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58-674: The historic Yuman-speaking people in this region were skilled warriors and active traders, maintaining exchange networks with the Pima in southern Arizona, New Mexico, and with peoples of the Pacific coast. The first significant contact of the Quechan with Europeans was with the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and his party in the winter of 1774. Relations were friendly. On Anza's return from his second trip to Alta California in 1776,

116-536: A council representing individual subgovernments. It is self-governed by an elected Governor (currently Gregory Mendoza ), Lieutenant Governor (currently Stephen 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,

174-544: 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. 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

232-599: A division of the Akimel O'odham – "River People"), the Maricopa of Lehi (call themselves Xalychidom Piipaa or Xalychidom Piipaash – "People who live toward the water", descendants of the refugee Halchidhoma ), the Tohono O'odham ("Desert People") and some Keli Akimel O'odham (also Keli Akimel Au-Authm – "Gila River People", another division of the Akimel O'odham – "River People"). The Ak-Chin Indian Community

290-477: 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. The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community ( SRPMIC ) is home of the Onk Akimel O'odham (also On'k Akimel Au-Authm – "Salt River People",

348-515: A few more. Kroeber estimated the population of the Quechan in 1910 as 750. By 1950, there were reported to be just under 1,000 Quechan living on the reservation and more than 1,100 off it (Forbes 1965:343). The 2000 census reported a resident population of 2,376 persons on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation. As of 2023, there are about 4,000 active members of the tribe living on or near the reservation. The Quechan language

406-598: A hidden water source. The Yuma route was a trail that ran from Southern New Mexico and reached Chihuahua and Sonora . The trail branched out even further to reach the Los Angeles Basin , San Diego , Colorado River and the Gila River . This route was well established before the arrival of the Spanish, and used as a trade route amongst the tribes of the areas. At first, the Spanish used minor portions of

464-417: 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 of Maricopa ( Piipaa, Piipaash or Pee-Posh – "People") and Keli Akimel O'odham (also Keli Akimel Au-Authm – "Gila River People",

522-530: A mission where all people would live together instead of in a hierarchy. Alongside the promise, de Anza gave Palma’s people horses, steel weapons, clothes, and iron as a token of allegiance. This allegiance would soon sour as the bureaucracy of the Spanish Empire would cause major delays to the construction of the missions. When the Spanish’s first gifts arrived in 1780, they would be more of a bad omen than

580-490: A rival ferry service on the Colorado River. During which, the historic Fort Yuma was built across the Colorado River from the present day Yuma, Arizona . The Sierra de las Pintas was a mountain range that most Spanish expeditions would actively avoid. Spanish explorers were able to see the range, but avoided exploring due to the Quechan informing them that it was uninhabitable and had no drinkable water sources. When

638-681: 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 of Tempe Town Lake in 1998, and was a cause for minor celebration in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community . The diversion of

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696-526: A sign of friendship as the livestock being herded to them would go and trample most of if not all the Quechan’s crops. That year there was severe lack of rain thus forcing the Quechan to raid another nearby tribe known as the Maricopa . The following year, two high members of the tribe were arrested for allegedly plotting to assassinate a high-ranking officer. One of the natives was placed in stocks to humiliate them and this caused Palma to finally turn his back on

754-610: 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 the Gila and Salt Rivers since long before European contact. Their way of life ( himdagĭ , sometimes rendered in English as Him-dag )

812-404: Is a part of the Quechan's traditional lands. Established in 1884, the reservation, at 32°47′N 114°39′W  /  32.783°N 114.650°W  / 32.783; -114.650 , has a land area of 178.197 km (68.802 sq mi) in southeastern Imperial County, California , and western Yuma County, Arizona , near the city of Yuma, Arizona . Both the county and city are named for

870-484: Is covered with these mats, thick enough to resist the weather, Inside, they have only a petate on which to sleep, and gourds in which to carry and store water. Cochim%C3%AD The Cochimí were the indigenous inhabitants of the central part of the Baja California peninsula , from El Rosario in the north to San Javier in the south. Information on Cochimí customs and beliefs has been preserved in

928-586: Is located in the Santa Cruz Valley in Arizona. The community is composed mainly of Ak-Chin O'odham ( Ak-Chin Au-Authm , also called Pima , another division of the Akimel O'odham – "River People") and Tohono O'odham, as well as some Yoeme . 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

986-466: Is part of the Yuman language family . The Quechan tribe, in partnership with linguists, have created a fully detailed language guide. This guide includes sections about their alphabet along with the different words for actions, animals, the body, colors, directions, family and friends, house, money, nature and the environment, numbers, place names, plants, time, and shapes. The Fort Yuma Indian Reservation

