Meet the ancient O'odham
John Annerino photo, from "People of Legend"
The Tohono O'odham use long mesquite sticks to play a toka, traditional game similar to field hockey.
Tribe has history that stretches back thousands of years; members are expert in desert living
| The origins of toka
Toka is a Tohono O'odham women's game that originated centuries ago as
suggested through songs and stories passed down by tribal elders.
Back then, O'odham women walked long distances from their villages to
harvest plants or gather water, and played a version of the game along
their journey.
It is similar to field hockey. A team is made of up to 11 players.
The players each use a long stick, called an usaga, to hit a puck, or ola,
into the other team's goal.
The usaga is made out of mesquite wood. A mesquite branch is picked in the
spring when the new wood is much easier to bend and bake over a fire.
The branch is stripped of its bark and the tip is shaped into a curve. The
ola is made of two oblong pieces of wood bound together with leather or
rope.
Players compete by moving the ola back and forth on the field. The game
ends when one side scores. Participants usually play for the best of seven
games.
|
Tohono O'odham - their name means desert people or desert dwellers - have lived in the Sonoran Desert for about 6,000 years, or 4,000 years before Jesus Christ lived.
Tohono O'odham (pronounced toe-hone-o ahtum) believe their creator, I'itoi, formed them from the desert clays, making them one with the desert.
Traditional O'odham also believe I'itoi (pronounced E-E-toy) made the universe in four days.
They believe I'itoi lives in a cave on top of Baboquivari Peak in the Baboquivari Mountains, about 40 miles southwest of Tucson. The famous Kitt Peak National Observatory is also in that mountain range.
The traditional lands of the Tohono O'odham stretch from Phoenix on south to Hermosillo, Sonora, and west to the Gulf of California.
Today the reservation in the United States is known as the Tohono O'odham Nation, because American Indian tribes have their own independent governments.
The Tohono O'odham Nation is about the size of Connecticut, containing 2.7 million acres of desert and about 24,000 residents. Its capital is Sells, 60 miles west of Tucson.
It also includes the historic Mission San Xavier del Bac near Tucson, completed in 1797 by O'odham farmers who became builders and craftsmen of the architectural masterpiece.
In past centuries, the O'odham traveled and lived off their lands. They farmed and watered the fields by building irrigation ditches and directing water into the ditches from rivers and washes. They harvested crops including pinto beans, squash, wheat, corn, watermelons and sugar cane. They hunted rabbits and deer.
Some O'odham still operate ranches where they raise cattle and participate in rodeos. They also operate farms on their vast, lush land that is filled with rich aromas, including that of ongoi (sagebrush) after summer rains. In Spanish, ongoi is artemisia.
Tohono O'odham also cook with native desert plants. They pick, prepare and cook gisoki - prickly pear.
Another tradition that keeps O'odham in harmony with nature is the harvest of the bahithaj - saguaro fruit - before the summer rains. The Spanish phrase is fruta del saguaro. Once the fruit is picked, it is prepared and made into jams, syrups and wine.
Desert plants, including yucca and devil's claw, are also picked and used by O'odham weavers to make baskets, a traditional art.
All content copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 AzStarNet , Arizona Daily Star and
its
wire services and suppliers and may not be republished without permission.
All
rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution, or retransmission of any of
the
contents of this service without the expressed written consent of Arizona
Daily
Star or AzStarNet is prohibited.
