Bess, Jennifer, authorUniversity Press of Colorado, publisher2021-09-152021-09-152021https://hdl.handle.net/10217/233895Includes bibliographical references and index.Where the Red-Winged Blackbirds Sing examines the ways in which the Akimel O'odham ("River People") and their ancestors, the Huhugam, adapted to economic, political, and environmental constraints imposed by federal Indian policy, the Indian Bureau, and an encroaching settler population in Arizona's Gila River Valley. Fundamental to O'odham resilience was their connection to their sense of peoplehood and their himdag ("lifeway"), which culminated in the restoration of their water rights and a revitalization of their Indigenous culture. Author Jennifer Bess examines the Akimel O'odham's worldview, which links their origins with a responsibility to farm the Gila River Valley and to honor their history of adaptation and obligations as "world-builders"--co-creators of an evermore life-sustaining environment and participants in flexible networks of economic exchange. Bess considers this worldview in context of the Huhugam-Akimel O'odham agricultural economy over more than a thousand years. Drawing directly on Akimel O'odham traditional ecological knowledge, innovations, and interpretive strategies in archives and interviews, Bess shows how the Akimel O'odham engaged in agricultural economy for the sake of their lifeways, collective identity, enduring future, and actualization of the values modeled in their sacred stories. Where the Red-Winged Blackbirds Sing highlights the values of adaptation, innovation, and co-creation fundamental to Akimel O'odham lifeways and chronicles the contributions the Akimel O'odham have made to American history and to the history of agriculture. The book will be of interest to scholars of Indigenous, American Southwestern, and agricultural history.Adaptation, innovation and co-creation: world-building in story and history -- Strategic adaptations in the Pimería Alta through the Hispanic and Early American Periods -- The Akimel O'odham and the growth of the American West, c. 1846-1871 -- Where the red-winged blackbirds sing: the contest for inclusion during the years of famine, 1871-1910 -- Pima cotton and the new Egypt: U.S. agricultural development, the agricultural experimental station in Sacaton, and the allotment of the Gila River Indian Reservation, 1907-1920 -- The price of Pima cotton: wage labor and the Akimel O'odham agricultural economy, 1907-1920 -- Agriculture and peoplehood in transition: the Akimel O'odham in the Interwar Period.born digitalbooksengCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.All rights reserved. User is responsible for compliance. Please contact University Press of Colorado at https://upcolorado.com/our-books/rights-and-permissions for use information.Pima Indians -- Agriculture -- Gila River (N.M. and Ariz.)Pima Indians -- Gila River (N.M. and Ariz.) -- Economic conditionsGila River Indian Reservation (Ariz.) -- AgricultureGila River (N.M. and Ariz.) -- HistoryTextAccess is limited to the Adams State University, Colorado State University, Colorado State University Pueblo, Community College of Denver, Fort Lewis College, Metropolitan State University Denver, Regis University, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, University of Denver, University of Northern Colorado, University of Wyoming, Utah State University and Western Colorado University communities only.