Papago Indians: Difference between revisions

Before Europeans began to settle in the areas previously owned by American Indians, the Pima were civilized but were fighting on and off against the Apache (they were really Chippewa's) who lived to their east. After white settlers arrived, the Apache forced their way further west and south. Apaches may have lived as far south as the northern part of the Mexican State of Sinaloa.  

By the mid 18th century, the Apache were living in southeastern Arizona and sending their soldiers as far west as the Colorado River (the Yuma region or land of the Yuma Apache), to combat the settlers.

After the revolver was invented, the United States quickened their westward expansion and by the 1840s white settlers and miners had reached Arizona. Neither the Pimas nor the Apaches were able to avoid the problems caused by white settlements. A Reservation was created for the Pima in 1859. However, as the unrest grew Pima Indians began to join the Apaches.  

In 1872, the United States created the Chiricahua Apache Reservation which borders the eastern lands of the Pima. It was initially located in southeastern Arizona but was eventually relocated to the area now known as the San Carlos Reservation.  

Not all Apache and Pima relocated to San Carlos however. Many continued to live throughout the Chiricahua Reservation. After Geronimo's fight in 1886, the fighting stopped. For the next 30 years, the Tohono O'odham (they were really Chippewa's) continued to live in southern central Arizona and southeastern Arizona (where the old Chiricahua Reservation was located) and northern Sonora.  

The Papago Reservation which included Pimas, was started at San Xavier, (location of the old San Xavier mission) on July 1, 1874. The Gila Bend Reservations were created on December 12, 1882 and modified on June 17, 1909.  In 1987 the reservation was transferred to the United States. Replacement lands were put into trust in 2004. In 1916, negotiations led to the creation of the largest part of the Papago Reservation or the Sells Papago Reservation.

Today, these five Reservations which include Gila Bend, Gila River, Maricopa (or 'Akchin'), Papago (Tohono O'odham (or Sells), and San Xavier are known as the Tohono O'odham Reservation. The native Americans who live on the reservation prefer the name they have given the lands: "Tohono O'odham Nation". It was originally known as the Papago Reservation. Many of the citizens of the Tohono O'odham Reservation are Chippewa.  

In 1902, the population of Gila Bend Reservation was 693, while San Xavier had a population of 531. It was also reported in 1902, that the Nomadic Papago of Arizona (they had no Reservation and were Pima but were probably the Kickapoo Saginaw Chippewas) had a population of 2,046. So the total Papago population in 1902 was 3,270.  

By the time of the Indian Reorganization Act's 1930s population estimates, Gila Bend had a population of 228, San Xavier had a population of 525, and Papago had a population of 5,146. An increase in the Papago population can be attributed to the population decline at Gila Bend and the relocation of the Montana Chippewas to Arizona, and the nomadic Kickapoo Chippewas who numbered 2,046 in 1902.  

They have Algonquin origins as do the Apache and Navajo. The Kickapoo originally lived in southeastern Michigan and northern Ohio or the land of the Saginaw Chippewas who are also known as the Swan Creek and Black River Chippewas. They (the Swan Creek and Black River Chippewas) probably originally lived in Montana. Ojibway authors from the 19th century, wrote about the Chippewas forcing their way east, from a westerly location. The 1832 Edinburgh Encyclopedia recorded that the Leni Lenape, who are also known as the Delaware, forced their way east from a location along the Missouri River. The Delaware speak Chippewa according to the 19th century Ojibway author Peter Jones.  

The Kickapoo Chippewas have lived in the lands now known as Arizona state for an extremely long time. Their territory probably extended as far south as northern Sinaloa in Mexico, if not much further south. Today, the Saginaw Kickapoo Chippewas are continuing to cling to their Anishinabe identity in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. They are living in southeastern Arizona just west of their old Chiricahua Reservation. They are trying to gain State and Federal Recognition in Arizona. To better their chances of gaining State or Federal Recognition, they know they can't claim to be Chippewa. Read the Seven Fires Prophecy. Click this link [http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/006868.asp www.indianz.com/News/2005/006868.asp] to read about the Kickapoo of Arizona. You may want to save the page because the news article is 10 years old