The ethnographic literature indicates the Imperial Sand Dunes (the Dunes) are within, or near, the traditional boundaries of the territories of various tribal groups, including the Quechan, Chemehuevi, Mohave (Colorado River Indian Tribes), Cocopah, Kumeyaay, Kamia, and Cahuilla. There is some notation in the literature that migration and trade trails passed through or around the Dunes. Otherwise there are only sparse references to uses or other connections ofNative Americans to the Dunes. These references include mention of using the Dunes for hunting, gathering, planting, burial grounds, religious and other spiritual uses, and trade and travel. Ethnographic interviews with individuals from the Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Cocopah, Cucapa, Kumeyaay, Mohave, and Quechan tribes indicate that the Dunes are an area of cultural importance because of the past associations of these groups with the Dunes. These connections include references to beings that inhabited the Dunes (Sand Coyote, "little medicine people" and "water babies"); use of the area for burials, plant gathering, and hunting; and use as a travel route for trade and migration. The literature review and ethnographic interview data identified seventeen (17) sites or places used by Native Americans in or within about 1 mile of the Imperial Sand Dunes. Seven (7) of these are sites associated with religion, ritual, and mythology; one (1) is a habitation site; four (4) are resource gathering or planting areas, four (4) are trails; and one (1) is a historical event. Many of these places have only a very general location.