 Louis Morago (Akimel O'odham), 1872 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 19,921 ± 4,574 (2010)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| United States (Arizona), Mexico (Sonora andChihuahua) | |
| Languages | |
| O'odham,English,Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism, traditional tribal religion[2] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
TheAkimel O'odham (O'odham for "river people"), also called thePima, are anIndigenous people of the Americas living in the United States in central andsouthern Arizona and northwesternMexico in the states ofSonora andChihuahua. The majority population of the two current bands of the Akimel O'odham in the United States is based in two reservations: the Keli Akimel Oʼodham on theGila River Indian Community (GRIC) and the On'k Akimel O'odham on theSalt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC).
The Akimel O'odham are closely related to theAk-Chin O'odham, now forming theAk-Chin Indian Community. They are also related to theSobaipuri, whose descendants reside on theSan Xavier Indian Reservation or Wa꞉k (together with theTohono O'odham), and in the Salt River Indian Community. Together with the related Tohono O'odham ("Desert People") and theHia C-ed O'odham ("Sand Dune People"), the Akimel O'odham form theUpper O'odham.
The short name,Pima, is believed to have come from the phrasepi 'añi mac orpi mac, meaning "I don't know," which they used repeatedly in their initial meetings with Spanish colonists. The Spanish referred to them as the Pima.[2][3] English-speaking traders, explorers, and settlers adopted this term.
The Akimel O'odham called themselvesOthama[6] until the first account of interaction with non-Native Americans was recorded.
Spanish missionaries recorded Pima villages known as Kina, Equituni, and Uturituc.European Americans later corrupted the miscommunication into Pimos, which was adapted to Pima river people. The Akimel Oʼodham people today call their villages:[7]
The territory of theUpper O'odham, also called Upper Pima or Pima Alto, was calledPimería Alta by the Spanish.
The Akimel O'odham had lived along theGila,Salt,Yaqui, andSonora rivers inranchería-style villages. The villages were set up as a loose group of houses with familial groups sharing a central ramada and kitchen area. Brush "Olas Ki:ki" (round houses) were built around this central area. The Oʼodham arematrilocal, with daughters and their husbands living with and near the daughter's mother. Familial groups tended to consist of extended families. The Akimel Oʼodham also lived seasonally in temporary field houses in order to tend their crops.
TheO'odham language, variously calledO'odham ñeʼokĭ,O'odham ñiʼokĭ orOʼotham ñiok, is spoken by all O'odham groups. There are certain dialectal differences, but they are mutually intelligible and all O'odham groups can understand one another.Lexicographical differences have arisen among the different groups, especially in reference to newer technologies and innovations.
The ancient economy of the Akimel O'odham was primarily subsistence, based on farming, hunting and gathering. They also conducted extensive trading. The prehistoric peoples built an extensiveirrigation system to compensate for arid conditions.[8] It remains in use today. Over time the communities built and altered canal systems according to their changing needs.
The Akimel Oʼodham were experts in the area of textiles and produced intricate baskets as well as woven cloth. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, their primary military rivals were theApache andYavapai, who raided their villages at times due to competition for resources. The latter tribes were more nomadic, depending primarily on hunting and gathering, and would raid the more settled groups who cultivated foods. They established some friendly relations with the Apache.
Initially, the Akimel O'odham experienced little intensive colonial contact. Early encounters were limited to parties traveling through the territory or community members visiting settlements to the south. The Hispanic era (AD 1694–1853) of the Historic period began with the first visit byFather Kino to theirvillages in 1694. ThePima Revolt, also known as theO'odham Uprising or thePima Outbreak, was a revolt of Akimel O'odham people in 1751 against colonial forces inSpanish Arizona and one of the major northern frontier conflicts in earlyNew Spain.
Contact was infrequent with the Mexicans during their rule of southern Arizona between 1821 and 1853. The Akimel Oʼodham were affected by introduced European elements, such as infectious diseases to which they had no immunity, new crops (such as wheat), livestock, and use of metal tools and trade goods.
Euroamerican contacts with the Akimel Oʼodham in the middle Gila Valley increased after 1846 as a result of theMexican–American War. The Akimel Oʼodham traded and gave aid to the expeditions ofStephen Watts Kearny andPhilip St. George Cooke on their way to California. AfterMexico's defeat, it ceded the territory of what is now Arizona to the United States, with the exception of the land south of the Gila River. Soon thereafter theCalifornia Gold Rush began, drawing Americans to travel to California through the Mexican territory betweenMesilla and theColorado River crossings nearYuma, on what became known as theSouthern Emigrant Trail. Travelers used the villages of the Akimel Oʼodham as oases to recover from the crossing of unfamiliar deserts. They also bought new supplies and livestock to support the journey across the remaining deserts to the west.
