Native American History

Arizona GeographyGCU 221

Game Plan

• Native Americans in Arizona• Southwestern tribes before Columbus• Anasazi Ancestors: Hopi• Hohokam Ancestors: Tohono O'odham and

Akimel O'odham • Athabaskan Arrivals: Navajo

Native Americans: 21 tribes in AZ250,000 people

Pre-Spanish Native America• The North American native population was

likely between 50 and 100 million people.• After their arrival, their population dropped to

237,000.• Deaths from: Disease (small pox, typhus,

measles, influenza, bubonic plague, cholera, malaria, tuberculosis, mumps, yellow fever, and whooping cough), War, Massacre, Displacement

• Part of Globalization 1.0

North America Population loss from

1500-1700

Hopi• Former Anasazi people and share religion, including

kivas.• Very religious, focus on pacifism, corn, and rainfall• Sustainable dryland farmers (700 years) growing

corn, beans, and squash: 1. Plant seeds deep 2. Plant in clumps 3. Space plants far apart 4. Leave stalks on the field

• Reservation surrounded by the Navajo Nation, their old enemies.

• Peabody Coal mine issues

Hopi

Hopi

Hopi

Hopi

Nineteen members of the Hopi tribe incarcerated at Alcatraz in 1895 for not “farming” correctly.

Hopi

1931: Einstein visits the Hopi house at the Grand Canyon.

Hopi

In 1850, ask for help from Americans to protect them from Navajo raiding.

Hopi

1899: Oraibi founded sometime before 1100 and the oldest continuously inhabited village in North America

Hopi

Dryland farming can be done with as little as 9 inches of rain a year.

Over 14varietiesof corn.

Hopi

Black Mesa Mine closed in 2005 – supplied coal to Mojave Generating Station through a water intensive slurry line. Kayenta Mine supplies coal to Navajo Generating Station – powers CAP, biggest single user of electricity in Arizona

Tohono O'odham and Akimel O'odham

• Tohono O'odham, meaning “People of the Desert”, cover a large southern portion of the state and extend into Mexico

• Akimel O'odham, meaning “People of the River” live along the Gila and formerly Salt Rivers

• Both are considered ancestors of the Hohokam people

• Farmers that faced real change with the advent of groundwater pumping

Tohono O'odham and Akimel O'odham

1,500 Tohono O'odham tribal members live in Mexico, but are not US citizens. $3 million spent a year to deal with illegal immigration.

Tohono O'odham and Akimel O'odham

The White Dove of the Desert built with the Spanish between 1783 – 1797. Grew tired of the Spanish and had two major rebellions in the 1660s and 1750s.

Tohono O'odham and Akimel O'odham

Agricultural intensive culture made them sedentary and an easy target for raiding Apaches and used and improved the same canals built originally built by the Hohokam.

Tohono O'odham and Akimel O'odham

Confined to small reservations and anglo ground water pumping practices make agriculture difficult.

Tohono O'odham and Akimel O'odham

Navajo• An Athabasakan people and a recent arrival in

the 1000s.• Originally hunters and gatherers, adapted

agricultural practices and herding practices.• Famous for wool blankets from goat herding• Raided and traded with Pueblo tribes, Spanish,

and Mexicans, kept slaves.• Sent on a 300 mile walk to New Mexico, before

being allowed to go back to their old home land.• Uranium mining and hazardous side effects• Code Talkers

Navajo

NorthAmerican

Athabaskan Distribution

Navajo Hogans

Navajo Hogans

Navajo Herding

Navajo Weaving

Navajo Blankets

Navajo Farming

Navajo

The “Long Walk”, 300 miles to a new reservation in 1864. A failure, the Navajo were allowed to return to their native land.

Navajo

The “Long Walk”, 300 miles to a new reservation in 1864. A failure, the Navajo were allowed to return to their native land.

Navajo

The “Long Walk”, 300 miles to a new reservation in 1864. A failure, the Navajo were allowed to return to their native land.

Navajo

Navajosilverand turquoise jewelry

Navajo

Uranium Mining

Navajo

Uranium tailings dam failure:“Hundreds of millions of gallons of radioactive waste escaped. It was the largest accidental release of radioactive material in U.S. history — bigger than Three Mile Island — and nobody cares.”

Navajo

WWII Code Talkers

Things to know:• Importance of Native Americans in Arizona• Describe and the know the general geographic

distribution of the Hopi• Describe and the know the general geographic

distribution of the Tohono O'odham and Akimel O'odham

• Describe and the know the general geographic distribution of the Navajo

Help: Ask Dr. Douglass