Wooden wall posts and roof beams formed structures that were covered with grass and adobe.
4, Hohokam homes were “pit houses.” People dug shallow pits and built houses inside. Hohokam Traditions and Lifestylesīetween A.D.
Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community, December 2008. This perspective represents the understanding and beliefs of Odham Elder Barnaby V. It may be best for the public to recognize that Huhugam and Hohokam are both in union as one in a spiritual realm of the past. O’odham oral traditions identify Huhugam as the ancestral relatives of the present-day O’odham, and that knowledge is essentially the core of O’odham cultural identity. O’odham origins and history are recorded through oration and are passed from one generation to the next by practice of known traditional protocols to memorialize significant events in the passage of time. The O’odham are primarily an oral history society. This has been related not by one particular person, but has as its basis the Creation story that places the existence of life on earth from time immemorial. The O’odham family tree is inclusive of all O’odham. In the O’odham traditional view, Huhugam is used in referring to O’odham ancestors, identifying a person(s) from whom an individual(s) is a lineal descendant. Huhugam is not the same as the archaeological term Hohokam, which is limited by time periods and does not represent the true reverent acknowledgement of ancient ancestors, as well as living O’odham who will become ancestors today or tomorrow. The term “that” implies reference to an object, which is inaccurate and is not acceptable in the hearts and minds of the present-day O’odham. Huhugam does not literally mean “the things that are all used up.” Huhugam specifically applies to past human life and not objects as in the generally accepted translation, “that which has perished” (Haury 1976:5). The limited knowledge of the English language on the part of the informant(s) and the context of the conversations may account for the misleading interpretations. The recorded translations that are attributed to the O’odham word Huhugam are incorrect. The historic translation of Huhugam as recorded by ethnographers and archaeologists basically accepts an interpretation provided by O’odham informant(s) in 1908. The O’odham have a familial relationship of shared cultural group identity that can be traced historically and prehistorically to the Huhugam that inhabited central and southern Arizona, as well as the northern region of present-day Mexico.įrom published literature, the O’odham word Huhugam was first recorded in 1694 upon the discovery of Sivan Vahki (also known as Casa Grande Ruins) and in later years appeared in various documents such as the O’odham oral narratives written down in 1775 by Father Pedro Font. O’odham of the Tohono O’odham Nation also occupy lands at San Lucy in Gila Bend, Florence Village east of Florence, and the San Xavier District Community in Tucson. The O’odham of central and southern Arizona are represented by four separate federally recognized tribal governments that include O’odham of the Gila River Indian Community, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, the Ak-Chin Indian Community and the Tohono O’odham Nation. Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community explains the meaning of the O’odham word Huhugam: Nonetheless, they were Huhugam, the ancestors of the O’odham. The few people still living in the area during the 15th century are not considered part of the Hohokam archaeological culture, because their pottery, architecture, and other traditions had changed.
Hohokam traditions changed and eventually disappeared as immigrants arrived and the region’s population declined over many generations. Hohokam, as an archaeological term, is limited to a specific time period. In this exhibit, the term Hohokam is used as a type of archaeological “shorthand” to refer to particular ancient groups based on distinct pottery manufacturing techniques, architectural traditions, and other customs. The observation that they vanished from the archaeological record centuries ago, yet have living descendants in the area, has long posed a dilemma for archaeologists. Important questions in Hohokam research have focused on what happened to these ancient groups and how they are related to modern Native Americans. Although “Hohokam” and Huhugam are similar in spelling and pronunciation, they have distinctly different meanings. Archaeologists call the ancient people of the Sonoran Desert “Hohokam.” The O’odham people living in the region today refer to their ancestors as Huhugam.
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