 O'odham portraits | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 19,921 ± 4,574 (2010)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States ( Arizona) | |
| Languages | |
| O'odham, English, Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism, traditional tribal religion[2] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
The Akimel O'odham (O'odham for "river people"), also called the Pima, are a group of Native Americans living in an area consisting of what is now central and southern Arizona, as well as northwestern Mexico in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua. The majority population of the two current bands of the Akimel O'odham in the United States are based in two reservations: the Keli Akimel Oʼodham on the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) and the On'k Akimel O'odham on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC).
The Akimel O'odham are closely related to the Ak-Chin O'odham, now forming the Ak-Chin Indian Community. They are also related to the Sobaipuri, whose descendants reside on the San Xavier Indian Reservation or Wa꞉k (together with the Tohono O'odham), and in the Salt River Indian Community. Together with the related Tohono O'odham ("Desert People") and the Hia C-ed O'odham ("Sand Dune People"), the Akimel O'odham form the Upper Oʼodham or Upper Pima (also known as Pima Alto).
The short name, "Pima", is believed to have come from the phrase pi 'añi mac or pi mac, meaning "I don't know," which they used repeatedly in their initial meetings with Spanish colonists. The Spanish referred to them as the Pima.[2][3] This term was adopted by later English speakers: traders, explorers and settlers.
- ^ U.S. Census Bureau, 2011 American Community Survey, http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B02005&prodType=table Archived February 12, 2020, at archive.today
- ^ a b Pritkzer, 62
- ^ Awawtam. "Pima Stories of the Beginning of the World." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 7th ed. Vol. A. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2007. 22–31. Print.