The Akimel O'odham or Pima are a group of Native Americans living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona (USA) and Sonora (Mexico). The name means "river people". They are closely related to the Tohono O'odham (meaning "desert people", formerly known as Papago). The name "Pima" apparently comes from a phrase that means "I don't know", used repeatedly in their initial meeting with Europeans.

History prior to 1539

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The Akimel O'odham lived along the Gila River, Salt River, Yaqui River, and Sonora River. There are irrigation systems around the Gila and Salt rivers that predate the Akimel O'odham, which are presumed to be the work of the Hohokam, which means "those who have gone" in the language of the Akimel O'odham. The language is part of the Uto-Aztecan family.

The economy of the Akimel O'odham consisted of farming, hunting, and gathering. The made baskets and wove cloth. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, their primary military rival were the Apache, who raided their villages at times.

History after 1539

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The first reported contact with Europeans was in 1539 with the Spanish missionary Marcos de Niza. Later missionary visitors were Father Eusebio Kino and Father Francisco Garcés. The Spanish civil authorities moved into the land and established forts, ranches, and mines. The treatment of the Spanish led to unsuccessful rebellions between 1695 and 1751. European farmers came to the Gila River in the last half of the 19th century, eventually pushing the Akimel O'odham into a reservation on the Salt River.

Modern life

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Currently, the bulk of the people are in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and Gila River Indian Community, which they share with the Maricopa people. Some of the Akimel O'odham are also at the Ak-Chin Indian Community, which is primarily home to the Tohono O'odham. Current enterprises include casinos, golf courses, landfills, and construction supply.

As with other Native Americans, the Pima people have a higher prevalance of type 2 diabetes than is observed in caucasian populations. While they do not have a greater risk than other tribes, the Pima people have been the subject of intensive study of diabetes, in part because they form a homogeneous group.The Human Genome Project and Diabetes: Genetics of Type II Diabetes. New Mexico State University. 1997. 1 June 2006. http://darwin.nmsu.edu/~molbio/diabetes/disease.html The general increased diabetes prevalence among Native Americans has been hypothesized as the result of the interaction of genetic prediposition (the thrifty phenotype or thrifty geneotype as suggested by anthropologist Robert Ferrell in 1984) and a sudden shift in diet from traditional agricultural goods towards processed foods in the past century. For comparison, genetically similar Pimas in Mexico have virtually no type 2 diabetes.

Pimas of note

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• Ira Hayes (1923–1955), Marine Paratrooper and Iwo Jima flagraiser

See also

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• O'odham language

References

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Further reading

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• Waldman, Carl. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. New York: Checkmark, 1999. ISBN 0-8160-3964-X

External links

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• Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community

Native American tribes | Indigenous languages of the North American Southwest | Indigenous peoples of North America | Ethnic groups in Mexico

Pima | Pima | Pima