Sons of the Gila

THE GILA RIVER Reservation for the Pima Indians, with its agency at Sacaton, Arizona, is an area of 371,256 acres, lying along the middle course of the Gila River. It stretches from a point near the town of Coolidge in the east 60 miles in a general northwesterly direction to the junction point of the Gila and Salt Rivers.

Under the jurisdiction of the Sacaton agency are also three small separate reservations. The Salt River Pima Reservation, 42,436 acres, lies 14 miles northeast of Phoenix; adjoining it on the east is the Fort McDowell Reservation, 24,680 acres, belonging to a group of MohaveApaches; directly south of the main reservation is an area of 21,000 acres, inhabited by the Papago Indians, close cousins of the Pima.

The entire region is arid, with an annual rainfall averaging 6.8 inches, but from prehistoric times the Pima and his ancestors have known how to irrigate from the waters of the Gila River. Practically nothing but mesquite and chaparral grows in the unwatered desert, but the irrigated sections are broad expanses of vivid green-alfalfa, wheat and cotton. On wide level pastures graze large herds of Hereford cattle. In this hot, almost tropical country palms, figs, dates and pomegranates grow lavishly in cultivated gardens. A temperature of 110 degrees is not unusual in summer.

The Pima are approximately half of the great aboriginal tribe of the Pima-Papago family which occupied the wide stretch of southern Arizona from the San Pedro Valley westward nearly to the Colorado River and from the Salt and Gila Rivers southward to the Altar in what is now Mexico. The Pima became differentiated from the Papago only because they occupied the river valleys where irrigated agriculture could be developed, while the Papago lived in the mountain desert to the south and evolved a type of dry farming. Besides the Pima, there are about 276 Maricopa Indians living on the reservation. Closely related to the Yuma of the Colorado Valley, they could not live in peace with the latter, and about 100 years ago migrated eastward and settled at the junction of the Salt and Gila Rivers.

AN ESSAY on the PIMA INDIANS Prepared by The Arizona Writers Project, W. P. A.

To the curious visitor whose main purpose is to carry away "colorful" remembrances of romantic aborigines adorned in feathers, handwrought jewelry, and bright colored blankets, and engaged in elaborate ceremonial dances, the Pima has little to offer. He is and always has been a simple farmer. But a keener observer will find much of interest. The Pima is a pleasant person, gentle, kindly, soft and slow of speech and laughter, hospitable to strangers in his land.

Today he exemplifies the Indian who has accepted most of the white man's culture and adapted himself to it, yet is still an Indian. Curiously the name Pima has no tribal significance. It is merely a corruption of the Pima's word for "no," which he used when he did not understand questions of early missionaries. His own name for his tribe was Akimal O-o-tam or River People.

The U. S. Government by Act of Congress of February 28, 1859, appropriated $1,000 for a survey of Pima lands and $10,000, "for gifts." The gifts consisted of shovels, harness, plows, axes, nails, needles, a forge and anvil, a "carpenter shop," and a "pint of turnip seed." This good beginning was not followed up and until 1871 the tribe was, according to Frank Russell, "without teacher, missionary, or to judge from their own story and the records of the government, a competent agent." have irrigated from the waters of the Gila River."

Their most distressing problem was the white farmers who were settling along the upper reaches of the Gila River and drawing off at its source the water upon which the Pima's livelihood depended. By 1870 the water was completely gone. Fields dried and grew up to mesquite and greasewood, and the Pima was greatly impoverished in his own land.

The story of the San Carlos Irrigation Project is a long one. In many years rations had to be distributed to the once affluent Pima. Many left the reservation to find employment. It was proposed to remove the Pima to Oklahoma. A few went and looked at Oklahoma; they didn't like it.

In 1890 a reservoir was suggested by the Pima agent. Nine years later a bill was introduced in Congress providing funds for a reservoir but was defeated. From that time on the efforts of a score of tireless workers never ceased. Despite disappointments, there was always progress.

On June 6, 1924, the first session of the 68th Congress passed the bill authorizing the San Carlos Federal Irrigation Project in Arizona. This was the dawn of a new day for the Pima. Four years later, on November 17, 1928, the storage gates of the San Carlos Irrigation Project were closed. No longer would the water waste away, down the river, and destroy the soil beyond repair in its mad rush to the sea.

The gates were opened on New Year's Day 1929 and water flowed through canals, ditches, siphons and conduits to bring back life to the Pima of the middle Gila Valley. A great dam

FEBRUARY, 1942

At San Carlos in the heart of the Apache country 120 miles away impounded snow water and the summer run-off to be released as need indicated.

