Ak-Chin Indian Community

Ak Chin Indian Community
of the Maricopa (Ak Chin)
Indian Reservation

Pinal County, Arizona with Ak-Chin Village is highlighted in red
Total population
(770[1])
Regions with significant populations
 United States ( Arizona)
Languages
O'odham language, English, Spanish
Religion
Christianity, traditional tribal religion
Related ethnic groups
other Tohono O'odham, Akimel O'odham, Hia-Ced O'odham peoples

The Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation is a Native American community located in the Santa Cruz Valley in Arizona.[2] The community is composed mainly of Akimel O'odham and Tohono O'odham, as well as some Hia-Ced O'odham members.[3]

Name

Ak-Chin is an O'odham word that means the "mouth of the arroyo."[4]

Reservation

The Maricopa Reservation was founded in 1912 and has been reduced from 47,600 acres to its current 22,000 acres. The reservation is located in Pinal County, Arizona within the Sonoran Desert. Averaging an elevation of 1,186 feet, this reservation located 37 miles south of Phoenix. Much of the land is good for farming, and 15,000 acres are irrigated.[2]

Government

The Ak-Chin Indian Community is headquartered in Maricopa, Arizona. The current tribal council is as follows:

Demographics

As of 2000, the population living in the community was 742, with a median age of 24.2, compared to a median age of 37.1 for all of Pinal County. 89.4% of the population was American Indian or Alaska Native alone or in combination with other races.[5] Most of the population lives in Ak-Chin Village, in the western part of the reservation. Part of the city of Maricopa also lies within reservation territory.

Language

Harrah's Ak-Chin

The Ak-Chin Indian Community has its own written form of the O'odham language, which is in the Piman group of the Uto-Aztecan language family.[6]

Economic development

Ak-Chin Farms Enterprises is the Ak-Chin Indian Community's agricultural business.[2] The tribe owns and operates Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino, Agave's Southwestern Restaurant, Copper Cactus Grill, Harvest Buffet, the Range restaurant, and hotel, all located in Maricopa.[7] The tribe owns the naming rights for the Ak-Chin Pavilion.

Notes

  1. ↑ "About Our Community." The Official Homepage of the Ak-Chin Indian Community. 2013. Retrieved 1 Oct 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "Ak-Chin Indian Community." InterTribal Council of Arizona.
  3. ↑ "Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Tumacacori National Historical Park, Tumacacori, AZ." Federal Register. Volume 74, Number 136:34,775. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 1 Oct 2013.
  4. ↑ Johnson, Lauri Macmillan; Kim Duffek; James Richards (2008). Creating Outdoor Classrooms: Schoolyard Habitats and Gardens for the Southwest. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-292-71746-6. OCLC 175217539.
  5. ↑ "Census 2000 Summary File for Maricopa (Ak Chin) Reservation, AZ". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  6. ↑ Gordon, Raymond G., Jr., ed. Tohono O'odham. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International, 2005 (retrieved 23 Feb 2009)
  7. ↑ "Harrah's Phoenix Ak-Chin." 500 Nations. Retrieved 1 Oct 2013.

External links

Coordinates: 33°00′28″N 112°02′29″W / 33.00778°N 112.04139°W / 33.00778; -112.04139

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.