Pima People

Pima People

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", formerly known as Papagos) of Eastern Papagueria and the Hia C-ed O'odham ("Sand Dune People", formerly known as Sand Papagos or Sand Pimas) of the Western Papagueria. They are also closely related to another river people, the Sobaipuri, whose descendants still reside on the San Xavier Indian Reservation or Wa:k (together with the Tohono O'odham) 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.