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Article: Growth industry: Native American farms in Arizona reclaim heritage, expand operations
- Article from:
- Arizona Capitol Times
- Article date:
- August 7, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 Arizona Capitol Times. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Agriculture was big business long before the first Spanish
conquistador, Franciscan friar or American wagon train reached the
Valley of the Sun.
Centuries of canal-building, first by the Huhugam, followed by
their descendents the Akimel O'odham people (also known as Pimas)
and their Pee-Posh, or Maricopa, neighbors, brought life-giving
water from the Gila, Salt and other local rivers to fertile fields
of corn, beans, squash, tobacco, lima beans and cotton.
The Huhugam farmed the Gila River Valley from 300 BC until 1450
AD by digging hundreds of miles of canals to supply water to their
fields. O'odham and Pee-Posh people also gathered cactus fruit,
prickly pear pads, cholla cactus buds, and ...