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Tohono Oʼodham Nation
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Tohono Oʼodham Nation
The Tohono Oʼodham Nation is the collective government body of the Tohono Oʼodham tribe in the United States. The Tohono Oʼodham Nation governs four separate sections of land with a combined area of 2.8 million acres (11,330 km2), approximately the size of Connecticut and the second-largest Indigenous land holding in the United States. These lands are in the Sonoran Desert of south central Arizona and border the Mexico–United States border for 74 miles (119 km). The Nation is organized into 11 local districts and has a tripartite system of government. Sells is the Nation's largest community and functions as its capital. The Nation has about 34,000 enrolled members, most of whom live off of the reservations.
In 1874, President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant signed an executive order creating the San Xavier Indian Reservation, surrounding the 18th-century Mission San Xavier del Bac. In 1882, President Chester A. Arthur signed an executive order creating the Gila Bend Indian Reservation as additional lands for the Tohono Oʼodham people. In 1916, a third reservation was created by executive order with Indian Oasis (now Sells, Arizona) as its headquarters. In 1937, The Tohono Oʼodham Nation, then called the Papagos Tribe of Arizona, adopted its first constitution.
In 1960, the Army Corps of Engineers completed construction of the Painted Rock Dam on the Gila River. Flood waters impounded by the dam periodically inundated approximately 10,000 acres (40 km2) of the Gila Bend Indian Reservation. The area the tribe lost contained a 750-acre (3.0 km2) farm and several communities. Residents were relocated to a 40-acre (160,000 m2) parcel of land named San Lucy Village, near Gila Bend, Arizona. In January 1986, the enrolled members of the three reservations adopted a new tribal constitution that changed the tribe name from Papago Tribe of Arizona to the Tohono Oʼodham Nation and adopted a three-branch form of government. Also in 1986, the federal government and the Nation approved a settlement whereby the Nation agreed to give up its legal claims in exchange for $30,000,000 and the right to add replacement land to its reservation.
In 2009, the tribe announced that it had purchased approximately 135 acres (0.55 km2) near Glendale, Arizona. The city of Glendale and the Gila River Indian Community opposed attempts to develop the land though court challenges and supporting a measure passed by the Arizona House of Representatives that would allow the city of Glendale to incorporate land the tribe owned, making it ineligible for inclusion within the reservation. As of March 2014[update], after a change of heart, the City of Glendale has been negotiating with the Nation over its proposed West Valley casino. The McCain-Franks bill was designed to prohibit the Glendale project and in the process would have changed federal law by unilaterally repealing critical parts of the Gila Bend Indian Reservation Lands Replacement Act, which was passed to settle a dispute over federal flooding of tribal reservation lands.
In 2009, the Nation acquired 650 acres (2.6 km2) of land near Why, Arizona, with the intention of eventually creating a new district of the Tohono Oʼodham Nation for the Hia C-eḍ Oʼodham. On October 30, 2012, a new tribal law created the Hia-Ced District as the new 12th district of the Tohono Oʼodham Nation. On April 25, 2015, the Hia-Ced District was dissolved by referendum vote, returning the Nation to its original 11 districts.
Most Tohono Oʼodham people live in the United States. A small number are across the international border in northwestern Mexico. The Tohono Oʼodham Nation speaks a common language, Oʼodham, which is the 10th most-spoken indigenous language in the United States. While the people are nominally Catholic, the Nation's schools teach native language and culture.
The Nation has about 34,000 enrolled members. Most of its members live off the reservations. The main reservation, Tohono Oʼodham Indian Reservation, has a resident population of about 11,000. The San Xavier Indian Reservation has a resident population of 1,200. The Gila Bend Indian Reservation has a population of about 1,700, and Florence Village has a population of about 195. The remaining roughly 14,600 members live off the reservations.
The lands of the Nation are in the Sonoran Desert in south central Arizona, in areas of a series of parallel mountains and valleys. The vegetation is consistent with other parts of the Sonoran Desert. Saguaro cactus, Cholla, prickly pear, palo verde, velvet mesquite, whitethorn acacia, desert ironwood, and willow are the dominant vegetation in the landscape. The landscape is interspersed with plains and mountains. These include the Quinlan and Baboquivari Mountains, which include Kitt Peak, the Kitt Peak National Observatory and telescopes, and Baboquivari Peak.
