According to historians, the Temecula Valley has been inhabited for 10,000 years. They believe the Temecula Indians originally
migrated from Shoshonean lands near the Great Basin.

Each band of Luiseno Indians has its own variation of the creation story. Oral tradition passed down among the people of the local
Pechanga (pe-CHONG-ah) Band of Luiseno told of the union of the night sky Father (Tuukumit) and earth Mother (Tamaayawut) at Exva
Temeeku (in the heart of the Temecula valley), where for them life began. Unlike the historians’ theory, many Luisenos hold
the view that the Shoshones migrated to the Temecula region from the north.

An ancient legend, told with many variations, has it that that this valley was named by Naxachish (nah-ha-chish), a spiritual Indian
wanderer, who traveled from place to place in search of food, naming the villages he found along the way. One day he stood on a summit
and saw below a vast and beautiful valley through the coastal fog. Sunshine passed through the fog, creating diffused sunlight.

Absorbing the scene, Naxachish proclaimed this picturesque place “Temeeku”, which in the language of the Luiseno, may be translated
as “where there is sun”. Pausing as he departed through the Rainbow Gap at the southern end of the valley, he gazed upon the land he
had named and was turned to stone, some say, by the arrow of an archer.