The Oʼodham, Upper Oʼodham, or Upper Pima (Spanish: or ) are a group of Native American peoples including the

Akimel Oʼodham 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 ma ...

, 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 the

Hia C-eḍ Oʼodham 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 Colorado River, and the Gulf of California. They are ...

. Their historical territory is in the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It ...

in southern and central

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and northern

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

, and they are united by a common heritage language, the

Oʼodham language Oʼodham (, ) or Papago-Pima is a Uto-Aztecan language of southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico, where the Tohono Oʼodham (formerly called the Papago) and Akimel Oʼodham (traditionally called Pima) reside. In 2000 there were estima ...

. Today, many Oʼodham live in the

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 , approximately the size of Connecticut and ...

, the

San Xavier Indian Reservation The San Xavier Indian Reservation ( O’odham: Wa:k) is an Indian reservation of the Tohono O’odham Nation located near Tucson, Arizona, in the Sonoran Desert. The San Xavier Reservation lies in the southwestern part of the Tucson metropolitan ...

, the

Gila River Indian Community The Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) ( O'odham language: Keli Akimel Oʼotham, meaning "Gila River People", Maricopa language: Piipash) is an Indian reservation in the U.S. state of Arizona, lying adjacent to the south side of the cities of ...

, the

Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as ro ...

, 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,

or off-reservation in one of the cities or towns of Arizona. They have also historically been referred to as Hímeris. In the Oʼodham language, "

Oʼodham The Oʼodham, Upper Oʼodham, or Upper Pima (Spanish: or ) are a group of Native Americans in the United States, Native American peoples including the Akimel Oʼodham, the Tohono Oʼodham, and the Hia C-eḍ Oʼodham. Their historical territory ...

" literally means "person," "man," or "human being."

History

Most archaeologists believe the Oʼodham to be descended from the

Hohokam Hohokam was a culture in the Indigenous peoples of the North American Southwest, North American Southwest in what is now part of south-central Arizona, United States, and Sonora, Mexico. It existed between 300 and 1500 CE, with cultural p ...

, although some argue that one group invaded the other's territory. As of the late 1600s, Oʼodham

ranchería The Spanish word ranchería, or rancherío, refers to a small, rural settlement. In the Americas the term was applied to Indigenous peoples of the Americas, native villages or bunkhouses. Anglo-Americans adopted the term with both these meaning ...

s in the Santa Cruz River Valley included:

Language

The

, variously called ''Oʼodham ñeʼokĭ'', ''Oʼodham ñiʼokĭ'' or ''Oʼotham ñiok,'' is spoken by all Oʼodham groups. There are certain dialectal differences, but they are mutually intelligible and all Oʼodham groups can understand one another.

Lexicographical Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoretical lex ...

differences have arisen among the different groups, especially in reference to newer technologies and innovations.

Oʼodham sub-groups

The Pima Alto or Upper Pima groups were subdivided by scholars on the basis of cultural, economic and linguistic differences into two main groupings: One was known commonly as the ''Pima'' or ''River Pima''. Since the late 20th century, they have been called by their own name, or endonym: Akimel Oʼotham * Akimel Oʼodham (''Akimel Au-Authm,'' meaning "River People", often simply called ''Pima,'' by outsiders, lived north of and along the Gila, the Salt, and the Santa Cruz rivers in what is today defined as Arizona) ** On'k Akimel Oʼodham (''On'k Akimel Au-Authm'' – " Salt River People," lived and farmed along the Salt River), now included in the Salt River Indian Reservation. ** Keli Akimel O'otham (''Keli Akimel Au-Authm'', oft simply ''Akimel Oʼodham'' – "

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 ...

People", lived and farmed along the Gila River), now known as the

(GRIC) * Ak-Chin Oʼodham (''Ak-Chin Au-Authm''),

Sobaipuri The Sobaipuri were one of many Indigenous groups occupying Sonora and what is now Arizona at the time Europeans first entered the American Southwest. They were a Piman or O'odham group who occupied southern Arizona and northern Sonora (the Pimer� ...

, (also simply called ''Sobas'', called by the neighboring Akimel Oʼodham as Ṣáṣavino – "spotted"), originally lived in the valleys of the San Pedro River and Upper Santa Cruz River. In the early 18th century, they were gradually driven out of the lower San Pedro River valley. In the middle of the century, their remaining settlements along the upper San Pedro River were broken up by Arivaipa and Pinaleño Apache attacks. They moved west, seeking refuge among the Tohono Oʼodham and Akimel Oʼodham, with whom they merged. The other peoples are the Tohono Oʼodham or Desert Pima, enrolled in the

. *

("Desert People"); the neighboring Akimel Oʼodham called them ''Pahpah Au-Authm'' or ''Ba꞉bawĭkoʼa'' – "eating tepary beans", which was pronounced ''Papago'' by the Spanish. They lived in the semi-arid deserts and mountains south of present-day Tucson, Tubac, and south of the Gila River ** Kuitatk (''kúí tátk'') ** Sikorhimat (''sikol himadk'') ** Wahw Kihk (''wáw kéˑkk'') ** San Pedro (''wiwpul'') ** Tciaur (''jiawul dáhăk'') ** Anegam (''ʔáˑngam'' – "desert willow") ** Imkah (''ʔiˑmiga'') ** Tecolote (''kolóˑdi'', also ''cú´kud kúhūk'') *

("Sand Dune People", also known by the neighboring Oʼodham as ''Hia Tadk Ku꞉mdam'' – "Sand Root Crushers," commonly known as "Sand Pimas," lived west and southwest of the Tohono Oʼodham in the

Gran Desierto de Altar The Gran Desierto de Altar is one of the major sub-ecoregions of the Sonoran Desert, located in the State of Sonora, in northwest Mexico. It includes the only active erg dune region in North America. The desert extends across much of the northern ...

of the

between the Ajo Range, the

, 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 ...

south into northwestern Sonora, Mexico. There they were known to the Tohono Oʼodham as ''Uʼuva꞉k'' or ''Uʼuv Oopad,'' named after the Tinajas Altas Mountains.) ** Areneños Pinacateños or PinacateñosBecause of dialect variations, both groups of the Hia C-eḍ Oʼodham are sometimes known as ''Amargosa Areneños'' or ''Amargosa Pinacateños'' (lived in the

Sierra Pinacate The Pinacate Peaks (Sierra Pinacate, ) are a volcanic group, group of volcanic peaks and cinder cones located mostly in the Mexican state of Sonora along the international border adjacent to the U.S. state of Arizona, surrounded by the vas ...

, known as ''Cuk Do'ag'' by the Hia C-eḍ Oʼodham in the

Cabeza Prieta Mountains The Cabeza Prieta Mountains are a mountain range in the northwestern Sonoran Desert of southwest Arizona. It is located in southern Yuma County, Arizona. The mountain range is amongst an eleven-mountain sequence of north-trending ranges and va ...

in Arizona and Sonora) ** Areneños (lived in the ''Gran Desierto'' around the mountains, which were home to the Areneños Pinacateños)

References

{{authority control Native American tribes in Arizona Southwest tribes Indigenous peoples in Mexico Oasisamerica cultures