Description
The Akimel O'odham, also called the Pima, are a group of Native Americans living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona, as well as northwestern Mexico in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua. The Akimel O'odham are closely related to the Ak-Chin O'odham, now forming the Ak-Chin Indian Community. Together with the related Tohono O'odham ("Desert People") and the Hia C-ed O'odham ("Sand Dune People"), the Akimel O'odham form the Upper O?odham or Upper Pima (also known as Pima Alto). The short name, "Pima", is believed to have come from the phrase pi 'añi mac or pi mac, meaning "I don't know," which they used repeatedly in their initial meetings with Spanish colonists.
Language
O'odham or Papago-Pima is a Uto-Aztecan language
Culture
They were some of the first inhabitants to turn the desert into profitable farming grounds with their many miles of irrigation canals for corn, beans, squash, kidney beans, tobacco, and cotton. The prehistoric peoples built an extensive irrigation system to compensate for the arid conditions that remain in use today. They also subsided on hunting and gathering and conducted extensive trading. Unusual among the Indian tribes, men did the farming and also wove cotton on looms, but the women made the clothing from it. They were experts in the area of textiles and produced intricate baskets as well as woven cloth.