Tearing the Tohono O’odham apart


Written by: Ethan Martin


Laurel Morales/KJZZ


          In the southwest region of the United States of America, there is an ancient tribe biting their nails on both sides of the border. It is not too common that a group of people find their homeland on two sides of an international divide, but that is the unfortunate truth and the reality that the Tohono O’odham tribe of Arizona face on an every day basis. These people, alongside other tribes, live their lives as citizens of a nation of people, oddly enough, without a country to call home. However, the way that they see it, they do not cross an international boundary, the international boundary crosses them...and their land. This fight over their migration and status as a people has come under greater scrutiny as of late due to the current presidential administration’s policies towards our neighbors in the south. 
So who exactly is the Tohono O’odham tribe anyway? The Tohono O’odham people are a group that resides in the southwestern part of the United States. The area they call home is where today we call southern Arizona. However, they also call the Mexican state of Sonora home as well. Their reservation of tens of thousands of people has its biggest portion in Arizona, exactly south of Phoenix and just west of Tucson. There is also a population of a couple thousand, however, who permanently reside on the Sonora side of the territory. They are the descendants of groups like the Hohokam people and have migrated around these lands for tens of thousands of years.
How did they wind up in this pickle? Well the answers go back more or less to the end of the Mexican-American war in the nineteenth century. So what we recognize as our southwest today was formally under control of the United Mexican States. Following the war the United States government pressured the Mexican government to cede much of the territory it controlled to us via “El tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo”.  This land amounted to about one third of Mexico’s land and included Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Utah, Colorado, and parts of Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma, and the southernmost regions of Oregon and Idaho. This was not quite enough for the United States government so they convinced the Mexico to sell a small part of its land in what is now southern Arizona and New Mexico so that we could have access for the railroad. This was called “La Venta de la Mesilla” or it is also known as the “Gadsden Purchase”. This effectively split the tribe based on where they were living at the time as it moved the border more toward the south resulting in parts of the tribe living in Sonora and Arizona.
Until recent years, there has been little to no conflict with this arrangement between the tribe and the Mexican and United States’ government. Both governments recognize the tribe on the federal level and are issued identification. Members are given a identification card which is recognizable and allows for smooth crossing between the border. After the era of terrorism and the rise of heightened security in the United States, more barriers have been erected that allow foot traffic but serve as a vehicle barriers to prevent cars from being able to pass through Tohono O’odham land. However, with the current administration’s call for an impenetrable wall to be constructed along all parts of the border with interfere with daily life for many of these groups of people and have them anxiously waiting to see what is going to be done.
Many problems would arise for the Tohono O’odham if the wall or he barrier were to be erected. The first of many problems include their reluctance to it due to politics. Basically, they do not want to be involved with the political side about the issue. They just want to go on living as they have without being in the middle of partisan fighting. Also, probably the most important of the issues is the fact that it would make crossing the border super hard, if not impossible, for some. With that issue comes the cutting of their ties with Mexico and the communities which live there. Much of their ancestral lands and historical ties are located within Mexico and being unable to visit these sites would harm their access to part of who they were. For example, there are very important pieces of prehistoric artwork on rocks by their ancestors like the Hohokam that they stand to lose access to. A construction through the Tohono O’odham land cutting off the two sides completely would disrupt resources. Many individuals hunt animals, forage plants, and fetch water from areas different from those in which they live. This wall would disrupt plant and animals migration preventing or hindering the ability to harvest the land of what it has to offer.
Fighting back, however, may prove to be a tricky proposition. There is fear of government reprisal which could include the reduction of land rights, funding, and federal recognition of the tribe. Protesting on the border has grown in recent years as a way to demonstrate the concern, drawing crowds from both sides. The situation is a tough one, that is for sure. The president is technically granted the ability to construct barriers under post nine eleven legislation, however, the extent of this power has never been fully put to the test. Also certain protections are granted to the natives peoples by United Nations, so the conflict that could arise could be one for the books. As of now, it is just a matter of holding our breaths, stuck in a legal and political limbo. Perhaps only time shall tell what becomes of the situation. 






Sources
Chen, Michelle. "Defying US Borders, Native Americans Are Asserting Their Territorial Rights." The Nation. March 01, 2019. Accessed April 19, 2019. https://www.thenation.com/article/native-american-border-territory/.
Morales, Laurel. Verlon Jose. February 21, 2017. 
Morales, Laurel. "Border Wall Would Cut Across Land Sacred To Native Tribe." NPR. February 23, 2017. Accessed April 19, 2019. https://www.npr.org/2017/02/23/516477313/border-wall-would-cut-across-land-sacred-to-native-tribe.
Náñez, Dianna M. "A Border Tribe, and the Wall That Will Divide It." USA Today. Accessed April 19, 2019. https://www.usatoday.com/border-wall/story/tohono-oodham-nation-arizona-tribe/582487001/.

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