PPT Slide
A ‘phoenix’ is a mythological bird arising out of ashes, and so the name is apt. The canal system of the Hohokam was most extensive on the Salt River, which (pre-damming) flowed through Phoenix. At the Hohokam’s heyday (~960 a.d.), towns of 1000 inhabitants were scattered across the desert. Casa Grande (‘big house’) was a ceremonial center in the largest such village. The Hohokam grew corn, beans , and squash: (1) irrigated
by canals along alluvial plains; (2)
dry-farmed on bajadas, using check-dams, terraces, and bordered gardens; and (3) on alluvial fans at the mouth of washes, diverting water into
canals. They also gathered desert products such as saguaro and prickly-
pear fruit, cholla buds, paloverde and mesquite pods.
Dendrochronological studies show that heavy floods accompanied by
severe droughts occurred in the 1300s, and probably destroyed the canal
system. The Akimel O’odham (river people) and the Tohono O’odham
(desert people) are the Hohokam’s descendents. Forced into reservations,
most have abandoned traditional lifestyles. Because of poverty, many
O’odham have a diet heavy in junk foods, leading to the U.S.’s highest incidence of adult diabetes.