When the Morongo Band wanted special invitations created for the December 2004 grand opening of its $250 million casino, resort and spa in Cabazon, the job fell to Bonnie Schwartz and her team at Schwartz Design Group in San Diego. It took a year from the time planning began to completion in October 2004, but the nine-piece “Celebration of Sovereignty” invitation package grabbed two top professional awards for creativity. The project won a Crystal Award of Excellence from The Communicators and a Gold Award from The Summit Creative Awards — both international competitions. “Creating the invitation was a rare opportunity to design a custom piece which supports a commitment the tribe has to our natural resources and their traditions while also appealing to the sophisticated audience of legislators, community and business leaders that were sent the invitations,” says Schwartz.

Textured warm earthy tones were chosen for the paper, which was used for the custom-wrapped box. The sleeve reflects the hammered silver used by Native Americans in their crafts. Inside the lid, done in raised print, are tribal words of honor. Schwartz says the labels and the invitation itself were created by letterpress. “Copper plates were engraved and each ‘impression’ was done by hand.” The invitation cover is debossed on 120-pound thickness museum board and the invitation is laminated to its reverse side. The design was taken from the Morongo Band’s logo, which means “Thunder and Lightning.”

The natural fly sheet with leaves complements the tones of the piece and when lifted reveals three white sage bundles contained in a silver recessed area. The fragrant white sage, says Schwartz, has grown in abundance for generations in the hills and canyons of Morongo and has been used for thousands of years by California tribes for purification and cleansing traditions.