A Line in the Sand

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A Line in the Sand

• The Story of the Tohono Oodham
• By Jake McDonald
• Native Geographies 322
• UW-Eau Claire

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Tohono Oodham

• Means Desert People
• Also known as the Papago
• Live in the Sonoran Desert in what is now Arizona
  and Sonora (Mexico)
• Lived in two types of villages
• Around the rivers during the growing season
• In the mountains during the winter

www.itcaonline.com/tribes_tohono.html
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Desert Living

• All knowledge on how to use the meager desert
  resources to their advantage passed down through
  the generations
• During the growing season, grew corn and gathered
  native plants
• During the winter hunted for deer in the
  mountains and gathered what they could

www.heard.org/rain/cultura2/raincul6.html
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Mexico in 1836

• In 1836, Mexico controlled present-day Arizona,
  California, New Mexico, Texas, and parts of
  Colorado, Nevada, and Utah

www.azstarnet.com/tohono/nationmaps.html
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Texas Or the reason the U.S. procured 55 of
Mexican Territory

• In 1836, Texas declares independence from Mexico
• In 1845, U.S. annexes Texas and immediately send
  troops there to protect the border
• One year later in May of 1846, U.S. declares war
  on Mexico

http//home.sandiego.edu/villegas/
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U.S.-Mexican War

• For the next two years fighting ensued between
  the U.S. and Mexico
• General Taylor, of the U.S., led his troops to
  Monterey
• While General Stephen Kearny went to New Mexico,
  Chihuahua, and California

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Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

• In 1847, General Winfield Scott captured the
  capitol of Mexico, Mexico City
• This was the final decisive battle in the
  Mexican- American War

www.nps.gov/paal/treatymap.htm

• A few months later in 1848, the Treaty of
  Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed giving the U.S.
  present-day Arizona, California, New Mexico,
  Texas, and parts of Colorado, Nevada, and Utah

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Southern Transcontinental Railroad

• A man by the name of James Gadsden had a dream of
  a Southern Transcontinental Railroad that would
  make the west coast dependent on the South
  instead of the North
• The land that he wanted was made available by the
  Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
• The railroad would go through southern Arizona
  but they still needed more land

http//memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/map_item.pl
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A Nation Divided

• In 1854, Mexico sold the U.S. a tract of land of
  what is now southern Arizona.
• The Gadsden Purchase, as it would be called,
  divided the Tohono Oodham nation in two, half on
  the U.S. side and half on the Mexican side

www.azstarnet.com/tohono/nationmaps.html
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Federal Recognition

• In 1937 the U.S. Government formally recognizes
  the Tohono Oodham (Papago) in Arizona as a
  federal reservation
• Tohono Oodham living on both sides of the border
  are included in the membership of the tribe.
• Using tribal membership cards, Tohono Oodham
  peoples easily cross the U.S.-Mexican border to
  visit their relatives and continue their
  traditional lifeways.

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Problems Begin

• In 1986, drug laws became much stricter and the
  border between the U.S. and Mexico became more
  heavily guarded.
• Tohono Oodham people started to get harassed
  when they tried to cross from Mexico to the U.S.
  to visit their families or to receive medical
  aid.

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Operation Gatekeeper

• Political pressure forced the creation of
  Operation Gatekeeper, in 1994, to help control
  the number of undocumented immigrants entering
  the U.S.
• Both American and Mexican Tohono Oodham are also
  harassed and often not allowed entry because of
  the initiative

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Legal Gates
www.azstarnet.com/tohono/
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No Proof

• The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952
  stated that anyone with a birth certificate
  stating that they were born in the U.S. are U.S.
  citizens
• Many Tohono Oodham cannot prove that they were
  born in the U.S. (or were not born in the U.S.)
  and so have a very difficult time getting into
  Arizona, despite the original promises of the
  federal government

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Tribal Membership Border Pass

• In 2003, an initiative was introduced to the U.S.
  House of Representatives to make all Tohono
  Oodham (no matter where they were born) U.S.
  citizens.
• This initiative would save the Tohono Oodham
  over 100,000 a year that they spend getting
  their Mexican members passports to cross into the
  U.S.

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Tohono Oodham Citizenship Act of 2003

• To render all enrolled members of the Tohono
  O'odham Nation citizens of the United States as
  of the date of their enrollment and to recognize
  the valid membership credential of the Tohono
  O'odham Nation as the legal equivalent of a
  certificate of citizenship or a State-issued
  birth certificate for all Federal purposes.
• Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
  Representatives of the United States of America
  in Congress assembled,

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Tohono Oodham Citizenship Act, cont.

