The Halchidhoma (
Maricopa: Xalychidom Piipaa or Xalychidom Piipaash – 'people who live toward the water') are a
Native American tribe
In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, Indigenous tribe, or Tribal nation may be any current or historical Tribe (Native American)#Other uses, tribe, band, or nation of Native Americans in ...
now living mostly on the
Salt River reservation, but formerly native to the area along the
lower
Lower may refer to:
* ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker
*Lower (surname)
*Lower Township, New Jersey
*Lower Receiver (firearms)
*Lower Wick
Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...
Colorado River
The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...
in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
and
Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
when first contacted by Europeans. In the early nineteenth century, under pressure from their hostile
Mohave and
Quechan neighbors, they moved to the middle
Gila River
The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of ...
, where some merged with the
Maricopa, and others went on to
Salt River and maintained an independent identity.
The Halchidhoma currently speak the
Maricopa language
Maricopa or Piipaash is spoken by the Native American Maricopa people on two reservations in Arizona: the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and the Gila River Indian Community. Most speakers live in Maricopa Colony. The language is co ...
.
History
The Halchidhoma entered
written history in 1604–1605, when a Spanish expedition coming overland from
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
under
Juan de Oñate
Juan de Oñate y Salazar (; 1550–1626) was a Spanish conquistador, explorer and viceroy of the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México in the viceroyalty of New Spain, in the present-day U.S. state of New Mexico. He led early Spanish expedition ...
encountered the "Alebdoma" on the lower Colorado River, below its junction with the Gila River. When the
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
missionary-explorer
Eusebio Francisco Kino returned to the river in 1700, the Halchidhoma had moved to a portion of the river 100 miles farther north.
A system of military alliances and traditional hostilities seems to have prevailed among the relatively warlike tribes of the lower Colorado and Gila rivers. This may account for the Halchidhoma's move during the seventeenth century. The Halchidhoma were part of an alliance that also included the Maricopa and
Cocopa, among others, and was opposed by the Quechan and Mohave. In the 1820s, the Halchidhoma were finally driven from the Colorado River. They took refuge with the Maricopa on the middle Gila River. In the following decades, some continued on to
Lehi on the Salt River and maintained a separate identity, while others stayed and became assimilated to the Maricopa. The territory on the Colorado River vacated by the Halchidhoma was subsequently occupied by the
Chemehuevi.
Population
Estimates for the pre-contact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. ''(See
Population of Native California.)'' The Franciscan missionary-explorer
Francisco Garcés estimated the Halchidhoma population in 1776 as 2,500.
Alfred L. Kroeber (1925:883) put the 1770 population of the Halchidhoma at 1,000.
Modern relationship with Maricopa
Halchidhoma people in the
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community nearly universally identify themselves in English as
Maricopa, although both groups testify that they are separate, maintaining separate languages and identities (Kelly 1972:264).
See also
*
Halchidhoma traditional narratives
References
*
* Kroeber, A. L. 1925. ''Handbook of the Indians of California''. Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin No. 78. Washington, D.C.
* Spier, Leslie. 1933. ''Yuman Tribes of the Gila River''. University of Chicago Press.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halchidhoma
Native American tribes in Arizona
Indigenous peoples of California
Lower Colorado River Valley
Gila River
Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community