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The American era (A.D. 1853–1950), began in 1853 with theGadsden Purchase, when the US acquired southern Arizona. New markets were developed, initially to supply immigrants heading for California. Grain was needed for horses of theButterfield Overland Mail and for the military during theAmerican Civil War. As a result, the Akimel Oʼodham experienced a period of prosperity. The Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) was established in 1859. The 1860 census records the Akimel O'odham villages asAgua Raiz, Arenal, Casa Blanca,Cachanillo, Cerrito, Cerro Chiquito, El Llano, andHormiguero.[9]
After the American Civil War, numerousEuroamerican migrants came to settle upstream locations along the Gila, as well as along the lower Salt River. Due to their encroachment and competition for scarce resources, interaction between Native American groups and the Euro-American settlers became increasingly tense. The U.S. government adopted a policy of pacification and confinement of Native Americans to reservations. Uncertainty and variable crop yields led to major settlement reorganizations. The establishment of agency headquarters, churches and schools, and trading posts at Vahki (Casa Blanca) and Gu U ki (Sacaton) during the 1870s and 1880s led to the growth of these towns as administrative and commercial centers, at the expense of others.
By 1898 agriculture had nearly ceased within the GRIC. Although some Akimel Oʼodham drew rations, their principal means of livelihood was woodcutting. The first allotments of land within Gila River were established in 1914, in an attempt to break up communal land. Each individual was assigned a 10-acre (40,000 m2) parcel of irrigable land located within districts irrigated by the Santan, Agency, Blackwater, and Casa Blanca projects on the eastern half of the reservation. In 1917, the allotment size was doubled to include a primary lot of irrigable land and a secondary, usually non-contiguous 10-acre (40,000 m2) tract of grazing land.
The most ambitious effort to rectify the economic plight of the Akimel Oʼodham was the San Carlos Project Act of 1924, which authorized the construction of a water storage dam on the Gila River. It provided for the irrigation of 50,000 acres (200 km2) of Indian and 50,000 acres (200 km2) of non-Indian land. For a variety of reasons, the San Carlos Project failed to revitalize the Oʼodham farming economy. In effect the project halted the Gila river waters, and the Akimel O'odham no longer had a source of water for farming. This began thefamine years. Many Oʼodham have believed these wrong and misguided government policies were an attempt of massgenocide.
Over the decades, the U.S. government promoted assimilation, forcing changes on to the Akimel Oʼodham in nearly every aspect of their lives. Since World War II, however, the Akimel Oʼodham have experienced a resurgence of interest in tribal sovereignty and economic development. The community has regained its self-government and are recognized as a tribe. In addition, they have developed several profitable enterprises in fields such as agriculture and telecommunications, and built several gaming casinos to generate revenues. They have begun to construct a water delivery system across the reservation in order to revive their farming economy.
The Akimel O'odham ("River People") have lived on the banks of theGila andSalt Rivers since long before European contact.
Their way of life (himdagĭ, sometimes rendered in English asHim-dag) was and is centered on the river, which is holy. The term Him-dag should be clarified, as it does not have a direct translation into the English language, and is not limited to reverence of the river. It encompasses a great deal because O'odham him-dag intertwines religion, morals, values, philosophy, and general world view which are all interconnected. Their worldview and religious beliefs focus on the natural world.
The Gila and Salt Rivers are currently dry, due to the (San Carlos Irrigation project) upstream dams that block the flow and the diversion of water by non-native farmers. This has been a cause of great upset among all of the Oʼodham. The upstream diversion in combination with periods of drought, led to lengthy periods of famine that were a devastating change from the documented prosperity the people had experienced until non-native settlers engaged in more aggressive farming in areas that were traditionally used by the Akimel Oʼodham and Apache in Eastern Arizona. This abuse of water rights was the impetus for a nearly century long legal battle between the Gila River Indian Community and the United States government, which was settled in favor of the Akimel Oʼodham and signed into law by George W. Bush in December 2005. As a side note, at times during the monsoon season the Salt River runs, albeit at low levels. In the weeks after December 29, 2004, when an unexpected winter rainstorm flooded areas much further upstream (in Northern Arizona), water was released through dams on the river at rates higher than at any time since the filling ofTempe Town Lake in 1998, and was a cause for minor celebration in theSalt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. The diversion of the water and the introduction of non-native diet is said to have been the leading contributing factor in the high rate of diabetes among the Akimel Oʼodham tribe.
