reportage

Tohono’s Veteran’s Day

I ended up spending a few days in the Tohono O’Odham reservation by pure accident. I was travelling south from Phoenix towards the Sonoran Desert, where I intended to spend a few days in solitude, and decided to drive to my destination on minor roads, rather than on freeways.

It was the road sign at the entrance of the reservation that made me spare a few days in Tohono land. It read: ‘You are entering Tohono nation’. The ‘nation’ part of the sign puzzled me. I was technically leaving US federal land and entering a totally different administrative and cultural entity. The Tohono are one the the few tribes in the US who still occupy  their ancestral land, the Sonoran Desert. The reservation suffers from most of the problems which plague many other reservations in America:  Obesity; adult-onset diabetes; loss of cultural identity, traditions and language; lack of jobs and  crime.

However, there is also the undeterred determination of a few who take pride in their roots without losing sight of the future. The non-governmental organisation TOCA (Tohono O’Odham Community Action) are introducing new  schemes which allow the transfer of language and traditional knowledge from the elders onto the new generations.  They are also promoting traditional crops, healthier and naturally resilient to the harsh desert environment. Crops like tepary beans, squash and sorgum are ideally suited to the Tohono’s metabolism and a healthy alternative to supermarket foods.

My stay with the Tohono coincided with the celebrations of the War Veteran’s day at the end of November. Those who were directly involved in the the WWII, Korea and Vietnam conflicts, as well as the rest of the community, feel overwhelmingly American and Tohono in equal parts.

A precarious balance at the best of times.