The Hia C-eḍ Oʼodham ("Sand Dune People"), also known as Areneños or Sand Papagos, are a Native American peoples whose traditional homeland lies between the Ajo Range, the

Gila River The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of ...

, the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

, and the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...

. They are currently unrecognized at both the state and federal level in the United States and Mexico, although the Tohono Oʼodham Nation has a committee for issues related to them and has land held in trust for them. They are represented by a community organization known as the Hia-Ced Oʼodham Alliance. The Hia C-eḍ Oʼodham are no longer nomadic, and the majority today live in or near

Ajo, Arizona Ajo ( ) is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community in Pima County, Arizona, United States. It is the closest community to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The population was 3,039 at the 2020 United States census, ...

, or the small settlements of Blaisdell and

Dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

near Yuma.

Tribal relations

They have often been considered a "Papago subtribe" by anthropologists, along with the

Tohono Oʼodham The Tohono Oʼodham ( , ) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American people of the Sonoran Desert, residing primarily in the U.S. state of Arizona and the northern Mexican state of Sonora. The United States federally recognized t ...

and several groups that vanished or merged with the Tohono Oʼodham. Anybody who can prove Hia C-eḍ Oʼodham ancestry meeting Tohono Oʼodham Nation

blood quantum Blood quantum laws or Indian blood laws are laws that define Native Americans in the United States status by fractions of Native American ancestry. These laws were enacted by the Federal government of the United States, federal government and S ...

can apply for membership in the Tohono Oʼodham Nation. Some Hia C-eḍ Oʼodham people are enrolled in the

Ak-Chin Indian Community The Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak-Chin) Indian Reservation ( O'odham language: ʼAkĭ Ciñ O'odham) is a federally recognized tribe and Native American community located in the Santa Cruz Valley in Pinal County, Arizona,

. Along with the

Akimel O'odham The Akimel O'odham (Oʼodham language, 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 Ch ...

and the Tohono O'odham, the Hia C-eḍ Oʼodham are members of the O'odham people.

Recent history

On February 24, 2009, 642.27 acres of land near

Why, Arizona Why is an unincorporated area, unincorporated rural community in Pima County, Arizona, Pima County, Arizona, United States. It lies near the western border of the Tohono Oʼodham Indian Reservation and due north of Organ Pipe Cactus National Mo ...

, which were previously purchased by the Tohono Oʼodham Nation, were acquired in trust for the Nation. This was done 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 went into effect creating the "Hia Ced District" as a new 12th district of the Tohono Oʼodham nation, with the trust land near Why as its initial land base. For three years after the effective date, previously enrolled members of the Tohono Oʼodham Nation had the right to request that their district designation be reassigned to the new district. People applying for tribal enrollment could also request the Hia Ced District as their district designation. Following controversy over its management and expenditures, the new district was dissolved in accordance with an initiative approved by voters of the Tohono Oʼodham Nation on April 25, 2015. Property and funds of the Hia Ced District reverted to the Nation, and members' enrollment reverted to their previous district. In December 2015, former leaders of the Hia Ced District announced the formation of an organization called Hia-Ced Hemajkam, LLC, whose goal would be to seek federal recognition of the Hia-Ced Oʼodham as a distinct Indian tribe.

Culture

Due to geographical proximity, certain cultural traits were borrowed from the Yuman peoples, with some sources implying that their

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

was more Yuman than it was Piman, with the exception of their language. According to historical sources, the Hia C-eḍ Oʼodham were friendly with the

Cocopah The Cocopah ( Cocopah: Xawiƚƚ Kwñchawaay) are Native Americans who live in Baja California, Mexico, and Arizona, United States. In the United States, Cocopah people belong to the federally recognized Cocopah Tribe of Arizona. Name The ...

, the

Quechan The Quechan ( Quechan: ''Kwatsáan'' 'those who descended'), or Yuma, are a Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the Mexican border. Despite ...

, and the Halchidhoma.

Cuisine

The Hia C-eḍ Oʼodham were traditionally hunters and gatherers. They caught

jackrabbits Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The genu ...

by chasing them down in the sand. They hunted mountain sheep,

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

, and

pronghorn The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American ante ...

with bows and arrows. They caught

muskrat The muskrat or common muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over various climates ...

s and

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

s as well. During certain seasons, they went to the gulf to fish and obtain salt. They also ate '' Pholisma sonorae'', an edible flower stalk called ''camote'' and "sand food" found in the sand dunes, mesquite beans,

saguaro The saguaro ( , ; ''Carnegiea gigantea'') is a tree-like cactus species in the monotypic genus ''Carnegiea'' that can grow to be over tall. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, and the Whipple Mountains ...

fruit, and

pitaya Pitaya () or pitahaya () (common names strawberry pear or dragon fruit) is the fruit of several cactus species indigenous to the region of southern Mexico and along the Pacific coasts of Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador. Pitaya is cult ...

, which they gathered near Quitobaquito and the Lower Sonoita River.Hoover, J. W. 1935. Generic Descent of the Papago Villages. American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 37, No. 2, Part 1, pp. 257-264.

Notes

References

* Oral and Documentary Report for the Hia C-ed Oʼodham Alliance and Native Lands Institute February 1997 Draft * Griffin-Pierce, Trudy. 2000. ''Native Peoples of the Southwest''. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

External links

Hia-Ced Hemajkam, LLC
– group with the mission of preserving Hia-Ced Oʼodham culture and seeking federal recognition as a tribe {{DEFAULTSORT:Hia C-Ed Oʼodham Tohono O'odham Native American tribes in Arizona Indigenous peoples of Aridoamerica Gila River Uto-Aztecan peoples