Friends of the Library visit their Ak-Chin neighbors

Friends of the Maricopa Community Library met with their neighbors at the Ak-Chin Indian Community Monday to tour the various buildings and enterprises there.

Him-Dak Museum Director Elaine Peters guided the 15 Friends on the tour and through the facility’s latest exhibit of handmade quilts. Basketry, clothing and armed services community members are also currently on display.

Last month ceremonies were held to officially open the new 500-square foot Archives Building adjacent to the museum. Original council documents, photos, maps and other records will be archived there to preserve the community’s history.

The group also toured the St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Mission, which is still in operation with services each Sunday at noon. The church features the original St. Francis of Assisi murals, which were painted on the adobe walls, as well as the original, painted saguaro slat ceiling.

At the Elder Center community members were handcrafting wreaths and crosses with paper flowers for the Day of the Dead celebration Friday. At that time residents will be cleaning and decorating their family graves.

The Ak-Chin Community Center is being redone to accommodate community meetings and gatherings; the Head Start and pre-school programs will soon occupy a brand new facility with a kitchen, large classrooms, a workroom, offices and playgrounds.

Approximately 70-80 people are employed on the community farms, which encompass about 15,000 acres. According to Farm Manager Steve Coester, the acreage increased from 3,000 acres following the CAP agreement to provide Colorado River water to the community in 1984. Coester was part of that project and stayed on to manage the farms for the past 23 years.

Today the community has about 3,600 acres in cotton, 4,000 in alfalfa, 1,500 in potatoes and 4,000 in barley as well as some in sorghum and two acres in pecans. All crops are shipped to buyers within a 20-mile radius with the exception of the pecans; they go to New Mexico.

According to Tribal Chairwoman Delia Carlyle, speaking to the Friends at the Government Center, “We have a belief that we are neighbors; there is no such thing as turf.” In fact, the tribe’s motto is: “Equality for all for a brighter tomorrow.”

Mary Lou Smith, organizer of the Friends’ tour, said, “It’s important that we get to know the Ak-Chin; they have been and always will be our neighbors.”

Carlyle recounted the fact that when the Ak-Chin wanted to begin farming on their own instead of leasing their land, it was the farmers in the Maricopa area who offered their equipment and expertise to get them started.

“Farming is our foundation,” explained Carlyle who added that many people associate Ak-Chin with the casino and gaming. “We are farmers, a tribe that just has another form of economic development,” she said.

The Ak-Chin Community presently has 798 members, who are both Tohono O’odham (Papago) and Pima Indians. Their lands cover some 22,000 acres. A tribal council, consisting of five members serving staggered terms, provides the leadership for the community. “But we always consult the elders,” noted Carlyle, who added that the community is historically patriarchal although currently there are two women on the council.

According to Carlyle, the community’s 50-year-old Articles or constitution were recently reviewed and revised. The next planned construction will be a high-rise governmental center.

The final stop on the tour was the Ak-Chin Industrial Park located on Murphy Rd. Leases there include a farm equipment company and Hickman Eggs. The four hen barns at that plant house one million layers per barn, and a fifth barn is under construction.

The Ak-Chin also own the Phoenix Regional Airport, which is not on reservation land. The Vekol Commissary, a medical clinic, the Ak-Chin O’odham Runner newspaper and both a police and fire department are part of the community’s many enterprises.

Photos by Joyce Hollis