The Gila River Indian Community, shared with members who are Akimel O’odham, and the Salt River Pima‐Maricopa Indian Community are home to the Maricopa.
Synonymy
The origin of “Maricopa” is obscure with no local linguistic sources of an apparently Yuman name. Father Eusebio Kino is the first European source using the term “Cocomaricopa” later shortened in English. The autonym is pi∙pas∙ṣ or “the people” today rendered as “Piipaash” and "Pee Posh". See also Goddard, Handbook of North American Indians, v. 10, pp. 83‐84.
Contains letters by Stout, Special Indian Agent to the Akimel O’odham (Pima) and Maricopa. Stout represents the Reformed Church of America (RCA) and corresponds with superiors, bureaucrats, and others. Most of his observations speak to the health and conditions of the Akimel O’odham and Maricopa. He also offers observations on the Tohono O’odham, and, incidentally, the Apache.
Includes materials related to Ezell’s work on Maricopa claims before the Indian Claims Commission (ICC), such as “The Maricopa: An Identification from Documentary Sources” and “Plants without Water: The Pima‐Maricopa Experience” introduced as exhibits (ICC Docket No. 236‐C, Gila River v. United States). Ezell’s materials also include thoughtful comments on papers on Pima and Maricopa history delivered by Henry F. Dobyns and Fred H. Nicklason
Includes the folklorist’s notes and manuscripts for her unpublished “Folklore and Legends of the Indians of the Southwest” with content on the Maricopa and other tribes.
Includes correspondence on the Maricopa Indian Cooperative Association (MICA), a tribal agricultural enterprise, and MICA efforts to secure support for farming on the Gila River reservation. The DeConcini papers also include a file on legislation intended to support the development of roads on the Gila River and Ak‐Chin reservations, including an extensive Department of Transportation (DOT) report included as part of HR 4794, legislation for DOT appropriations through September 30, 1989.
Includes a project and research file on Maricopa and Mayo pottery, including seventy black‐and‐white photographs, reflecting perhaps two or three distinct sessions. The images depict pottery‐making, firing, slip‐making, and sun‐drying and air‐drying before firing. Fontana’s additional notes describe making pottery, cheese, and a Tucson‐based Maricopa informant’s account of early‐twentieth‐century visits of a non‐Indian trader and trade.
Arizona Historical Society Materials
The materials located in this section can be found at the Arizona Historical Society Tucson location, an institution separate from the University of Arizona. There you can find manuscript materials, photographs, oral histories and books that highlight Indigenous life in the U.S./Mexico borderlands. This selection represents only a small fraction of the Arizona Historical Society's materials related to Indigenous life in the borderlands. Please contact their archivists for questions about additional materials.