But 60 years is a long time. A generation of Pima had passed, another matured and grown old, and still another come to manhood without water. Pliant, as always, the Pima had learned to live after a fashion without water. He cultivated his small gardens, caught a little flood water when he could, and the government drilled a few wells. The mesquite that had invaded his dry farm land furnished him a sort of livelihood. He cut it for firewood and sold

Drawings for Arizona Highways by ROSS SANTEE

it to the whites who were fast settling about his borders. It was his major source of income during those 60 years. Now at last the water came. He hardly knew what to do with it. He had no tools and very little stock; no money or credit. Erosion had carried some of his best land down the Colorado River to the Gulf of California. The rest of it had grown to chaparral. The little trenches that were the last link in the water chain in his fields, had fallen to pieces. Here was a task difficult even for the re-sourceful Pima. However, that first year with the aid of one tractor, furnished by the government, 2,800 acres were reclaimed. Now approximately 40,000 acres are under tillage.

The primary basis of Pima life lies in their agricultural products supplemented by meat, in fact, the Pima have always depended for food on what they cultivated, supplemented by hunting. Today they are fast adopting the food habits of the whites. More than 500 families have truck gardens in which tomatoes, onions, peppers and other vegetables are raised in addition to the traditional corn, beans, and pumpkins. In recent years due to "public works" with cash wages, their diet has included most of the trader's offerings. They buy quantities of canned goods, jams and bakery goods. Beans are eaten two or three times a day, and the tortilla is still the staff of life. Certain articles of their diet have a high fat content. The Pima, his wife and his children are big people in all three dimensions. They are noticeably heavier than the tribes on the Colorado Plateau to the north and northeast.

The economic unit is the household, consisting of a man, his wife, the married sons and their families, and the unmarried daughters. The sons remain at home, while the daughters go to live at the home of their husband's parents. Formerly all these people lived together and contributed their labor to the support of the group. Now, a young man often builds a house of his own soon after marriage.

The early day Pimas knew many wild plants

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Of the desert which were used regularly and were relied upon when crops failed because of drought or flood. Much of this ancient lore is of course lost, but the fruits of the cactus, mesquite beans, mescal, wild greens, and the acid squawberry from which a drink similar to lemonade is made, are still gathered.

In former times whatever meat was added to their diet was obtained by hunting, but today meat is commonly bought from the trader. Occasionally a man will butcher a cow and distribute parts among his relatives or make "jerky," (dried meat).

Only a few of the native foods are eaten raw, and many of them need thorough cooking The fruit of the giant cactus ripens in June and is gathered in large quantities. It is crimson in color and contains many small black seeds. By a process of boiling and fermenta-tion an intoxicating liquor, tis-win, is obtained from the fresh fruit. This is often more prized than the nutritious food.

The fruit is also dried and preserved. From either the fresh or dried fruit, syrup is extracted. The seeds may be separated from the pulp, eaten raw, or ground on the metate (grinding stone) and treated as any meal-put into water to form a pinole or combined with other meal to bake into bread.

Mesquite beans, which in primitive times furnished one of the most important articles of Pima diet, are still extensively used. The beans are prepared for use by pounding in a mortar with a stone pestle. The pod is frequently ground with the beans. Another method of preparation is to separate the beans froin the pods, parch and grind them to meal; this is used as pinole.

Beans are an important staple food and are usually boiled with bacon; in the absence of meat, lard is added as seasoning. Before the coming of the Spaniards the Pima were cultivating a variety of bean similar to the kidney bean. This variety of bean is still grown.

Corn, which has been the staff of life for the Pueblo tribes for centuries, has, in the last fifty years been of less value to the Pima than wheat. Several varieties of corn are raised but they are all prepared in about the same manner. As the husked corn is brought in from the fields, it is piled on a layer of burning brush and roasted, after which it is cut from the cob and stored away for future use. The shelled corn is ground on metate and the meal made into bread or gruel. It is not, however, as well liked as wheat pinole.

Wheat is the principal crop of the Pima and four varieties are known. Some of it is ground for them at the government mill at Sacaton, but a great deal is still ground on the metate and made into tortillas and pinole. One of the commonest ways of preparing wheat is to parch it, grind it on the grinding stone, and eat it as gruel. Occasionally the wheat is boiled before parching and made into a rather thick gruel. Both are known by the Mexican term "pinole." The tortillas are made of flour, salt, water and a little baking powder patted into thin cakes the size of a salad plate and cooked on top of the stove or over an open fire on a piece of tin. When cold the tortillas are heavy and tough.

Pumpkins, squashes and watermelons are extensively cultivated. Watermelons are buried in the sand of the river bed to preserve them until winter. Squashes are cut in strips and dried in the sun. The strips are tied in bundles and stored for later use.

