The O'odham Basket Dance

There was a time in the not too distant past when Papago Indians or O'odham, as they call themselves, lived lightly upon the desert earth.  Their homes were brush shelters that could be easily built and readily abandoned.  To survive in the desert meant that Tohono O'odham had to move with the wind, the sun, and the rain to follow their source of food, to be at their life-giving springs of water, and to cultivate their fields at the appropriate time.

Living in such a manner meant that Tohono O'odham material needs were few.  Their personal possessions were made from supplies provided by nature, and most of them were portable. What they had the women made themselves:  baskets.  Baskets were the drawers, the cupboards, many of the containers and storage bins.

This group performs dances that showcase the art of O'odham basketry, a skill that has been taught and handed down from generation to generation.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• o'odham
• basket
• dance
• pima
• Breazeale

[abasketmaker]

Thank-you for making and sharing this video.

[toddler777]

It was an honor to be there, and an honor to watch. Glad you enjoyed it.

[mrsVAKALAHI]

T.O. GIRL FOR LIFE! Love my bean people =)

[thissmyscrennme]

i wish i can learn more about this tribe and culture. im part Tohono myself

[hopichick13]

wow ...really different...My tribe we got a basket dance aswell..but not quite lik dis...Da ladies do da singing n there is 2 ladies in da middle of da cirlce throwing out stuff n at da end dey bring out there Hopi baskets dey made n Pottery n hopi belts..n throw it 2 da crowd in the plaza..Its awesome I always look 4ward 2 dis every yr in Oct...But 1st time seeing a dance lik dis...

[V1SH4G]

All our song are sacred, and it is disrespectful to post them in the public domain like this.

[angelzlife23]

I am full blooded tohono O'odham and very proud of it I'm hoping to pass my tradition down to my boys

[Malleolust]

I am 1/4 Pima (Akimel O'odham) registered with the GRIC, my grandmother was a full-blood, last name Sosolda. She could speak fluent Akimel O'odham. This video is amazing. It brought tears to my eyes.

[osoapestozo]

papago people rules, grasias for this video

[wobeck]

@colbycheesy The Pima Maricopa are an association of two tribes that speak two unrelated languages. The Pima speak Akimel O'odham, while the Maricopa speak Xalchidom Piipaash. The Akimel-O'odham speakers are closely related to the Tohono O'odham...the Akimel O'odham are the river people, and the Tohono O'odham are the desert people. Both peoples speak the O'odham language, but different dialects.

[colbycheesy]

Thanks so much for this! I recorded a Pima Maricopa dance and it's very similar, did they used to live in similar areas? Or are they tribes of the same nationality?

[georgewashington420]

i really appreciate this video, as i'm Akimel O'otham and relatives of the Tohono O'otham, keep up the good work in sharing, because there are river and desert people that can't make every basket dance and this way they can still be involved and see that our way of life is still here.

[moreno30023731]

I thought that in tradition, we were'nt to video tape our sacred dances or gathering!

[robertanthonyplant]

my friend Omar has this on his myspace.he's T'O.i'm T'O and Gila River with a little bit of Quechan and Maricopa.watching these videos gives us pride about our heritage!!!