1044-685: The Ak-Chin Indian Community ( Ak-Chin O'odham ); and the Tohono O'odham Nation ( Tohono O'odham – "Desert People"). The remaining band, the Hia C-ed O'odham ("Sand Dune People"), are not federally recognized, but reside throughout southwestern Arizona. Today the GRIC is a sovereign tribe residing on more than 550,000 acres (2,200 km ) of land in central Arizona. The community is divided into seven districts (similar to states) with

1102-732: The California Gold Rush began, drawing Americans to travel to California through the Mexican territory between Mesilla and the Colorado River crossings near Yuma , on what became known as the Southern 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

1160-511: The Dominicans , created the final new mission among the Cochimí at El Rosario (1774). Decimated by epidemics of Old World diseases, the Cochimí population declined, until sometime in the nineteenth or possibly the early twentieth century their language and traditional culture became extinct. The Cochimí were hunter-gatherers, without agriculture or metallurgy. Pottery-making may have reached

1218-547: The Jesuits established missions on the peninsula in the late seventeenth century. Eusebio Francisco Kino made an abortive foundation at San Bruno , to the north of Loreto, in 1683-1685. Juan María de Salvatierra began the first successful mission in 1697 at Loreto among the Monqui , who were southern neighbors of the Cochimí. This was quickly followed by Francesco Maria Piccolo's Cochimí mission at San Javier in 1699. Over

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1276-700: The Pima Outbreak , was a revolt of Akimel O'odham people in 1751 against colonial forces in Spanish Arizona and one of the major northern frontier conflicts in early New 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

1334-583: The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC). Both tribes are confederations of two distinct ethnicities, which include the Maricopa . Within the O'odham people, four federally recognized tribes in the Southwest speak the same language: they are called the Gila River Indian Community ( Keli Akimel O'odham – " Gila River People"); the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community ( Onk Akimel O'odham – " Salt River People");

1392-539: The Upper O'odham , also called Upper Pima or Pima Alto, was called Pimería Alta by the Spanish. The Akimel O'odham had lived along the Gila , Salt , Yaqui , and Sonora rivers in ranchería -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 are matrilocal , with daughters and their husbands living with and near

1450-562: The chief of the tribe and three of his men journeyed to Mexico City to petition the Viceroy of New Spain for the establishment of a mission . The chief Palma and his three companions were baptized in Mexico City on February 13, 1777. Palma was given the Spanish baptismal name Salvador Carlos Antonio . Once the initial contact had been made, The Quechan people seemed inviting toward Juan Bautista de Anza . He promised them to set up

1508-478: The famine years. Many Oʼodham have believed these wrong and misguided government policies were an attempt of mass genocide . 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

1566-599: The Akimel Oʼodham in the middle Gila Valley increased after 1846 as a result of the Mexican–American War . The Akimel Oʼodham traded and gave aid to the expeditions of Stephen Watts Kearny and Philip St. George Cooke on their way to California. After Mexico'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

1624-515: 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 by Father Kino to their villages in 1694. The Pima Revolt , also known as the O'odham Uprising or

1682-532: 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

1740-729: The Keli Akimel Oʼodham on the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) and the On'k Akimel O'odham on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC). The Akimel O'odham are closely related to the Ak-Chin O'odham , now forming the Ak-Chin Indian Community . They are also related to the Sobaipuri , whose descendants reside on the San Xavier Indian Reservation or Wa꞉k (together with the Tohono O'odham ), and in

1798-785: The Pima. English-speaking traders, explorers, and settlers adopted this term. The Akimel O'odham called themselves Othama 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 District #1 – U's kehk (Blackwater), District #2 – Hashan Kehk (Saguaro Stand), District #3 – Gu꞉U Ki (Sacaton), District #4 – Santan, District #5 – Vah Ki (Casa Blanca), District #6 – Komatke ( Sierra Estrella Mountains ), and District #7 – Maricopa Colony. The territory of

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1856-530: The Quechan people near La Frontera returned to their original ways of religious practice as soon as the mission priests left and no one replaced them. After the United States annexed the territories after winning the Mexican–American War , it engaged in the Yuma War from 1850 to 1853 in response to a conflict between the Quechan and Jaeger's Ferry and the Glanton Gang , after the Quechan had established

1914-463: The Quechan people on his own. Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially (see population of Native California ). Alfred L. Kroeber (1925:883) put the 1770 population of the Quechan at 2,500. Jack D. Forbes (1965:341–343) compiled historical estimates and suggested that before they were first contacted, the Quechan had numbered 4,000 or

1972-493: The Salt River Indian Community. Together with the related Tohono O'odham ("Desert People") and the Hia C-ed O'odham ("Sand Dune People"), the Akimel O'odham form the Upper O'odham . The short name, Pima , is believed to have come from the phrase pi 'añi mac or pi mac, meaning "I don't know," which they used repeatedly in their initial meetings with Spanish colonists. The Spanish referred to them as

2030-533: 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 m ) 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

