Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Search Challenge (1/20/16): Native American languages in Arizona

I spent a couple of years living in Arizona when I was young... 

... in Cottonwood, AZ, centered in the desert landscape of the Verde Valley, not far from the red rocks of Sedona and the mining ghost town of Jerome.  In school, we'd visit local Native American sites like Tuzigoot (a pueblo on a hilltop) and Montezuma's Castle (a cliff dwelling site).  

As a result, I remember being fascinated by the Native culture in Arizona, from the Navajo in the northeast to the Pimas in the south. 

But one culture that really caught my attention, mostly because (at the time) it was tough to learn anything, was the Papago tribe way down in southern Arizona. 

This led me to do some research recently, and (as always) I was struck by what I found. There are lots of stories and insights here, and you could spend a lifetime on this topic. But for today, I have three Challenges to inspire a little bit of SearchResearch for you this week.  


1.  When I learned about the Papago tribe, I naturally assumed they were an Arizona tribe.  But is that really true? Where are they located?  Where are their historic tribal lands? 

2.  Who is John P. Harrington, and what relationship does he have to the Papago?  What is he best known for?  

3.  In last week's Challenge we learned about the Pacifica statue.  Can you find a connection between the original Pacifica statue and the Papago?  

4.  I'd like to learn more about their spoken language: Can you find a recording of someone speaking it? 


As always, let us know what you find, and just as importantly, HOW you found it.  What resources did you seek out?  Which worked well (and which didn't).  

Answers and comments next week! 

Search on.  



14 comments:

  1. Very interesting and very enlightning!

    I particularly liked to read about how the O'odham people have been separated between countries for the past 30 years without access to each other, and how Native American books are being censored and prohibited, for political reasons connected to the prevalent white privilege. :/

    Also, what an amazing person John Peabody Harrington may have been!

    As to question 4, Tohono TV has created a very interesting O'odham Language playlist.

    (On a side note, I am sorry I haven't been participative. I haven't even answered the Best of the Year quest yet.)

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  2. Good day, Dr. Russell and everyone. Super interesting as always.

    Searched:

    [Papago tribe] In Google plus. Because there are many collections and communities about first people.


    The Tohono O’odham Nation (formerly known as the Papago tribe) sits in the heart of the Sonoran Desert.

    Los estudios etnolingüísticos reconocen tres divisiones principales del grupo pápago
    "Tohono O'odham" means "Desert People." the Papago, have largely rejected this name (meaning literally "tepary-bean eater"), which was applied to them by conquistadores.

    [John P. Harrington]/ [John P. Harrington around(3) "Tohono O'odham"]

    Tohono Archives

    "...in June 1939, Harrington had occasion to record a Papago vocabulary from Manuel and Molly Williams of the Papago Reservation at Sells, Arizona"...

    ethnological and linguistic fieldwork.

    The John Peabody Harrington Collection

    Wikipedia Tohono site links to:
    the official web site of the Tohono O'odham Nation.

    [famous Tohono O'odham]

    [pacifica statue around(3) american first tribes]
    Pacifica is back Mr. Salvatore DeGuarda, in Diego Rivera's Mural. He is responsible for bring Pacifica back.

    [o'odham language]in all and in Videos

    O'odham / Pima and Papago / Sáíkiné

    Answers

    1. When I learned about the Papago tribe, I naturally assumed they were an Arizona tribe. But is that really true? Where are they located? Where are their historic tribal lands?

    Arizona and Sonora Mexico. The Tohono O'odham Nation, or Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation, is located in southern Arizona, encompassing portions of Pima County, Pinal County, and Maricopa County.(wikipedia)

    2. Who is John P. Harrington, and what relationship does he have to the Papago? What is he best known for?

    Ethnologist and talented linguist. An eccentric personality, J. P. Harrington amassed an unprecedented record of linguistic and cultural knowledge that is a treasure of the NAAs. source: Smithsonian Institution

    3. In last week's Challenge we learned about the Pacifica statue. Can you find a connection between the original Pacifica statue and the Papago?

