The Gila River Indian Community is located approximately 34 miles south of the Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona.

Click here to download map

Akimel O’odham (Pima)

If the level of a people’s arts and cultural activity is an accurate refl ection of their overall state of vitality, it is encouraging to note a renaissance of both traditional and innovative arts, crafts, and cultural pursuits among our Gila River community. Historically, the Akimel O’odham and Tohono O’odham were some of the world’s premier basketmakers, and the Tohono O’odham remain very active in this fi eld. Among the Akimel O’odham, basket weaving is an art undergoing revival. In addition, culturual gatherings and special arts events are growing larger, and more tribal members are making a living, or supplementing their income, through the sale of arts and crafts. And, in January 2004, the community dedicated one of the nation’s finest facilities for the preservation and display of Native artifacts, the HuHugam Heritage center.

In 2003, community youth at Ira Hayes Memorial Applied Learning High School on the reservation tackled a new arts medium: video. With the aid of the Herberger College of Fine Arts at Arizona State University in Tempe, the teens created a wonderful documentary, The River People, which was chosen for screening at the Cinematexas International Film Festival in the fall of 2003, showing that our people’s artistic talents can be extended in new and exciting ways.

Pee Posh (Maricopa)

The Maricopa people were small bands living along the lower Gila and Colorado rivers. Each of these bands migrated eastward at different times. The Xalychidom (Maricopa of Lehi), left around 1825-1830. The last of these bands is said to have left the Colorado River in the late 1830’s. Eventually these bands came together and became collectively known as the Maricopa. As they migrated eastward, they came upon the Pima tribe and established a relationship. Both tribes provided protection against the Yuman and Apache tribes.

Some Maricopa’s (mostly Xalychidom Piipaash) began migrating to the area now known as Lehi on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, because water from the Gila River was becoming scarce. When the Salt River Indian Community was established in 1879, the reservation included both tribes within these boundaries. The Maricopa Tribe is known for their red clay pottery work. Various jars and bowls were created for essential needs, made of natural materials. The clay was collected at various locations within the area. Natural dyes were used to depict geometrical designs. Maricopa pottery artwork can be viewed at the Community’s Hoohoogam Ki Museum.

Since before the arrival of the Bearded Ones (Spanish) the waters of the Gila River has provided for the Akimel O’othom.The Spanish gave these desert farmers a name which is still used today PIMA.

 

The O’othom were here in village clusters and had a well defi ned irrigation system in place. The O’othom had crops of corn, beans and squash, grown in abundance. These were the food crops but they also found cotton and tobacco being cultivated.

 

Their villages dotted the entire Gila River Valley, to the East as far as Florence, to the West near the base of the Estrellas or Komatke as they are called by the O’othom.

The Spanish found these people diverting the waters of the Gila into canals they had constructed, with the aid of only wood and stone tools, which extended for miles and miles. Their engineering ability was amazing to these new arrivals. From the larger canals they had headgate to divert waters to the actual fi eld of crops. It was a combined effort with each village responsible for the maintenance of the canal system to their fields and village. Field houses were often put up near the fields but home was in the main village.

 

The O’othom people are a peaceful group and worked together on large scale projects. For instance, in the rebuilding of a house which was lost by fi re, the village would rebuild it in a matter of days. Materials would be gathered such as posts and beams for the roof and corners, arrowweeds obtained from the banks of the river. Labor was from the village and food was provided for the noon lunch. There was no monetary exchange but food was donated by the families and the ladies did the cooking. Not only did they do the cooking but also helped in the actual house or structure construction.

 

It was also a time for visiting with old friends and relatives. The elders would sit in the shade and watch over the grandchildren. Plus watch the progress and offer suggestions to the young men who still had much to learn.

