Tag: Pima

The Pima (or Akimel O’odham) are a group of American Indians living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona. The long name, “Akimel O’odham”, means “river people”. They are closely related to the Tohono O’odham (meaning “desert people”) and the Hia C-ed O’odham. They are also closely related to another river people, the Sobaipuri, whose descendants still reside at San Xavier del Bac or Wa:k and in the Gila River communities. The short name, “Pima” is believed to have come from the phrase pi ‘añi mac or pi mac, meaning “I don’t know,” used repeatedly in their initial meeting with Europeans.
The Pima Indians first called themselves Otama until the first account of interaction with non-Native Americans was recorded. Americans later corrupted the miscommunication into Pimos, which was adapted to Pima river people. During the early part of the nineteenth century, there were eight Pima villages on the Gila River whose names were bestowed by the Spanish missionaries…