PARENT SESSION
Oral Session # 43: A. Insect Ecology I; B. Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
Presiding: E Borer and SP Yanoviak
Wednesday, August 6. 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, SITCC Meeting Room 105.

Historical ethnographies as a source of geomorphic knowledge: The Akimel Oodham and the Gila River.

Bigler, Wendy¹, ¹ Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

ABSTRACT- A collection of thirty-two interviews transcribed in 1914 provides important insights into flood events and environmental change from the 1830s to the early 20th century. Akimel Oodham (Pima) elders provided detailed information about the Gila River and their irrigation practices as part of a federal water rights investigation. Elders describe the timing and impact of floods on their villages and the ecological changes to their valley following upstream water diversions by settlers. Ethnohistorical analysis provides valuable insights into human/environment interactions. Historical maps augment the interviews by providing a spatial context for their observations. These observations have important implications for understanding the Hohokam (a prehistoric irrigation culture presumably ancestral to the Akimel Oodham) and providing a rich historical basis for understanding extreme environmental change.

Key words: Gila River, Ethnography, Akimel Oodham, Geomorphology