The Home Extension Agent for the Pima jurisdiction is teaching the Indians how to can and store their produce. Approximately $3000 has been expended for canning kitchens which are located in different sections of the reservation. The labor for building was furnished by the Civilian Conservation Corps Indian Division (C.C.C.I.D.).

In former days wheat and beans were threshed by horses driven in a circle on a hard floor prepared for the purpose. Before horses were introduced (and even now when the crop is small) the women beat out the grain with straight sticks and winnow it in baskets.

The grain and wild products were stored in huge granary baskets woven of willow and arrow-brush, which were kept on a platform or on the roof of the ramada. These baskets were so large that often the maker had to step inside to put on the finishing touches. Many are still in use.

The Pima live now in comparative plenty. About 35,000 acres of land are under irrigation. The government has reclaimed another 11,000 acres, raising its value from $3 to $100 an acre. This reclamation was carried out at a cost of $10.50 an acre. In 1936 the land was ready to turn over to qualified Indians in 40 acre plots as soon as the Tribal Council could devise a system of tenure to replace the old allotment tenure, since under the Wheeler-Howard Act final title to land must remain with the tribe. In any case the Indian will have life tenure of his land, and his family will have preferred rights of inheritance. The government is helping him to finance a new house and if necessary equipping him with stock and tools, teaching him modern agricultural methods not materially different from the old.

The new land lies in the high wide belt across the southwestern end of the reservation. Today (1941) the land shows a clear picture of every step of the reclaiming of the desert. On the east are large fields of alfalfa, pasturing herds of beef cattle. The marketing problem is solved by renting these rich pastures to white owners of desert fed cattle. The cattle are grazed for two or three months before being slaughtered. A few years ago rented pasture brought the tribe an income of $72,000. Passing from these pastures on the east, one sees to the west unsubjugated desert, where tough mesquite is being dragged out by the roots, and great drags and floats remove the brush and level the ground. This done, the "bordering machine" throws up miles of tiny

dikes, dividing the land into one-acre level plots into which the measured water can be turned. Already almost 400 families are grazing 3000 of their own cattle, valued at $70,000, on their range. The tribe owns horses valued at $30,000 and a few members own dairy cattle. Four cattlemen's associations cooperate to regulate the use of the range. The Pima of old lived in eight ancient vil lages strung for thirty miles along and not far from the course of the Gila River. The characteristic house was a dome-shaped brush hut partially covered with sand and earth. This house gave way first to the rectangular type with uprights of mesquite and walls of saguaro or ocotillo ribs, mud plastered. This is still the prevailing type, but few new ones are built for dwellings. The new houses are permanent, solidly built of adobe brick with glazed windows and real doors. Thirty-five were built in 1935 at an average cost of $100. A charming model house near the school at Sacaton shows the girls who care for it and the mothers who visit what can be done with little money and some work.

The new houses are not being clustered into villages according to the old custom, but occupy a corner of the farm or allotment, as does the homestead in the New England states. Each homestead has its open ramada or arbor, its rustic outbuildings, corral, stables, chicken coop; and over all tower cottonwood or waving tamarisks.

The ramada is a cottonwood frame work supported by crotched posts, with a roof of arrowweed and earth. It affords shade from the sun, which is hot enough to make protection welcome during the greater part of the year. The roof furnishes a convenient place for dry ing fruit and squash, and in the early days cotton, where dogs, cats and chickens cannot disturb them. Under the ramada's shade will be found the table, chairs, the mortar and metates and in a crotched post the olla (ol'-lyah) of drinking water is set. Here the women prepare the food and weave bask ets or perform such other labor as may be done at home. Here two parallel cords or small ropes may be hung with a blanket folded back and forth upon itself across them, forming a sort of hammock in which to swing the baby.

The ramada is the living room throughout the day the year around and a dining room in summer. After meals the family rests and visits in the cool shade.

Clothing is entirely Americanized. The most common costume for men's work clothes is blue denim pants and bright blue cotton shirts, a large cowboy hat, boots or shoes. For dress up occasion they wear blue serge pants, bright colored silk shirts and a silk handkerchief tied about the neck. Women wear long full skirted dresses of percale, gingham or print belted at the waist. The full skirt falls to about 8 or 10 inches from the ground. Black high-topped shoes are worn throughout the year. Usually a piece of cloth or a white towel is worn on the head serving as a mantilla does for the Mexican woman. The early padres thought it seemly for a woman to cover her head.

Both men and women wear some silver and turquoise jewelry-rings, bracelets and beads. However, they do not rival the Navajo and Hopi in personal adornment. A few lines were tattooed on the faces of both sexes in former times. Thorns and charcoal were used in the operation. Either men or women did the work, but the female artist was preferred. They charged a small fee for the service.