2088-518: The Spanish had the Yumans guide them through the Sierra de las Pintas, they would take the Spanish to an area with little to no water in order to discourage further exploration. The Spanish later on attempted to explore the mountain range, searching for water in creative ways. Explorers would follow herds of Bighorn Sheep up the mountain or by chance would find small patches of vegetation pointing toward

2146-406: The Spanish. Spanish settlement among the Quechan did not go smoothly; the tribe rebelled from July 17–19, 1781 and killed four priests and thirty soldiers. They also attacked and damaged the Spanish mission settlements of San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer and Puerto de Purísima Concepción , killing many. The following year, the Spanish retaliated with military action against the tribe. After 1840,

2204-484: The area of textiles and produced intricate baskets as well as woven cloth. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, their primary military rivals were the Apache and Yavapai , 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

2262-487: The brief observations by explorers but, above all, in the writings of the Jesuits (Aschmann 1959; Laylander 2000; Mathes 2006). Particularly important and detailed are the works of Miguel Venegas (1757, 1979) and Miguel del Barco (1973). The Cochimí were first encountered by Spanish seaborne explorers during the sixteenth century, including Ulloa , Cabrillo , Vizcaíno , and others. Sporadic encounters continued until

2320-582: The construction of a water storage dam on the Gila River. It provided for the irrigation of 50,000 acres (200 km ) of Indian and 50,000 acres (200 km ) 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

2378-480: 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. The O'odham language , variously called O'odham ñeʼokĭ , O'odham ñiʼokĭ or Oʼotham 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

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2436-489: 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 extensive irrigation system to compensate for arid conditions. 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

2494-459: 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 m ) parcel of irrigable land located within districts irrigated by

2552-414: 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

2610-684: The next seven decades, the frontier of Jesuit control over the Cochimí gradually extended northward, with missions at Mulegé (1705), Comondú (1708), La Purísima (1720), Guadalupe (1720), San Ignacio (1728), Santa Gertrudis (1751), San Borja (1762), and Santa María (1767). After the Spanish crown expelled the Jesuits from Baja California in 1768, the Franciscans under Junípero Serra established an additional mission at San Fernando Velicatá (1769) on their way north to Alta California. The Franciscans' successors in Baja California,

2668-412: The northern Cochimí before Spanish contact ( Rogers 1945). Their material culture was generally simple, but it suited their arid environment and mobile lifestyle. The highest level of social organization was the autonomous local community, and inter-community conflicts appear to have been frequent. Among the unusual cultural traits noted for the Cochimí and some of their neighbors were the second harvest of

2726-644: 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

2784-434: The pitahaya, the maroma , wooden tablas , and human-hair capes: The Cochimí spoke a set of dialects or closely related languages that have been classified in a variety of ways. The most prominent division, between Northern Cochimí and Southern Cochimí, has generally been put to the south of San Ignacio (Mixco 1978, 1979, 2006; Laylander 1997). At one time designated "Peninsular Yuman", Cochimí bears an evident relationship to

2842-414: The preparation for war. These speeches were adapted for each occasion but the general context was the same. 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: Their homes are jacales 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

2900-720: The remaining deserts to the west. The American era (A.D. 1853–1950), began in 1853 with the Gadsden Purchase , when the US acquired southern Arizona. New markets were developed, initially to supply immigrants heading for California. Grain was needed for horses of the Butterfield Overland Mail and for the military during the American Civil War . As a result, the Akimel Oʼodham experienced a period of prosperity. The Gila River Indian Community (GRIC)

2958-461: 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 of type 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

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3016-466: The subject of intensive study of diabetes, in part because they form a homogeneous group. The general increased diabetes prevalence among Native Americans has been hypothesized as the result of the interaction of genetic predisposition (the thrifty phenotype or thrifty genotype ), as suggested by anthropologist Robert Ferrell in 1984 and a sudden shift in diet during the last century from traditional agricultural crops to processed foods, together with

3074-538: The trail. It was not until San Diego and Monterey were established that they needed a more reliable and faster path. The path was first walked by Sebastian Taraval, a Cochimi indigenous who fled from San Gabriel. Sebastian was then followed by Captain Juan Bautista de Anza. Anza was only able to follow Sebastian to the Imperial Valley Kamia village, where he lost Sebastian and was forced to reach

3132-406: 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. 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

3190-466: The tribe. Pima people The Akimel O'odham ( O'odham for "river people"), also called the Pima , are an Indigenous people of the Americas living in the United States in central and southern Arizona and northwestern Mexico in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua . The majority population of the two current bands of the Akimel O'odham in the United States is based in two reservations:

3248-403: 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 recognized Gila 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

3306-402: 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

3364-515: Was established in 1859. The 1860 census records the Akimel O'odham villages as Agua Raiz , Arenal, Casa Blanca, Cachanillo , Cerrito, Cerro Chiquito, El Llano, and Hormiguero . After the American Civil War, numerous Euroamerican 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

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