The Tohono O’odham or “Desert People” live in the Sonoran Desert and surrounding lands located in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. From time immemorial, the Tohono O’odham lived a semi-nomadic existence, migrating to and from various parts of their land, gathering food, hunting, and raising crops during the brief rainy seasons of the desert.

Today, the Tohono O’odham Nation has a land base of 2.8 million acres, which is comparable to the size of the state of Connecticut. It is located in the southernmost part of Arizona, with seventy-five miles of the Nation running along the United States/Mexico International Border.  The main Tohono O’odham reservation is the second largest Indian reservation in the United States (second to the Navajo Nation).

The Tohono O’odham Nation is comprised of eleven districts. Nine of these districts are a contiguous landmass that is commonly called the main reservation or the Tohono O’odham Reservation. The other two districts, San Xavier and San Lucy, are separated from the main reservation. San Xavier District is located next to Tucson, Arizona and San Lucy District lies just north of Gila Bend, Arizona.  The town of Sells, Arizona is the capital of the Tohono O’odham Nation.

Current tribal enrollment (as of fall 2007) is 27,713; with approximately 13,500 members of the Tohono O’odham Nation residing on the reservation; approximately 1,800 enrolled members living on traditional O’odham lands in Mexico; and the rest of the enrolled members residing off the reservation and traditional lands.

To learn more about the Tohono O'odham Nation, visit its website at www.tonation-nsn.gov

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