The men had lines tattooed along the margin of the lower eyelid and in a horizontal line across the temples. Tattooing also was carried across the forehead. Occasionally a band was tattooed around the waist. The women had the line under the eyelids as did the men; but instead of the lines upon the forehead they had two vertical lines on each side of the chin which extended to the jaw and were joined by a broad bar of tattoo ing which included the outer third of the mucous membrane of the lip on either side. All the older Pima are tattooed, but with the young people the custom has practically died out and the meaning of the design is unknown. The old people believe that the lines prevent wrinkles and that, thus fortified, they "retain their youth."

Above all else, the hair is the pride of Pima women. They brush it once or twice a day until it shines in smooth ebony waves that are luxuriantly abundant. In former times the front hair was cut to fall just clear of the eyes, the back was allowed to hang loose. Many of the older women still wear their hair in this manner. About once a week the hair was given a mud bath consisting of a mixture of black river mud and mesquite gum. This was allowed to remain on the hair over night. Occasionally the gum was diluted in warm water and applied as a wash before the mud was put on. The mesquite gum is believed to darken the hair and prevent it from growing grey. This method of cleaning the hair is still practiced by the old people. The Pima women make excellent baskets and the art is practiced in nearly every home.

Those who are the most skillful basket makers produce handsome wares that find a ready market and a fair price. In olden times the Pima made baskets for "medicine" use, sleep ing mats and cradles by a plaiting technique, and the beautiful kaiha-carrying basket in open lace work. These are seen now in museums only.

The Pima were formerly governed by a head chief for each village. These men were assist ed by village councils, composed of a number of influential men. Chieftainship was not her editary, though a son often succeeded his father. The head chiefs were elected by the village chiefs.

The dictates of the council were announced from the house tops by the village crier, who was selected because he possessed a loud, clear voice. Some villages had two criers. At the command of each council was a messenger who might be sent to order a man to appear when he was required by that body.

In every village there was also a "ceremony talker," a man who acted as leader and whose duty it was to arrange and direct the details of ceremonies and festivals not particularly provided for by the religious fraternities.

Any man who was acknowledged as a courageous person might organize a war party, with the approval of his community. His title then became "War Speaker" or "Smoker." Upon returning from a campaign his name and authority ended.

The tribe acted as a unit against its ancientfoe the Apache. The Apache and Papago were the only neighboring tribes who outnumbered the Pima but the Apache were without re sources, and the Papago were their close rel atives and always on friendly terms. The Pima had learned from many years experience the advantage of confederation from the Mari copa, a tribe from the Colorado River.

The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the Wheeler-Howard Act, provided for an entirely new official organization for the tribes which accepted it. It required them to prepare a suitable constitution and to assume in a large measure control of their own affairs.

The Pima constitution now provides for a tribal council of one member for each 300 population. The reservation is divided into seven districts, each of which has a district council. The powers of the council are many and important. The council prevents the sale, disposition, lease, or encumbrance of tribal lands, or other tribal assets, without consent of the tribe, regulates the domestic relations of members of the community; and protects the public health and morals. Many other powers, chiefly affecting money and land are subject to review by the Secretary of the Interior.

Property to the Pima has always meant land. It is contrary to every tenet of his religion to give up his land for any consideration. In spite of the economic urge of the drought years he sold none of his land and of the whole reservation leased only 3000 acres.

The men built the houses and although the question seldom arose, owned them. Descent was traced in the male line, brides went to live at the homes of their husbands, and property followed the principles of inheritance of the white man.

The ancient village life is giving way to a group more loosely scattered over the reserva tion and looking to the settlement at Sacaton as its center. There have been several in fluences at work. Foremost is the larger acre age of land for which each family is responsible and the necessity of being where the cattle and ditches are. Village barriers have been broken down in recent years by the large government building program which gathered workers from all over the reservation; the daily gathering of the older children into the central school at Sacaton and their return home with news of the whole tribe expands the process; and finally the automobile which annihilates distance makes possible this centralizing about what was once a distant point.

The Pima are already a comparatively literate people. A third of the tribe can read and write and all but ten per cent speak English.

The children are always taught their native language and many of them know only a few words of English when they enter school.

The Pima of olden times were given much less to an outward show of religion than their neighbors the Hopi and Navajo. Their religion ligious ceremonials consisted mainly of an oc casional rain dance and a few ceremonies for the cure of disease. They had a strong belief in the supernatural or magic power of animals and in the unlimited power of the Sun.

It was the Sun that, by means of magical power, killed those who died during day light. and it was night that killed those who died during darkness. The Moon was Sun's wife but she did not possess power like that of Darkness. Coyote was the Child of Sun and Moon, and figures largely in the myths. He resembles the culture heroes of some other tribes by his clowning and trickery.

The ancient religion is hard to trace among