At the beginning of every life, one needs a place to call home. ‘Home sweet home.’ ‘There’s no place like home.’ ‘Home is where the heart is.’ There are countless phrases on the importance of developing a central environment of culture, love and continuity. Not every journey to finding one’s eternal setting is always equal, however, and the difficulties faced by those who came before may seem immeasurable at times to where we stand today. 

In the case of the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation Tribe, establishing its modern home tells a story of perseverance, determination and a will to carry on the traditions of past generations. As early as the 1700s, the Tribe was threatened by initiatives such as the California Mission System, which attempted to convert Native Americans to Christianity and expand Spanish colonial influence along the western coast. The missions resulted in the murder of thousands of Tribal ancestors, and forced those remaining to adapt to a new way of life to survive. 

Involuntary rediscovery

By 1771, many of Maara’yam – or Serrano people – were taken from their ancestral lands in the Antelope Valley, Mojave River region and Inland Empire and relocated to the San Gabriel Mission. What was once a Tribal-dominated territory, where the Yuhaaviatam lived in peace with its surrounding land, had been reduced to a scene of violence and remorselesness. Just under five years later, the missions established new rancho outposts, or estancias, in southern California, including one located in the Redlands which held many Serrano people and other Native Americans from nearby communities. 

Even through the 1800s, the Tribe still faced daunting threats to its culture and livelihood due to opportunities related to mining and the California Gold Rush, as anti-Native American sentiment continued to run high across the region. In 1866, a conflict originating in the Summit Valley incited a month-long killing spree of Yuhaaviatam Tribe members by local militia, leaving almost 30 ancestors left to continue building upon its previous generations. The Tribe’s Kiika’, or leader, Santos Manuel, 
went on to guide the remaining members away from their Yuhaaviatam summer home in the mountains, in favor of the San Bernardino Valley.

The Tribe spent decades living along Warm Creek in San Bernardino, beginning near what is currently known as the National Orange Show Event Center. After being forced to Meadowbrook Park and eventually making its way to the Harlem Springs area, the Yuhaaviatam Tribe was pushed to the rugged foothills and placed on the San Manuel Reservation in 1981. 

While Santos Manuel could not yet foresee such a bright future, the San Bernardino Valley eventually became the epicenter of Yuhaaviatam’s success, but not without first asserting its own independence. A quarter-century after the Summit Valley tragedy, the Act of Relief for Mission Indians was passed, recognizing the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians as a sovereign nation with the right to self-govern.

Forging its own path

Despite such legislation, the US federal government would continue ‘insinuating its decisions upon Tribes well into the 1900s, eventually resulting in nationwide protests which actually helped fortify the relationship between Native Americans and political administrations. After 200 years of fighting for its sovereignty, the Tribe was more fully empowered to exercise its right to self-govern once President Richard Nixon passed the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act in 1975. 

The legislation affirmed the right of the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation, as well as fellow federally recognized Tribes, to exercise its retained inherent rights to self-governance to expand opportunities for economic development. Just a few years later, the Tribe would take its first steps into establishing a more secure economy, exploring business opportunities both on and off the 
reservation.

Nestled in Highland, California, the Tribe debuted its San Manuel Indian Bingo facility, which stood for just over 30 years. The Tribe’s introduction to gaming represented just a fraction of the enterprise it would go on to build, but one that also required educating US lawmakers in the significance of Tribal sovereignty, a job eventually fulfilled by members such as Chairwoman Lynn Valbuena. 

“When we first decided to offer gaming, we saw the opportunity there and what it meant,” Chairwoman Valbuena tells Global Gaming Insider. “A lot of people didn’t understand what Tribal sovereignty meant, why we were doing this and wanted to know how it was going to be regulated. It was a lot of work. I remember traveling to Sacramento many times with other Tribal leaders, including my Tribal council back at that time, explaining to others what we needed to maintain self-sustainability and self-sufficiency.”

As the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel’s first-ever Housing Commissioner – an appointment which came when Valbuena was just 20 years old – she worked to improve the Tribe’s livelihood in its first years of self-governance. Recalling the 500-600 sq ft homes Tribal citizens were forced to accommodate, Valbuena was one of several Tribal leaders to help expand the breadth of opportunities available to San Manuel. Perhaps none greater was the eventual passing of Prop 1A in California, which created a pathway for federally recognized Tribes to operate specific gaming verticals, including lottery games, slot machines and card games.

Even before Prop 1A had passed, the Tribe began extending its gaming operations for the first time, turning its inaugural bingo hall into a 100,000 sq ft casino with a card room and slot machines. What began as a method of establishing economic development also marked a growth opportunity for Tribal employment, the Chairwoman tells Global Gaming Insider, as well as an opportunity to connect with its local San Bernardino community. Despite a rather polarizing start to establishing such a connection, a more unified future would eventually be reached between San Bernardino and the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation. 

Chairwoman Valbuena says: “We wanted involvement from our Tribal citizens that wanted to participate and be employed at our bingo hall. I also worked there to learn the business, help get Tribal citizens involved with other boards and committees and to better understand Tribal government. What we had to do as a Tribe to move forward was build relationships, especially with where we’re located. 

“A lot of our neighbors back then didn’t understand or realize what we were doing, and would tell us ‘we did not move to the north end of San Bernardino to see the walls of a bingo hall. We moved there to see the beautiful mountains.’ I said well those beautiful mountains are ours, that’s our reservation, all 640 acres. Even though some of them sold their homes and moved away, to this day we have very good relationships now with the community, as someone who’s been involved with the Tribe for almost 50 years.” 