    Not Yet

    4. I'd like to learn more about their spoken language: Can you find a recording of someone speaking it?

    O'odham LanguageTohono TV, YouTube Channel

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1. First I searched for Papago historic tribal lands. This brought me to https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Papago_Indians where I found this at the top of the page… Ancestral Homeland: Sourthern Arizona.

    2. Next I searched for John P. Harrington. Wikipedia says that “John Peabody Harrington was an American linguist and ethnologist and a specialist in the native peoples of California. Harrington is noted for the massive volume of his documentary output, most of which has remained unpublished.” Adding “Papago” as a required term to the results brought me to http://siris-archives.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!363565~!4&ri=4&aspect=basic&menu=search&source=~!siarchives&profile=all This is where I learned Harrington’s connection to the Papago. “At a California Exposition on Treasure Island in June 1939, Harrington had occasion to record a Papago vocabulary from Manuel and Molly Williams of the Papago Reservation at Sells, Arizona. Later in the fall he worked in the area of Arizonac Ranch and Arizonac Creek recording additional Papago terms, as well as Pima placenames. His Ietters to the B.A.E. list Harry Karns, Joe Wise, and his son Knight at Nogales; Lucio Napoleon, a ninety-year-old Papago; Cirildo T. Soto at Saric; and Captain Luis Lopez, head chief of the Papago of northern Sonora, as informants. He also mentioned making rapid progress under Mr. Jones Narcho, tribal secretary of the Papago. The notes themseives only mention Mr. and Mrs. Williams.”

    3. Searching for a connection between the Pacifica Statue and the Papago only resulted in references to Searchresearch. But in my answer above to Challenge #2, it states that Harrington recorded the Papago vocabulary “at a California Exposition on Treasure Island in June 1939”. According to Wikipedia, “Pacifica was a statue created by Ralph Stackpole for the 1939–1940 Golden Gate International Exposition held on Treasure Island.” So I’m assuming the Exposition on Treasure Island is the connection.

    4. In researching Challenge #1, I came across http://www.native-languages.org/papago_culture.htm That page contained a link to a page about the Papago language at http://www.native-languages.org/papago.htm I couldn’t find a recording on that page, but I did learn there that the language is called Tohono O'odham. I did a youtube search, and found this video of students from the Tohono O'odham Community College performing traditional singing and dancing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUd2fBJ_ozI I’m not sure that this successfully completes the Challenge #4, because it’s sung, and not spoken.


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  4. 1. [papago] finds Wikipedia

    the Tohono O’odham were previously known as the Papago, Tohono O'odom Tribe - pronounced: tah-hoe-na aut-um

    MAP OF THEIR TERRITORIES IN PIMA COUNTY ARIZONA EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/TOHONO_O%27ODHAM_NATION#/MEDIA/FILE:PIMA_COUNTY_INCORPORATED_AND_UNINCORPORATED_AREAS_TOHONO_OODHAM_HIGHLIGHTED.SVG in Pima County

    The Traditional lands are in Sonora, Mexico

    2. [John P. Harrington] Wikipedia: Smithsonian field ethnologist. 40 years and a specialist in the native peoples of California. the shelf space in the National Anthropological Archives dedicated to his work spans nearly seven hundred feet.[1]

    [JPH papago] finds http://siris-archives.si.edu/

    At a California Exposition on Treasure Island in June 1939, Harrington had occasion to record a Papago vocabulary from Manuel and Molly Williams of the Papago Reservation at Sells, Arizona. He studied them further. Best known for work on California native languages

    3. Not yet

    4. TO listen [O'odham] YouTube https://youtu.be/bpLJT1sapbI https://youtu.be/-zQs4NaJg8A

    https://youtu.be/rvvwRFUjX2s This is hilarious: https://youtu.be/wm546ZrFJDo

    This one is very clear: https://youtu.be/rhYkj57gHMM

    jon

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  5. An excellent Harrington biography is here via google scholar

