4.13: VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP: TRADITIONAL FOODS AND MEDICINES, ETHNOBOTANY

For generations, major sustenance for the members of the Tohono O’odham tribe was found in native plants of the southeastern Arizona desert. The Tohono O’odham Nation encompasses four non-contiguous land bases located south of Casa Grande on parts of Pinal, Pima and Maricopa Counties before continuing south into Mexico. A culture with strong ties to the land, the O’odham celebration of growth and harvest cycles is an enduring part of their identity. However, tribal agriculture has been in steep decline throughout the twentieth century. As groups once sustained by agriculture lose their farming traditions, heritage is lost as well. Also at risk is independent access to food and the preservation of the traditional crops and culinary practices.

Your Field Guide

Start Here

Use the suggested websites below to get a broad view of your destination, or research another scholarly resource to get started:

Watch this video about the Tohono O’odham Food System:

If you have difficulty viewing the video above, use this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLIXQHzlrFs&feature=youtu.be

Watch this TedGlobal video, What People of the Amazon Know That You Don’t

If you have difficulty viewing the video above, use this link https://www.ted.com/talks/mark_plotkin_what_the_people_of_the_amazon_know_that_you_don_t

CITATION/ATTRIBUTION

Repp, Dianna. “Virtual Field Trip: Traditional Foods and Medicines, Ethnobotany.” In Cultural Anthropology. Lumen Learning n.d. https://library.achievingthedream.org/pimaant112/chapter/virtual-field-trip-traditional-foods-and-medicines-ethnobotany/.