One for all

Much of the positivity built within the San Bernardino community stems from the Tribe’s philanthropic efforts, which call back to the days of members such as Valbuena waiting upon deliveries from the Salvation Army and Goodwill. The same young girl who would sort through boxes to try on shoes and clothes now oversees the financial assistance granted to both organizations from the Tribe. Since 2003, the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation has invested over $450m in philanthropy efforts and generated $1.6bn in annual economic activity across San Bernardino. 

One of the most notable acts conducted by the Tribe was helping to reinforce San Bernardino’s economy in the mid-1990s, when the Norton Air Force Base’s closing left numerous residents out of work. Having just expanded its bingo operation, the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation helped replace over half the jobs lost in San Bernardino, and remain as intergovernmental partners to the city. 

Perhaps driven by its own desire to create a better future for the next generation, the Tribe has also donated $151m to local and national high schools, community colleges/universities and educational causes. The mindset may have been best captured by Vice Chairman Johnny Hernandez Jr., who spoke on the legacy Tribal leaders are hoping to leave behind. He told us: “I’m a firm believer that, whether you serve on council or not, there’s no position within the Tribe that’s more important than the other. We all have an individual responsibility to the Tribe. When I talk to my kids, I always say I just want to leave the Tribe better off than when I came in. My legacy is, once my time on council or on this earth is done, there was a noticeable difference that was made under not only my leadership, but Tribal council leadership as a whole. We have the resources now to fight the good fight and continue in the footsteps of our ancestors and our elders.”

Turning back the clock

Within its own community, the Tribe has also made efforts to reclaim many of the traditions that were almost entirely lost as a result of violence and suppression against Native American culture. Educating its youth on the Tribe’s historic struggles and perseverance is one way of growing the Yuhaaviatam spirit, but so too is rediscovering a native language that had once been on the verge of disappearance. To this day, the San Manuel Education Department operates the Serrano Language Revitalization Project, helping children learn the same language spoken by their ancestors hundreds of years prior. 

Culture Seat Member Joe Maarango spoke on such efforts with Global Gaming Insider: “Work goes back to the early 1990s, when elders and leaders at the time were hungry to revitalize our language and incorporate it in our day-to-day lives once again. Despite all the efforts to take away our language, our culture, who we are as a people, the People of the Pines, it’s so important to reclaim that and move forward, because that’s who we’ve been for thousands of years.

“We carry our traditions from the past up until today and we still practice these day-by-day. It’s a way to honor our ancestors before us and to anchor our future generations in a name that was bestowed upon us by our creator. It’s been such an important undertaking for us, and one that we’ve been waiting a very long time for.”

In 2021, San Bernardino County formally recognized the language for the first time, despite a history which can be traced back for approximately 300 years. The Tribe also works in collaboration with California State University – San Bernardino to offer courses which teach the Serrano language, all part of a long-term Tribal vision to foster more native speakers by 2040. 

Along with initiatives to revitalize the Serrano language, Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation youth are traditional music and dances, basket weaving and gourd rattle to help carry on vital elements of the Tribe’s history. Children learn their cultural origins, which are tied to the natural world, central to their identity as Yuhaaviatam (People of the Pines)’, Küktac, and how his death and the grief felt by his people would help grow the same pine trees which surround much of southern California. They also learn of how Spanish settlers used the term Serrano to describe the Tribe’s first ancestors, given the word also means “highlander” in Spanish.

Of even greater significance than the Serrano language may be when the Tribe managed to reclaim its ancestral name in 2025, having gone under the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians since 1891 (provided by the US Government). While San Manuel pays homage to Santos Manuel and his leadership, the name reflected previously touched on colonization periods which triggered Tribal dispossession, trauma and genocide. Reclaiming the Yuhaaviatam name connects leaders such as Valbuena, Hernandez Jr. and Maarango to the Tribe’s original history, and celebrates the lineage forged by all those who came before. 

Strength in unity 

Throughout its own literature, the desire to continue telling the stories of its ancestors, its struggles and ability to build a brighter future is evident from the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel. A purpose to “foster love, respect and humility” is translated across multiple enterprises that have been built under new leadership. With Chairwoman Valbuena at the helm, teamwork, education and inclusivity appear to be at the forefront of the Tribe’s current mission, and one Manuel would surely be proud to see continued year after year. 

The Chairwoman states: “Like we always say to our employees, without them and without great teamwork, we would not be where we are today. It’s an effort by all of us in every department. Back in the 1980s, when we started with bingo, we only had 300 employees. Today at Yaamava’, we have almost 8,000... and keeping track of who’s who and what everyone does is a team effort. Communication is the best policy. You have to have that because, otherwise, things are not going to work.”

Along with its efforts to reclaim cultural identity, the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation continued growing its gaming enterprises, including a major expansion project that began in 2017 and eventually led to the transition away from the name San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino. Shortened to San Manuel Casino, the property began reshaping into the southern California landmark it currently stands as today. By 2019, the Tribe had added a new high-limit room to San Manuel Casino, and began construction of its first hotel attachment, which eventually produced yet another name change for the establishment. 

Following a significant expansion project in 2021, San Manuel Casino became known as Yaamava’ Resort & Casino at San Manuel, while a new entertainment center was debuted the following year. What had originated as a single bingo operation had now grown into one of the largest financial investments across all of California gaming. 

Of greatest importance to the Tribe is the establishment of a safe, loving and hard-working environment that fosters contributions for its surrounding area, or a place to call home once again. After generations of being forcibly relocated a limited land base, effectively cutting the Tribe off from its ancestral land base of over 7.4 million acres’, the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation managed to not only persevere through such hardships, but build an unimaginable enterprise rivaling – if not surpassing – many of the country’s greatest casino-resorts. With those who came before still watching over, there’s certainly no place like home for the southern California Tribe.