Lifeways

The peoples of the Hohokam culture irrigated their farmlands by channeling water from rivers. The Akimel

Here on the field, corn comes forth. My child takes it and runs happy. Here on the field, squash comes forth. My wife takes it and runs singing.

Since farming in the Southwest was so dependent on scarce rainfall, Native peoples also made extensive use of wild plant foods. They ate the heart of the mescal plant, which took them at least 24 hours to cook in a pit-oven. They also collected the bean-like seeds of the mesquite tree. The sweet and fleshy fruit of the giant saguaro cactus was a delicacy for them. Women used a long pole called a kuibit, made from the ribs of the plant, to knock the fruit down. It was eaten fresh or dried. The fresh fruit was also boiled into jam or syrup; the dried fruit was ground into powder and mixed with water for a drink. The Tohono O’odham also made saguaro syrup into wine. They believed that the drinking of saguaro wine ceremonially helped bring rain for their crops.

Other than their ways of acquiring food, the lifeways of the Tohono O’odham and Akimel O’odham were very similar. They both lived in houses covered with brush and mud. They also built open areas called ramadas for socializing. They both wore cotton and leather clothing and favored sandals over moccasins. Both peoples made beautiful coiled baskets out of a variety of materials, including willow, devil’s claw, bear grass, and yucca. They both had village chiefs (although the Tohono O’odham had no overall tribal chief as the Akimel O’odham did). Each village had a ceremonial leader called the Keeper of the Smoke. The villages of both tribes were divided into two clans or family groups. The names of the Tohono O’odham clans were the Buzzard and the Coyote. Every four years, both peoples celebrated the Viikita, a ceremony with costumed and masked dancers and clowns in order to bring about tribal good fortune. Both tribes worshiped the gods Earth-maker and Elder Brother.

Tohono O’odham coiled basket

The Tohono O’odham, unlike the Akimel O’odham, made annual pilgrimages over the hot desert sands to salt flats near the Gulf of California. They believed that rain spirits lived there and prayed to them for more of the valuable water. The salt they collected became a trade product with other tribes.

The Tohono O’odham are also famous for their calendar sticks. These were sticks with carved markings to help tribal members remember their history over a number of years. Dots and circles indicated important ceremonies. Notches usually represented other events such as earthquakes or the building of waterworks or an attack by their longtime enemies, the APACHE.