• SEC. 2. NATURALIZATION FOR TOHONO O'ODHAM.
• (a) IN GENERAL- Chapter 2 of title III of the
  Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1421 et
  seq.) is amended by inserting after section 322
  the following
• enrolled members of tohono o'odham nation
• SEC. 323. (a) GRANTING OF CITIZENSHIP- A person
  who is listed on the official membership roll of
  the Tohono O'odham Nation, a federally recognized
  American Indian nation located in Arizona, is a
  citizen of the United States as of the date on
  which such listing occurs.
• (b) NO DERIVATIVE BENEFITS TO RELATIVES- Nothing
  in this section shall be construed as providing
  for any benefit under this Act for any spouse,
  son, daughter, or other relative of a person
  granted citizenship under this section.'.
• (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT- The table of contents of
  the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by
  inserting after the item relating to section 322
  the following new item
• Sec. 323. Enrolled members of Tohono O'odham
  Nation.'.

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Tohono Oodham Citizenship Act, Cont.

• SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF TRIBAL MEMBERSHIP
  CREDENTIAL.
• Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
  valid membership credential issued to a person
  who is listed on the official membership roll of
  the Tohono O'odham Nation pursuant to the laws of
  the Tohono O'odham Nation shall be considered,
  for all purposes subject to Federal law,
  equivalent to--
• (1) a certificate of citizenship issued under
  section 341(a) of the Immigration and Nationality
  Act (8 U.S.C. 1452(a)) to persons who satisfy the
  requirements of such section and
• (2) a State-issued birth certificate.

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The Fight for Citizenship

• About 8,400 Tohono Oodham who were born in
  Mexico or cannot prove they were born in the U.S.
  are affected by this problem
• The man in the picture is just one of many Tohono
  Oodham to have served in the United States
  Military and yet cannot prove he is a citizen of
  the U.S.

www.public.asu.edu/kmadsen/toci/toci.html
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(No Transcript)
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More Problems

• Every year almost 5 million pounds of trash are
  left on the reservation lands by illegal
  immigrants (www.kold.com/global/story.asp?s102993
  4ClientTypePrintable www.kold.com/global/story.a
  sp?s1029934ClientTypePrintable)
• Tohono Oodham people are trying to get the U.S.
  government at all levels to help clean up the
  mess, but so far have had no luck

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Drug Smugglers

• Every year thousands of pounds of drugs are
  smuggled into the U.S. through the Tohono Oodham
  Reservation and the tribe can do nothing to stop
  it
• The border fences are crushed or pushed over and
  many farmers lose their cattle through the
  smuggler holes.
• (www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-08-06-i
  ndian-drugs-usat_x.htm)

Marijuana www.cananews.com/undc
p/images/marijuana.jpg
methamphetamine www.castitas.com/images/3_
meth_different.jpg
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Latest Developments

• Recently the EPA gave the Tohono Oodham a
  50,000 grant to help with the illegal dumping on
  their lands
• Illegal immigrants are still going through Tohono
  Oodham lands, though 9/11 slowed the river of
  migrants down (because of increased U.S.
  security) there are still a reported 700 to 1000
  daily

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Is the opposite of Progress, Congress?

• The Tohono Oodham Citizenship Act, though it
  would help over 8,000 tribal members, has stalled
  in the U.S. House of Representatives.
• The fate of the Tohono Oodham is in the hands of
  politicians who have a record of not caring about
  Indigenous peoples
• Please contact your congressman to try and help
  make all Tohono Oodham become U.S. citizens

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For More Information

• The Handbook of American Indians Volume Ten
• The Tohono Oodham Nation http//personal.riveruse
  rs.com/storypower/pages/TOK.html
• Tohono Oodham Citizenship Act,108H.R. 731
  http//thomas.loc.gov
• Nation Divided, www.azstarnet.com/tohono/index.htm
  l
• Drugs invade via Indian Lands,
  www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-08-06-indian-dru
  gs-usat_x.htm
• The Tohono Oodham, www.hrusa.org/indig/reports/To
  hono.htm

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For Even More Information

• The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo,
  www.loc.gov/exhibits/ghtreaty/
• Mexican War, www.dean.usma.edu/history/web03/atlas
  es/mexican20war/mexican20war20index.htm
• Territory Transferred in the Treaty of
  Guadalupe-Hidalgo, www.nps.gov/paal/treatymap.htm
  
• The Santa Fe Route and connections, 1888,
  http//memory.loc.gov/
• The Gadsden Purchase Odd Land Deal,
  www.progress.org/gads.htm
• Operation Gatekeeper New Resources, Enhanced
  results, http//uscis.gov/graphics/publicaffairs/f
  actsheets/opgatefs.htm
• Briefing on Tragedy Along the Arizona-Mexico
  Border Undocumented Immigrants Face the Desert,
  www.nbpc.net/news/archive/december2001/batter.html