Sharing the Desert: The Tohono O'odham in History

by Winston P. Erickson

This book marks the culmination of fifteen years of collaboration between the University of Utah's American West Center and the Tohono O'oodham Nation's Education Department to collect documents and create curricular materials for use in their tribal school system. . . . Erickson has done an admirable job compiling this narrative.— Pacific Historical Review

Genres: History, Native American, American History, Nonfiction

182 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1994

Reviews

[Jose Serrano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this (text) book to be quite useful in contributing to the preservation of indigenous peoples & cultures frequently treated as minor actors in world history. More often than not, first nation peoples are downright invisible to the “mainstream” news cycles (as is evident in how the media rarely reports indigenous affairs adequately or even at all as is the case with the sad and terrible cases of missing and/or murdered indigenous women & girls).
I appreciate the author(s) efforts in bringing the O’odham culture & history to the attention of the public even though it would require a much deeper and more detailed account to do the O’odham justice and to help dispel the myth of the “disappearing Indian”.
We can only benefit and grow as a nation if we take into account and give credit for the countless contributions in science, education, military service, cultural enrichment and much more by those “forgotten” and ignored by the wider dominant culture.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned a lot in this quick read. It was mostly fascinating. I would have just preferred the narrative be completely chronological instead of bouncing all over the place. This may be something I'm unused to being from a different culture and time.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting slant to this first nation culture.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-balanced history of the Tohono O'odham from the Spanish contact to the end of the 1970's. It was written for use in the Tohono O'odham schools but most of the time doesn't feel too text-booky. I learned quite a bit of new information.