Author: Donnie

When I signed up for this class, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. I had never heard of the Tohono O’odham nation, and I certainly couldn’t pronounce their name correctly. Nonetheless, I was excited to have the opportunity to travel during spring term, and I was excited to learn about something new.  Once class began, I quickly realized that I was interested in the culture and history of the Tohono O’odham people, and my excitement continued to grow for the trip we would be taking.

The trip to Arizona was everything I expected (aside from the flight cancellations, I didn’t see that coming). We had opportunities to see the things we were studying in person, and meet with some of the most dedicated and prominent members of the Tohono O’odham nation. I may have learned most of my knowledge about the nation in the classroom, but I think that the people that we spoke to on the Nation were a crucial addition to the experience of our class.

Today, May 17th, we presented our posters at the library, and I felt that it was a great way to wrap up our class. I got to share my presentation with some friends, some professors, and even some new faces. While I was giving my presentations this afternoon, I realized how much I learned about not just the border wall issue, but about the Tohono O’odham nation in general. This was easily the best of my three spring terms at Washington and Lee; thank you everyone for being a part of it.

 

On May 7^th, we had the opportunity to sit down with the head of Public Safety for the Tohono O’odham tribe. This meeting was especially important to me because I am writing my paper on the U.S-Mexico border. He talked a lot about the jurisdiction of the Tohono O’odham police force, but I was more interested in the implications of illegal immigrants and drug smugglers crossing the border. I was surprised by the capital cost of immigrants that are found dead on O’odham land and require an autopsy, which he said cost the nation 3 million dollars per year. Additionally, I got to ask him about a possible alternative to the proposed border wall, which would be a road along the border through the Tohono O’odham nation. He seemed to think that if a road was constructed (beyond the utility road already in place) that further illegal activity would occur as a result. I’m not sure if that would be the case if the border road was heavily staffed 24/7, but perhaps he is right. This is something that greatly interests me, and I will continue to research as I write my paper.

On May 7^th, Joe Joaquin came to eat dinner with us. We had salad, rolls, and spaghetti with meat, cheese and red pepper flakes. Everyone that cooked did an awesome job. Tonight really felt like a family dinner; everyone really seemed to be enjoying themselves. After dinner, it was awesome to hear Joe Joaquin speak about the salt pilgrimage. During class, we have discussed the salt pilgrimage several times, but it felt much more authentic coming directly from Mr. Joaquin. Further, I recognized some of his stories that Harvey had passed on to us in class (such as the example of the man scared of the big wave), but Joaquin added spirit and humor that elevated his stories. Overall, I feel like Joe Joaquin embodies everything we have been studying over the past couple of weeks, and it was an honor to meet him.

On may 6^th, we stopped by Tohono O’odham Community College (TOCC) on our way to Sells. While we were there, we got the opportunity to meet with the president of the college to discuss its objectives and achievements. I was really interested by the sense of comradery that the community college had with the Apache tribe. To elaborate, TOCC adopted a non-accredited Apache college so that their tribe members could get an education from an accredited college. The idea there is that once the Apache college is ready to get accredited, it will branch off and become its own college, but the O’odham are helping their tribe members get degrees in the meantime. I was interested to hear about this, especially considering the Apaches used to raid O’odham villages in centuries past. This really shows a sense of community between modern Native American tribes.

As a side note, we had squash spaghetti served to us for lunch, and I’ve never had anything like that before. I was initially expecting traditional spaghetti served in a squash-based sauce, but instead the actual “spaghetti” was strings of squash, and the whole thing was served inside a hollowed out squash! I was not expecting such a unique dish, but I was pleasantly surprised; it was quite good.

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Today we went on a hike along King’s Canyon trail. I was expecting the hike to be a lot more difficult than it turned out to be, I guess I’m used to Virginia mountains. At first, we hiked inside of an arroyo, which is an old dried out river bed. In the arroyo, it felt like we were walking on the beach because the ground was so dry and loose like sand. Our path was almost like walking in a canyon, and the walls on either side of us casted shade, and I was afraid to get too fair in the shade because of snakes. Eventually, we left the arroyo and hiked on a more traditional trail towards a mountain peak. Although we didn’t go all the way to the top, our group still got some amazing views along the way.

