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A Native American tribe formerly known as the Papago, the Tohono O'odham live on four reservations in southern Arizona, west of Tucson. Numbering about 20,000 people in 1993 the Tohono O'odham tribe gains most of its income from mineral leases with some irrigated farming. The Ak Chin Reservation of 21,000 acres (85 kmē) has a 10,000 acre (40 kmē) farm which mostly grows cotton. The Papago, San Xavier, and Gila Bend Reservations have a common government with headquarters at Sells, Arizona and a total of 2.8 million acres (11,000 kmē), mostly desert. Mission San Xavier del Bac, the "White Dove of the Desert," built in 1783 is on the reservation and still used as a church. It is open to the public on weekdays and Saturday. Founded in 1700 it is one of the many missions built in the southwest by the Spanish on their northern frontier. The San Xavier Fiesta is held in the evening of the Friday after Easter and features a torch-light procession of tribal members, a children's dance and booths. The mission is about 10 miles south of Tucson off I-19.
In late November the All-Indian Papago Tribal Fair and Rodeo is held which includes a pow-wow, rodeo and a Miss Pagago contest. There is also bingo. Camping is available in some locations but you need to contact the district of the reservation you intend to camp in for a permit. There are a few archeological sites open to the public including Hohokam ruinsRuins are the remains of a piece of man-made architecture. The term is used to describe a structure that was at one time whole but has, with the intervention of weathering and lack of maintenance, become wrecked by time. There are basic types of ruins tha at Forteleza Ruins. Some archaeological theories propose that the Hohokam were the ancestors of the Tohono O'odham.
At the Ak Chin Reservation there is a festival honoring St. FrancisSaint Francis of Assisi (born in Assisi, Italy, ca. 1182; died there on October 3, 1226) founded the Franciscan Order or "Friars Minor". He is the patron saint of animals and the environment. Boyhood and early manhood Born Giovanni Bernardone commonly kno in October. Ak Chin also has a unique "eco-museum" which feature exhibits throughout the reservation, many designed and maintained by families who live there.
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Native American tribes
Native American tribes of ArizonaNatives of Arizona Native Americans have inhabited what is now Arizona for thousands of years. It remains a state with one of the largest percentages of Native Americans in the United States of America, and has the second largest total Native American pop
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