Native American Community

Pima Community College Community Education Lecture Series Discovering Southern Arizona Friday, February 22, 2008 10:00 a.m. "Form over Function: A Tohono O'odham Artist's Story," featuring Terrol Dew Johnson, nationally-acclaimed basket weaver, artist and community leader. Community Performing Arts and Learning Center, 1250 West Continental Road, Green Valley [map]

Centuries before the railroad connected Southern Arizona to points east and west, before Padre Kino began mission churches in Tumacacori and San Xavier, and long before Esteban and succeeding Spanish expeditions colonized the region, the Hohokam lived in an area roughly between today's Flagstaff to the Mexican border. From 200 B.C.E. to 1450, the Hohokam built elaborate irrigation systems to support farming, constructed complex communities, and operated a thriving trade network.

Today, the Native American peoples of this region endeavor to manage their rich traditions with life in the 21st century. Students and visitors to these and related websites will find there is much to learn.

Hohokam Agave Cultivation: Take a video tour of a prehistoric rockpile field ear Tumamoc Hill in Tucson, narrated by Dr. Suzanne Fish, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology Curator at the Arizona State Museum

Judge Lawrence Huerta: Enriching Our Lives
Judge Huerta was the first Native American to attend and graduate from the University of Arizona School of Law. During his distinguished career, he served as Special Assistant Attorney General in the Arizona State Department of Law and as Commissioner of the Industrial Commission of Arizona.

Mission Churches of the Sonoran Desert --San Xavier del Bac
San Xavier del Bac, Arizona, is a beautifully preserved gem of the late Baroque style of New Spain. Completed in 1797, it stands in the San Xavier District of Tohono O'odham Nation, about twelve miles south of Tucson, Arizona. Alone of the Sonoran Desert missions, San Xavier is still served by Franciscans, and still serves the Native community for which it was built.

Pascua Yaqui Connection: "A cooperative project between the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona,
Pima Community College, and the University of Arizona," this site brings forward resources about the Tribes' people, ceremonial life, and history. A highlight of this website is found in the section describing when Pascua elders worked with Lawrence middle school students to build a kareeta (cart) like the ones used when they were children. It provided a focus for the students and elders to work together and to talk about changes in life at Pascua. Visit the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona's official website.

The South Corner of Time is a digital version of the 1980 book, The South Corner of Time: Hopi, Navajo, Papago, Yaqui Tribal Literature, Larry Evers, ed.

Traditions and Culture: Learning more about Native Americans in This Region

Words & Place: Native Literature from the American Southwest
Each program presents one American Indian singer, storyteller or author performing from his/her repertoire in a natural setting in the community. The speakers also talk about the relation of their oral tradition to their native communities. Five programs are recorded in native Indian languages with English subtitles so that students have an opportunity to experience the beauty and complexity of these languages.