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“HONORING CHAIRMAN RICHARD M. MILANOVICH OF THE AGUA CALIENTE BAND OF CAHUILLA INDIANS” mentioning the Department of Interior was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E439 on March 26, 2012.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING CHAIRMAN RICHARD M. MILANOVICH OF THE AGUA CALIENTE BAND OF
CAHUILLA INDIANS
______
HON. JEFF DENHAM
of california
in the house of representatives
Monday, March 26, 2012
Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart after the passing of Chairman Richard M. Milanovich of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.
Chairman Milanovich grew up on the reservation in Section 14 in Southern California, where poverty was rampant. Currently, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians is a federally-recognized Indian Tribe located in Palm Springs, California with 32,000 acres of reservation lands that spread across Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, and into the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountains.
Mr. Milanovich has always been dedicated to serving his tribal nation and his country, where he served in the United States Army from 1960 to 1963 and was stationed in Munich, Germany, during the Cold War. He later returned to school to fulfill a lifelong ambition to secure his college degree and received a Bachelor of Science in Business and Management from the University of Redlands in 1996.
Mr. Milanovich returned to the Agua Caliente reservation and started as a member of the tribal council in 1978. He then quickly ascended through the ranks to serve as secretary from 1982 to 1984, before he was elected chairman.
The Chairman's connection to his tribe's history was never lost in his efforts to reinforce tribal sovereignty for Indians across the country. He was a strong practitioner and supporter of the ancient traditions, ceremonies and practices that are important to Indian people. But he was also a very strong leader in 21st-century Indian America.
Through Chairman Milanovich's leadership, he helped craft mutual land-use agreements with Cathedral City in 1984 and with Rancho Mirage and Riverside County about five years later, modeled on an agreement struck with Palm Springs in the late 1970s. The intergovernmental agreements were among the first of their kind and served as a model for tribes throughout the rest of the country.
His first major undertaking was the purchase of the Spa Hotel in Palm Springs in 1992. Since then, his 28-year role as a leader of Agua Caliente has allowed the tribe to develop self-sufficiency through education, cultural preservation, housing, and health care programs.
Aside from raising his own tribal membership out of poverty and into self-sufficiency, Chairman Milanovich has contributed his time and wisdom to many advisory committees, charities, and other efforts to better Indian Country and the lives of people across the country. He served as the chairman of the Advisory Committee to the Office of Special Trustee for the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees the federal government's fiduciary responsibilities to manage tribal trust funds. In 2004, he was appointed to the Native American Stewardship Committee for the prestigious Autry National Center. Chairman Milanovich also served as a member of the Bureau of Land Management's California Desert Advisory Council, and the Native American Heritage Commission. The tribal leader served as an advocate for HIV prevention with the Desert AIDS Project for more than 10 years. As well as having the Agua Caliente tribe partner with the City of Hope's ``Hike 4 Hope'' each year at the Indian Canyons trail. The hiking event supports women's cancer programs at the foundation.
Indian Country has lost a true leader and staple of the ideals of sovereignty and self-sufficiency. His leadership will not be forgotten and his efforts will be the foundation of the future for Indian tribes throughout the United States.
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