As of 2014, the majority of the population lives in the federally recognizedGila River Indian Community (GRIC). In historic times a large number of Akimel O'odham migrated north to occupy the banks of the Salt River, where they formed theSalt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC). Both tribes are confederations of two distinct ethnicities, which include theMaricopa.
Within the O'odham people, four federally recognized tribes in the Southwest speak the same language: they are called theGila River Indian Community (Keli Akimel O'odham – "Gila River People"); theSalt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (Onk Akimel O'odham – "Salt River People"); theAk-Chin Indian Community (Ak-Chin O'odham); and theTohono O'odham Nation (Tohono O'odham – "Desert People"). The remaining band, theHia C-ed O'odham ("Sand Dune People"), are not federally recognized, but reside throughout southwestern Arizona.
Today theGRIC is a sovereign tribe residing on more than 550,000 acres (2,200 km2) of land in central Arizona. The community is divided into seven districts (similar to states) with a council representing individual subgovernments. It is self-governed by an elected Governor (currentlyGregory Mendoza), Lieutenant Governor (currentlyStephen Roe-Lewis) and 18-member Tribal Council. The council is elected by district with the number of electees determined by district population. There are more than 19,000 enrolled members overall.
The Gila River Indian Community is involved in various economic development enterprises that provide entertainment and recreation: three gaming casinos, associated golf courses, a luxury resort, and a western-themed amusement park. In addition, they manage various industrial parks, landfills, and construction supply. The GRIC is also involved in agriculture and runs its own farms and other agricultural projects. The Gila River Indian Reservation is home ofMaricopa (Piipaa, Piipaash orPee-Posh – "People") andKeli Akimel O'odham (alsoKeli Akimel Au-Authm – "Gila River People", a division of the Akimel O'odham – "River People").
The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community is smaller in size. It also has a government of an elected President and tribal council. They operate tribal gaming, industrial projects, landfills and construction supply. TheSalt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC) is home of theOnk Akimel O'odham (alsoOn'k Akimel Au-Authm – "Salt River People", a division of the Akimel O'odham – "River People"), theMaricopa of Lehi (call themselvesXalychidom Piipaa or Xalychidom Piipaash – "People who live toward the water", descendants of the refugeeHalchidhoma), the Tohono O'odham ("Desert People") and someKeli Akimel O'odham (alsoKeli Akimel Au-Authm – "Gila River People", another division of the Akimel O'odham – "River People").
The Ak-Chin Indian Community is located in the Santa Cruz Valley in Arizona. The community is composed mainly of Ak-Chin O'odham (Ak-Chin Au-Authm, also calledPima, another division of the Akimel O'odham – "River People") and Tohono O'odham, as well as someYoeme. As of 2000, the population living in the community was 742. Ak-Chin is an O'odham word that means the "mouth of the arroyo" or "place where the wash loses itself in the sand or ground."
The Keli Akimel O'odham and the Onk Akimel O'odham have various environmentally based health issues related to the decline of their traditional economy and farming. They have the highest prevalence oftype 2 diabetes in the world, much more than is observed in other U.S. populations. While they do not have a greater risk than other tribes, the Akimel O'odham people have been the subject of intensive study of diabetes, in part because they form a homogeneous group.[11]
The general increased diabetes prevalence amongNative Americans has been hypothesized as the result of the interaction of genetic predisposition (thethrifty phenotype orthrifty genotype), as suggested by anthropologist Robert Ferrell in 1984[11] and a sudden shift in diet during the last century from traditional agricultural crops to processed foods, together with a decline in physical activity. For comparison, genetically similar O'odham in Mexico have only a slighter higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes than non-O'odham Mexicans.[12]
Personal names are particularly important in Akimel O'odham society. From age ten until the time of marriage, neither boys nor girls were allowed to speak their own names out loud. Doing so can invoke bad luck to the children and their future. Similarly, people in the tribe do not say aloud the names of deceased people, in order to allow them to move on and to call their spirits back among the living.[citation needed]
The people gave their children careful verbal instruction in moral, religious, and other matters. Akimel O'odham ceremonies often included set speeches, in which the speaker would recite portions of their cosmic myth. Such a recounting was especially important in the preparation for war. These speeches were adapted for each occasion but the general context was the same.[citation needed]
Traditionally, the Akimel O'odham lived in a thatched wattle-and-daub houses, as seen by the early European-American settlers who ventured into their country:[13]
Their homes arejacales which are huts made of mats of reed-grass cut in half and built n the form of a vault on arched sticks. The top is covered with these mats, thick enough to resist the weather, Inside, they have only apetate on which to sleep, and gourds in which to carry and store water.
| Contemporary peoples native to Arizona | |
|---|---|
| Prehistoric cultures in Arizona | |
| National | |
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| Other | |
