the space problem.

A successful cooperative effort between the tribe and Southwest could make the reservation a repository for part of the most significant collection of American Indian material that is not part of a government-run museum.

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