After that hike, we went to a scenic viewpoint located nearby, from which you could see a gigantic valley. To the right of the designated viewpoint was a steep mountain with no real path to climb it, but Evan, Pat, and I made our way to the top, and found a nice little bench to sit on and view the valley. Naturally, I got some awesome photos from up there, and I’ve attached one of my favorites below!

On may 4^th we went to the Desert Museum after we visited the San Xavier mission. The museum was entirely outdoor and featured some incredible wildlife exhibits. In addition to the wildlife that was specifically displayed in exhibits, there were also several animals free roaming the zoo, such as lizards and what seemed to be desert squirrels.

What I appreciated the most about this zoo was how close I was able to get to some incredible predators such as bobcats, Mexican wolves, and a mountain lion. The zoo solidified for me that the Tohono O’odham’s home is shared with some beautiful creatures, but also home to some incredibly dangerous species.

In addition to the wildlife at the zoo, the gift shop also had some authentic Tohono O’odham baskets for sale. I’ve been hoping to buy something like that while I am here, but I thought that they might be cheaper at a local store instead of a gift shop at a museum. At first, I was startled by how expensive the large baskets are (some were up to $700), but I realized that these baskets are all hand woven with care, and surely take an incredible time commitment to complete. Hopefully, I will find somewhere else on the reservation to buy a small basket to give to my mom for Mother’s Day.

 

On May 4^th, we went to the San Xavier Mission on the Tohono O’odham land. There, we met Joe Joaquin’s nephew, Angleo, who was kind enough to speak with our class about the O’odham. I was impressed by his knowledge of every subject that people in our class were curious about. In particular, I found his discussions on the O’odham language and geography to be quite intriguing.

Joe’s nephew talked to our class about the ways in which the O’odham language has been preserved by its people, which began with an official transcription of the language into writing. From there, the O’odham people were able to teach the language in their school systems, which meant that the percentage of O’odham that can speak the language rose greatly. However, once the casinos started paying dividends to the O’odham people, more members that didn’t grow up on the reservation began to officially join the tribe, and the percentage numbers dropped once again. Even though the percentage numbers may have declined, it still seems to me that the nominal amount of O’odham speakers has increased, which is fantastic.

Additionally, Angleo talked to us for a while about the landscape of the reservation. Although we couldn’t see Baboquivari from the place we were standing, we still got an incredible look at the mountains around the reservation. Joe’s son told us about mountains named after animals such as Horned Frog Mountain. It was clear that all of the mountains were named a very long time ago, and that those traditional names are never going to leave the O’odham.

Both of these topics, along with most of the others we discussed have a common theme of preserving the old ways of the Tohono O’odham. Those traditions are the identity of the tribe, and to lose those cherished traditions would be a tragedy.

On our first full day in Arizona, we visited two historic Hohokam sites: Pueblo Grande and Casa Grande. Both sites were built over 1000 years ago, and what really stood out to me was the ability of this ancient civilization to create buildings and canals on such a large scale.

Both Pueblo Grande and Casa Grande have been preserved by archaeologists in the modern day, and it was amazing to be able to get so close to the structures. When we were in the museum at Pueblo Grande, we got a look at some of the tools that the Hohokam used to create their canals and buildings. I was stunned by the simplicity of their tools, especially the “digging sticks” used to dig the canals. I can barely imagine digging a 10 x 30 foot canal with proper shovels, let alone sticks.

I think that the lack of proper construction tools really speaks volumes about the Hohokam people’s refusal to migrate away from their sacred lands. It took extraordinary efforts from every adult in the community to build these structures and canal systems when they could have migrated to somewhere with greater rainfall. Admittedly they did do this eventually (we think); however, this still illustrates the idea of place centeredness in Native American cosmology.

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