History of the Sif Oidak District, Tohono 'O'odham Nation

The lands of the Tohono 'O'odham Nation are divided into 11 districts. The district boundaries reflect ancient patterns of ownership and use of natural resources such as farmlands, watering places, and areas for gathering of food plants by different groups of Tohono 'O'odham. The Nation is governed by a Tribal Council with a tribal chairperson and vice chairperson. All 11 districts are represented on the council. Each district has its own District Council with a district chairperson and a district vice chairperson. In May 2018, Alex Cruz, then chairman of the Sif Oidak District of the Tohono 'O'odham Nation, and a friend of mine, asked me to meet with him. As I recall, he had been asked by one of the educational offices of the Nation to write a history of his district. The plan was to go through my book, 'O'odham Place Names, Meanings, Origins and Histories, Arizona and Sonora, so Alex could make a list of pages with events from the district's history. He would then write the history. We were originally to meet on May 23, but due to a death in the district the meeting was postponed until June. I decided the easiest course of action would be for me to write a draft of the history for review since the district officials were under a deadline and had an awful lot of other work on their plates. I finished the draft on June 7 and met with Margie Juan, vice chairwoman of the district, at the Iron Skillet on Interstate 10 on June 8 to go over it with her over pancakes and coffee. Alex and Margie were very happy with it and were also happy for me to make it available to others.

Location of the Sif Oidak District

The northern boundary of the Sif Oidak District is the northernmost boundary of the nine districts that include most of the lands of the Tohono 'O'odham Nation in the United States. The district's maximum dimensions are about 33 miles from north to south near its eastern boundary and about 30 miles east to west in its northern area. The northernmost point of the district is about 2.5 miles north of Cheechio village and the southernmost point is about 0.75 mile north of Gu Achi Peak in the Santa Rosa Mountains. The east to west dimension steadily increases going north from about 17 miles at the district's southern boundary to 30 miles at a point on its western boundary with the Hickiwan District. From that point on the east to west dimension decreases to only 6 miles on the northern boundary northwest of Cheechio. The district is bounded by the Hickiwan District on the west, the Gu Achi and Schuk Toak Districts on the south, and by non-reservation lands on the east and north. Most of the district is in Pinal County, Arizona, with only the southernmost area in Pima County. See the Sif Oidak District map.

Figure 1 shows Table Top Mountain, Mo'ochbaḍ in the 'O'odham language, which is immediately to the north of the northern boundary of the Sif Oidak District. Mo'ochbaḍis the dominant topographical feature on the south side of Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, Arizona.

Figure 1.

Mo'ochbaḍ, or Table Top Mountain. North of Koahadk and southwest of Casa Grande, Arizona. Great views from Interstate 8 traveling west from Casa Grande. Photo by Peter Kresan.

Going from north to south, villages with year-round residents include Cheechio, Vaiva Vo'o, Taḍ Memelikuḍ, Koahadk, Komalik, and 'Aangam. On U.S. Geological Survey maps these village names are spelled Chuichu, Vaiva Vo or Cocklebur, Tat Momoli, Kohatk, North Komelik and Anegam.

Origin of the Names Siv 'Oidag and Koahadk

The village now called Koahadk was once called Siv 'Oidag, Bitter Fields, because it was at the upstream end of the fields...