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Tohono Oʼodham Nation
The Tohono Oʼodham Nation is the collective government body of the Tohono Oʼodham tribe in the United States. The Tohono Oʼodham Nation governs four separate sections of land with a combined area of 2.8 million acres (11,330 km2), approximately the size of Connecticut and the second-largest Indigenous land holding in the United States. These lands are in the Sonoran Desert of south central Arizona and border the Mexico–United States border for 74 miles (119 km). The Nation is organized into 11 local districts and has a tripartite system of government. Sells is the Nation's largest community and functions as its capital. The Nation has about 34,000 enrolled members, most of whom live off of the reservations.
In 1874, President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant signed an executive order creating the San Xavier Indian Reservation, surrounding the 18th-century Mission San Xavier del Bac. In 1882, President Chester A. Arthur signed an executive order creating the Gila Bend Indian Reservation as additional lands for the Tohono Oʼodham people. In 1916, a third reservation was created by executive order with Indian Oasis (now Sells, Arizona) as its headquarters. In 1937, The Tohono Oʼodham Nation, then called the Papagos Tribe of Arizona, adopted its first constitution.
In 1960, the Army Corps of Engineers completed construction of the Painted Rock Dam on the Gila River. Flood waters impounded by the dam periodically inundated approximately 10,000 acres (40 km2) of the Gila Bend Indian Reservation. The area the tribe lost contained a 750-acre (3.0 km2) farm and several communities. Residents were relocated to a 40-acre (160,000 m2) parcel of land named San Lucy Village, near Gila Bend, Arizona. In January 1986, the enrolled members of the three reservations adopted a new tribal constitution that changed the tribe name from Papago Tribe of Arizona to the Tohono Oʼodham Nation and adopted a three-branch form of government. Also in 1986, the federal government and the Nation approved a settlement whereby the Nation agreed to give up its legal claims in exchange for $30,000,000 and the right to add replacement land to its reservation.
In 2009, the tribe announced that it had purchased approximately 135 acres (0.55 km2) near Glendale, Arizona. The city of Glendale and the Gila River Indian Community opposed attempts to develop the land though court challenges and supporting a measure passed by the Arizona House of Representatives that would allow the city of Glendale to incorporate land the tribe owned, making it ineligible for inclusion within the reservation. As of March 2014[update], after a change of heart, the City of Glendale has been negotiating with the Nation over its proposed West Valley casino. The McCain-Franks bill was designed to prohibit the Glendale project and in the process would have changed federal law by unilaterally repealing critical parts of the Gila Bend Indian Reservation Lands Replacement Act, which was passed to settle a dispute over federal flooding of tribal reservation lands.
In 2009, the Nation acquired 650 acres (2.6 km2) of land near Why, Arizona, with the intention of eventually creating a new district of the Tohono Oʼodham Nation for the Hia C-eḍ Oʼodham. On October 30, 2012, a new tribal law created the Hia-Ced District as the new 12th district of the Tohono Oʼodham Nation. On April 25, 2015, the Hia-Ced District was dissolved by referendum vote, returning the Nation to its original 11 districts.
Most Tohono Oʼodham people live in the United States. A small number are across the international border in northwestern Mexico. The Tohono Oʼodham Nation speaks a common language, Oʼodham, which is the 10th most-spoken indigenous language in the United States. While the people are nominally Catholic, the Nation's schools teach native language and culture.
The Nation has about 34,000 enrolled members. Most of its members live off the reservations. The main reservation, Tohono Oʼodham Indian Reservation, has a resident population of about 11,000. The San Xavier Indian Reservation has a resident population of 1,200. The Gila Bend Indian Reservation has a population of about 1,700, and Florence Village has a population of about 195. The remaining roughly 14,600 members live off the reservations.
The lands of the Nation are in the Sonoran Desert in south central Arizona, in areas of a series of parallel mountains and valleys. The vegetation is consistent with other parts of the Sonoran Desert. Saguaro cactus, Cholla, prickly pear, palo verde, velvet mesquite, whitethorn acacia, desert ironwood, and willow are the dominant vegetation in the landscape. The landscape is interspersed with plains and mountains. These include the Quinlan and Baboquivari Mountains, which include Kitt Peak, the Kitt Peak National Observatory and telescopes, and Baboquivari Peak.
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