The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians first established the Tribal Historic Preservation Office November 2012. This department aims to protect and preserve sites, structures, and districts that are within the ancestral territory of the Chemehuevi. This department is managed by the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO), who assumes the responsibilities of a State Historic Preservation Officer on tribal lands. Outside tribal lands the THPO serves as an official representative of the Tribe in the consultation process. The Tribal Historic Preservation Office works with the interest of the Tribe in mind to preserve and protect cultural resources. This is done through consultation, cultural monitoring, repatriation, and education/outreach programs.