Native American cultures are truly fascinating.
To understand some of my other posts, a little history/anthropology lesson is in order. I have, for years, tried to explain Native American cultures are similar to the way we think of Europeans. Different countries, languages and customs. Americans are different from each other. The wicked cool Bostonians are nothing like the surfer dudes of southern California.
The Papago - Tohono O'odham
The Tohono O'odham (sometimes pronounced aw thum) were long known as the Papago tribes of southern Arizona and Northern Mexico. Tohono O'odham means "people of the desert". They are culturally and linguistically related to the:
The Pima - Akimel O'odham
The Akimel O'odham tribes are settled in central Arizona. (Think Phoenix) Their name means "people of the river". The most famous of the Akimel O'odham was a young man, Ira Hayes. Hayes was a marine immortalized in the famous picture of the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima during WWII. When he died in 1955, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
Pima and Papago were Spanish terms given to these people by the Spanish coming up from Mexico.
The Apache
The most complex of all the groups are the Apache - a collective term fro several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the southwest ranging from Oklahoma to Arizona. Currently, there are six Apachean groups with chiefs. Within each group are subgroups.
The Spanish
Coming up from New Spain (Mexico), the Spanish were busy colonizing the American Southwest during the 1600s-1700s. This meant trying to convert the natives to Catholicism, or just basically driving them off their lands. While some natives did convert to Christianity, the majority did not. The Catholic Church originally sent in the Jesuits, a strict order of priests. After they fell into disfavor with King Carlos III, the more easy-going Franciscans were sent in to convert the natives.
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