PIMA AND PAPAGO

PIMA INDIANS WERE IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA AND NORTHERN SONORA. THEIR NAME MEANS - I DON'T KNOW. THEY CALLED THEMSELVES THE RIVER PEOPLE. THE PIMA AND PAPAGO SPOKE UTO AZTECAN LANGUAGES.

THEY LIVED ALONG THE SALT AND GILA RIVERS AND ALONG THE RIVERS IN SONORA. THE PAPAGO LIVED TO THE WEST OF THE UPPER PIMAS. THE HOHOKAM ARE THE ANCESTORS OF THESE TRIBES AND THE WORD MEANS "VANISHED ONES". THEY USED ADVANCED AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATED THEIR CROPS. THEY DIVERTED WATER FROM RIVERS TO HAVE FIELDS OF CROPS SUCH AS CORN, SQUASH, BEANS, PUMPKINS AND TOBACCO. THE ANGLOS INTRODUCED WHEAT AND ALFALFA TO THEM.

THE MEN WERE THE FARMERS AND FISHERMEN AND HUNTED GAME ANIMALS. THEY ALSO BUILT THEIR HOMES OF POLE FRAMED STRUCTURES COVERED WITH GRASS AND MUD. THEY ALSO BUILT RAMADAS AND USED THEM AS CLUBHOUSES.

WOMEN GATHERED PLANTS AND SEEDS, THEY MADE BEAUTIFUL BASKETS, AND SHAPED RED AND BLACK POTTERY. THEY MADE CLOTHING OF SHREDDED BARK AND HIDE SANDALS AND RABBIT SKIN BLANKETS. MEN WOVE COTTON ON A HORIZONTAL TEAM, EACH LEADER OF A VILLAGE WAS THE KEEPER OF THE SMOKE. EACH LEADER OF AVILLAGE WAS THE KEEPER OF THE SMOKE. EACH VILLAGE HAD TWO CLANS WHO WERE ORGANIZED INTO CELEBRATING A HARVEST. AND THEIR GOD'S WERE ELDER BROTHER AND EARTHMAKER.

THE GILA RIVER PIMAS WERE ENDED UP SETTLING TO THE NORTH OF THE SALT RIVER WHERE THEIR RESERVATION WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1879. THE PIMAS SHARE THE SALT RIVER WITH THE MARICOPA AND YUMAN SPEAKING PEOPLE. THEY ARE YUMAN SPEAKING AND MIGRATED FROM THE WEST IN THE 1700S BECAUSE THE YUMANS MADE THE ATTACKS ON THEM AT THIS TIME. THE PIMAS HAVE A HIGH RATE OF DIABETES AS THEY ARE NOT THAT ACTIVE AND EAT TOO MUCH MODERN BOXED FOODS.

CARL WALDMAN