Maricopas

The Maricopas, distant relatives of the Yumas of the Colorado river, live on the Gila Indian reservation at the confluence of the Gila and Salt rivers and a few live near Lehi, south of the Salt.

The Maricopas are farmer-folk-and all that they hold of value is wrapped up in their land. The tribe numbers about 350 and remains an entity within itself, and its members mingle very little with their neighbors, the Pimas.

Theirs was a miserable existence on the desert, until the white man's in genuity through irrigation and pumping, brought water to their lands.

Maricopa pottery is especially noteworthy, and in this product the Maricopa Indian women achieve a perfection that is almost unbelievable in its precision.

The Maricopa is a simple farmer, pleasant, kindly, hospitable and friendly. The desert has always been his home, and his little adobe dwelling his castle. He is a child of the land and of nature, and he thrives in the sun.

Sally Sundust is a Maricopa Indian, genial, gracious, intelligent with cool dignity and charm. Her home is typical of the dwellings of the Maricopas. (Barry Goldwater.)

Maricopa Pottery. Pottery making is one of the high arts of the Maricopas. Shown here is a Maricopa at work on the Love Pot, an intricate composition in clay and sunlight.

The Maricopas attain almost perfection in pottery making. So deft are these Indians in their art that the uninformed beholder does not think such excellence possible by hand. (Barry Goldwater.) Studies of two interesting Maricopas, Mr. and Mrs. Baxter, by Barry Goldwater.