PIMA AND PAPAGO

PIMA INDIANS WERE IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA AND NORTHERN SONORA AND THE NAME MEANS "I DON'T KNOW". THEY CALLED THEMSELVES THE RIVER PEOPLE. THE PIMA AND PAPAGO SPOKE UTO AZTECAN LANGUAGES. THEY LIVED ALONG SALT AND GILA RIVERS AND IN SONORA THEY LIVED NEAR THE RIVERS. THE HOHOKAM ARE THE ANCESTORS OF THESE TRIBES AND IT IS A PIMA WORD = VANISHED ONES. THEY USED ADVANCED AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATED THEIR CROPS. THEY DIVERTED WATER FROM RIVERS TO THEIR CROPS BY BUILDING STONE LINED DITCHES. THEY PLANTED CORN, SQUASH, PUMPKINS, BEANS AND TOBACCO. THE ANGLOS BROUGHT WHEAT AND ALPHALPHA 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 HAD RAMADAS AND USED THEM AS CLUBHOUSES.

WOMEN GATHERED PLANTS AND AND SEEDS, THEY MADE CLOTHING OF SHREDDED BARK AND HIDE SANDALS AND SEWED RABBIT SKIN BLANKETS. MEN WOVE COTTON ON A BACKSTRAP LOOM.
EACH LEADER OF THE VILLAGE WAS THE KEEPER OF THE SMOKE. EACH VILLAGE HAD TWO CLANS WHO WERE ORGANIZED INTO CLANS AND OPPOSED EACH OTHER. EVERY FOUR YEARS THEY CELEBRATED A HARVEST OR A VIIKITA. AND THEIR THEIR GODS WERE ELDER BROTHER AND EARTHMAKER. THE GILA RIVER PIMAS 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. THE PIMAS MIGRATED FROM THE WEST INTO THE 1700'S BECAUSE THE YUMANS MADE ATTACKS ON THEM IN THE 1700'S. THE PIMAS ARE SUBJECT TO DIABETES AND HAVE A HIGH RATE OF THIS DISEASE AS THEY ARE NOT VERY ACTIVE.

THE PAPAGO SPENT WINTERS IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE STATE NEAR MOUNTAIN SPRINGS WHERE THEY HUNTED DEER AND OTHER GAME. WHEN FOOD WAS SCARCE THEY MOVED TO PIMA VILLAGES TO WORK UNDER THEIR TRIBAL LEADERS FOR FOOD.

THEY MADE USE OF MANY WILD PLANTS AS THEIR CROPS WERE DEPENDANT ON RAINFALL. THEY ATE THE FRUITS OF THE SAGUARO CACTUS FRESH OR DRIED. THEY ONLY HAD CONTACTS WITH THE WHITES IN THE 1600'S. THE EARLY SPANISH ESTABLISHED MISSIONS AMONG THE PAPAGOS. THE PAPAGO EARN INCOME FROM FARMING, RAISING CATTLE, AND ARTS AND CRAFTS. THEIR BASKETS ARE WORLD FAMOUS.

FREDERICK HOXIE