 

Irrigation continued and there came a time when the Pee Posh came to the valley seeking refuge from their fellow people. Part of the Yuman groups along the Colorado they came East to ask permission to live among the Akimel O’othom. They were welcomed and allowed to live and farm in what is now District Seven. Today they still coexist and therefor the name for the irrigation Project of today, the Pima-Maricopa Irrigation Project.

 

There came a time in the 1800’s when the people who were so generous with their crops to the people crossing their lands to California began to see changes in the river flow. A good number of the settlers stayed in the upper Gila River Valley and began to use the waters, which affected the flow downstream. Due to their diversion upstream the waters fi nally stopped fl owing down in the lower valley where the O’othom and Pee Posh lived. This major event forced some of the people to migrate to the Salt River Valley only to suffer the same fate, the eventual loss of water.

Today the people who now reside within the reservation of the Gila River Indian Community the Pima and Maricopas, are in the planning stages of an irrigation project of monumental proportions. The plans are to establish an irrigation system to deliver water to 146,300 acres. From District 1 in the Blackwater area to the farms of the Pee Posh in District Seven. It will again take the effort of all the people to make major decisions, just like in the old days. There will be impacts to the community members in many ways and they will all have to be addressed. It will take years to complete but in the end the community members will once again hear the sweet music of rushing water.

Of the seven districts that make up the Gila River Indian Community,

District 1 is the second smallest and most Eastern

Since before the arrival of the Bearded Ones (Spanish) the waters of the Gila River has provided for the Akimel O’othom. The Spanish gave these desert farmers a name which is still used today PIMA.

The O’othom were here in village clusters and had a well defined irrigation system in place. The O’othom had crops of corn, beans and squash, grown in abundance. These were the food crops but they also found cotton and tobacco being cultivated.

Their villages dotted the entire Gila River Valley, to the East as far as Florence, to the West near the base of the Estrellas or Komatke as they are called by the O’othom.

Pre History

First there was the river and the land-the Gila River that wound westward across south-central Arizona and the surprisingly fertile Sonoran Desert. Some 6,000 years ago, various cultural groups collectively labeled the Archaic peoples, who lived by hunting and gathering along the river’s banks and adjoining up land terrain, wandered into this realm.

Circa 300 B.C., these early inhabitants were joined by peoples from central Mexico, transformed by concepts and technology introduced from the south. From this merger arose the Hohokam (or Huhukam) people-our ancestors-who conducted trade over great distances and became superb farmers. Fed by waters of the Gila River, they constructed some

The Gila River Indian Community Seal was adopted when the Community was formed in 1939. It was designed by former Council member from District #5 (Casa Blanca), William Pablo, to depict the changing of the environment from that of a dry desert to green life supporting fields through agriculture.

 

The mountain range represents the various mountain ranges which are located throughout the reservation. These mountain ranges are considered to be very sacred by the Pima. Each mountain was given its own O'odham name by the HuHuKam (Ancient Ones).

 

Today, they are known as the Santan Mountains (JuJulgigk "Zig Zag Connected") , located on the northern reservation boudnary; Sacaton Mountains: Sacaton Peak (Smuk "Pointed"), Agency Peak (Gasso Ki "Fox Butte"), Hayden Peak and the Sierra Estrella Mountains (Komatke) on the west. Others are Gila Butte (Ahgi "Thin"), Pima Butte (Al Ahgi "Little Thin"), Yellow Peak (Hothysaie "Pebbles Thrown At"), and Chev Skomack ("Tall Grey") which is located adjacent to the Santan Mountains.

 

The Cactus and Greasewood bush symbolizes the vegetation which is common to the desert.

 

The Sun and the color Blue illustrate that this is being a desert area, the sun is always shining and blue skies are over head most of the year.

 

The Grid and the color Green is representative of the Pima, and our ancestors the HuHuKam, as being an agricultural people. The HuHuKam were known for the great canals and irrigation system which they built. To this day, the Pima are farmers of the land, raising such crops as corn, barley, wheat, cotton, watermelon, cantaloupe, and beans.