Temecula city leaders and Pechanga tribal representatives gathered on Nov. 15, 2025, to mark Pechanga Poweska Mountain Day, reaffirm the city’s proclamation recognizing the mountain’s cultural significance and screen two documentary films about the mountain’s history.

Mayor Bridal Kalfas opened the ceremony with a land acknowledgment and a remembrance of the community fight over the Liberty Quarry proposal. “The degradation of air quality, the 1,600 truck trips a day on the I 15 ... with 24 hour operations of pollution and daily rock blasting,” Kalfas said, describing the threats the proposed quarry would have posed to nearby neighborhoods and the mountain’s cultural landscape. She thanked the Pechanga Band for purchasing and preserving the mountain.

Joe Murphy, who said he serves on the Pechanga Bridal Council, described the tribe’s decision to buy and protect the mountain as “a necessary burden” taken to preserve it for future generations. “Together, we're modeling how tribes and cities can work side by side to honor the past while building a sustainable future,” Murphy said.

Riverside County Supervisor Chuck Washington, who served as Temecula mayor during the 2012 settlement, recalled that year as the moment Puesca/Poweska Mountain “was reunited with its original stewards” and praised the broad community coalition that opposed the proposed quarry. Washington said the victory helped preserve the valley’s “quality of life.”

Mayor Pro Tem Jess Alexander highlighted recent plantings on Temecula Parkway intended to honor Pechanga and said the city has reserved space for Pechanga‑themed public art. Councilmembers Zach Schwenk and James Stewart offered personal recollections of attending early hearings and of local interest in the mountain’s story; Schwenk recalled seeing packed planning meetings and community tents during the quarry debate.

City officials then read a formal proclamation recounting the mountain’s profound cultural, historical and spiritual importance to the Payomcoechem (Luiseño) peoples, the multi‑year Liberty Quarry fight, and the 2012 settlement that returned the site to tribal stewardship. The proclamation reaffirmed that every Nov. 15 shall be observed as Pechanga Poweska Mountain Day.

The program concluded with the announced double feature: the debut of The Temecula Massacre followed by the award‑winning documentary The Mountain That Weeps. Dr. Lisa Woodward, who introduced the films, said the documentary took about six years to make and stemmed from a National Battlefield grant. “This film was about 6 years in the making,” Woodward said, and a companion book was produced alongside the documentary.

The screening proceeded as scheduled; organizers invited attendees to ask questions and speak with presenters after the films.