Tohono O'odham

The Tohono O'odham are a Native American tribe formerly known as the Papago who reside primarily in the Sonoran Desert. "Tohono O'odham" means "People of the Desert."

Related Topics:
Native American - Sonoran Desert

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A sovereign nation residing on a small portion of its people's Sonoran desert lands, The Tohono O'odham Nation is organized into 11 districts. The main reservation is located between Tucson and Ajo, Arizona. A few of the districts are not contiguous with the main reservation: The San Xavier district, a square mile in southern Tucson, and Gila Bend (San Lucy) district, and the village of Florence.

Related Topics:
Tucson - Ajo, Arizona

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Closely-related, the Phoenix-area "Akimel O'odham" (River People) share language and cultural roots. Debates surround tribal origins. Claims that the O'odham moved north as recently as 300 years ago compete with claims that the Hohokam, whose left the Casa Grande Ruins, are their true ancestors.

Related Topics:
Hohokam - Casa Grande Ruins

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Actually, the Tohono O'odham live in both northern Mexico and southern Arizona. The Gadsden Purchase split the native lands in half. Tribal members often make the annual pilgrimage to Magdalena, Mexico, during St. Francis festivities.

Related Topics:
Mexico - Arizona - Gadsden Purchase - Magdalena, Mexico

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San Xavier district is the location of a major tourist attraction in Tucson. Mission San Xavier del Bac, the "White Dove of the Desert," built in 1783 under the auspices of Padre Eusebio Kino. Founded in 1700 it is one of the many missions built in the southwest by the Spanish on their northern frontier. The mission is located in South Tucson.

Related Topics:
Mission San Xavier del Bac - 1783 - 1700 - Spanish

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The beauty of the mission often leads tourists to assume that the desert people embraced the Catholicism of the Spanish conquistadores. In fact, Tohono O'odham villages have resisted change for hundreds of years. Two major rebellions, in the 1660's and in 1750's, rivaled in scale the 1680 Pueblo Rebellion. The armed resistence prevented increased Spanish incursions on the lands of "Pimeria Alta." The Spanish retreated to what they called "Pimeria Baja." As a result, much of the desert people's traditions remained largely intact for generations.

Related Topics:
Catholicism - Conquistadore - Pueblo Rebellion

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It was not until white Americans began moving into Arizona territory that traditional ways were consistently under attack. Indian boarding schools, the cotton industry, and federal Indian policy worked hand-in-glove to promote the "progress" of assimilation into the U.S. mainstream. The structure of the current tribal government, established in the 1930's, is a direct result of commercial, missionary, and federal collaboration. The goal was to make the Indians into "real" Americans, yet the boarding schools offered only so much training as was considered necessary to work as migrant workers or housekeepers. "Assimilation" was the official policy, but full participation was not the goal. Boarding school students were supposed to function within the United States' segregated society as economic laborers, not leaders.

Related Topics:
Indian boarding school - Cotton

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Despite a hundered years of being told and made to change, the Tohono O'odham have entered the 21st century with pride in their traditions and their language still spoken. However, recent decades have brought increasing diffiiculties.

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