The Tohono O'odham Student Association
at The University of Arizona
S-keg Tas! Good Day!
Here you will find information about the Tohono O'odham Student Association (TOSA) at The University of Arizona, an official student organization on The University of Arizona campus. You will also find resources for Tohono O'odham students attending UA as well as information for UA entities and researchers who seek information about Tohono O'odham culture, history, and heritage. Please read on for background information about TOSA and the Tohono O'odham....
Who are the Tohono O'odham?
The Tohono O'odham (Desert People) are the original inhabitants of southern Arizona and northern Mexico. With the arrival of the Spanish and later the Anglo Americans the ancestral lands of the Tohono O'odham were divided by the US-Mexico international border and later by the founding of the Tohono O'odham reservation. The Tohono O'odham reservation comprises of four bodies; the main reservation and three satellite reservations (the San Xavier District, Florence District, and San Lucy District).
The map above shows the extent of the Tohono O'odham, Ak Chin O'odham, and Hia C-ed O'odham ancestral lands. These boundaries are defined by oral knowledge, present day location of Tohono O'odham villages, and supported by archaeological evidence. Many original names of O'odham villages were lost in translation and overtime became populated with non-O'odham after the arrival of the Spanish and later Anglo Americans. Several well known O'odham villages in Mexico include Nogales, Coboraca, and Magdalena. Those most known in the state of Arizona include Tucson, Gila Bend, and Patagonia. The very name of the state or Arizona is derived from the O'odham words Ali Son (Small Base)-- again, lost in translation came the word Ari (Ali) - zon (Son) - a or Arizona.
The map above was originally published by Al Jazeera America (2014) in an article titled "U.S.-Mexico border wreaks havoc on lives of an indigenous desert tribe" by Kate Kilpatrick which can be found here: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/5/25/us-mexico-borderwreakshavocwithlivesofanindigenousdesertpeople.html
TOSA
Our Purpose
TOSA is a community of Tohono O'odham and non-Tohono O'odham students attending The University of Arizona. TOSA offers our members with the experience and knowledge of working with the Tohono O'odham community on campus while creating a place for gathering and academic encouragement. We conduct outreach on and off the Tohono O'odham Nation and share our experiences as Tohono O'odham students with others to encourage the pursuit of higher education.
Our Origin Story
TOSA formed in 2008 by Damascus Francisco (Tohono O'odham) who sought to create a community on campus by and for Tohono O'odham at UA. Like Francisco other O'odham felt they did not have a community at UA thus TOSA formed. Our very first meeting was held at Sacred Grounds Trading Post where TOSA's original four members gathered. Damascus Francisco, Annamarie Stevens, June Starr, and Lisa Palacios met and shared experiences endured as Tohono O'odham at UA and developed ways to address not having a community. Overtime it became increasingly important for TOSA to educate the UA community about Tohono O'odham history, culture, and our continued presences on our homelands which The University of Arizona campus is built on.
Non-Tohono O'odham students = other tribes. TOSA has had members and officers from federally and non-federally recognized tribes in the United States as well as tribes from other parts of the world such as, the Republic of Mexico and Australia.
Please visit our TOSA Educational Materials page for more information about the history of TOSA.
It should be noted that the Tohono O'odham Nation flag no longer has 12 feathers. For a short period of time the Tohono O'odham Nation had 12 districts but reverted back to 11.