    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/aa.1963.65.2.02a00110/pdf

    3. Found it ! nifty contemporary book Treasure Island the magic city

    https://archive.org/details/treasureislandma00jamerich

    In which we find mention and pix of the US Indian Exhibit - ah ha ! which leads to

    [1939 exhibition, 'Indian Arts in the United States and Alaska' papago]

    Which finds a bowl in the Indian Art collection--The Indian Arts and Crafts Board: Introduction and Tohono O'odham Bowl

    http://blog.nmai.si.edu/main/2015/08/indian-arts-crafts-board-1.html

    ...the IACB curated two monumental exhibitions of Native art—the Indian Court at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco, ...

    Good one !

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  6. Wow this was very inspiring puzzle..

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  7. YouTube has a video of the spoken language here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhYkj57gHMM

    ReplyDelete
  8. nice example - Curtis/Luzi print
    #8
    the '39 GG Exposition
    clever post card map - 'V' Court of Pacifica, Native American(Indian) exhibits in '2' Federal Building
    Papago (Mollie) basket weaving demo @ Expo, in Federal Building
    Google newspaper article with 'Mollie' pic
    39 Expo photos
    '39 Expo Posters, LoC

    fairly detailed history - gives background on Sells, AZ Papago reservation creation - June 17, 1909
    "The Sells Papago Reservation's Creation:
    While chief Rocky Boy was negotiating with Frank Churchill, both probably negotiated about having new Chippewa Reservations created in southern Arizona. In 1909, there were yet around 2,000 Kickapoo Chippewa's living in southeastern Arizona. They were landless like the Montana Chippewas. The United States did not want them getting involved in the coming Mexican Civil War.

    Chief Rocky Boy acted on their behalf. He also requested that those Chippewas in Montana who did not want to move to the 4th Blackfeet Reservation and Fort Belknap Reservation, or were not allowed to move to those Montana Reservations, be relocated to Arizona.

    On June 17, 1909, the Sells Papago Reservation was created. It is an extension of the Gila Bend Reservation. The Mexican Civil War was looming on the horizon for the Federal Government. After the Gila Bend Reservation was enlarged, it was close to 6,000 sq. mi. After it was enlarged, the Kickapoo Chippewas who lived in southeastern Arizona, moved to the Gila Bend Reservation which is now known as the Sells Papago Reservation.

    Many Montana Chippewas were boarded onto trains and relocated to the new large Reservation in southern Arizona, adjacent to Mexico. That happened in the 1909-1910 time period. What the United States did actually kept the Arizona Indians out of the Mexican Civil War. They did keep their promise. Unfortunately the US government forced Chippewa children (and children from other tribes as well) to attend white boarding schools where they were not allowed to speak in their native language, nor practice their own culture. These children eventually lost their Chippewa and other native Tribal identities.

    In 1916-1917, the United States reduced the size of the Gila Bend Reservation. The Sells Papago Reservation now covers 4,453 sq. mi. It is no longer connected to the Gila Bend Reservation, Gila River Reservation, and Maricopa or Akchin Reservation. Many native Americans have strong faith in what is known by them as "The Seven Fires Prophecy" which foretold and warned of the coming events for the native Americans."


    fwiw:
    did you visit the Well when you went to the Castle?
    castle
    extended view
    Jerome

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I did visit the Well! Glad you noticed the connection...

      Delete
  9. off topic, but still skeptically in the search realm…
    your acquaintance from the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Lillehammer, Norway…
    Henk's twitter: 'Words of wisdom from the @BBC'
    a René caveat…
    ce est pas une pipe ... ou quelque chose d'autre

    languages
    treachery @ 30
    simulacra
    paralanguage
    ono, knot play-doh & airisturtle
    hylomorphism

    ReplyDelete