Gila River Dietary Reconstruction
Rea AM. 1991. Gila River Dietary Reconstruction. Arid Lands Newsletter. 31:3-10
The Gila River Pima maintained a stable culture in their desert riparian ecosystem for at least four centuries. At least 95 biological species of plants entered the dietary of the Gila River Pima. Thirty of these are post-contact species. This leaves nearly 65 native plants known to have been eaten at some time during the River People's annual cycle. The Gila River Pima and their kinfolk, the Salt River Pima, are now best known not for their highly successful adaptation to desert living, but rather for having the highest known incidence of adult-onset diabetes of any ethnic group in the world. The nutritionally poor modern diet is a dim reflection of what aboriginal and early colonial Pima once ate. The Gilenios were until the twentieth century dependent on wild harvest for about half their annual diet. The major wild crops included velvet mesquite (Prosopis velutina), saguaro (Camegiea gigantea), agave (Agave deserti) and perhaps other species, and cholla (Opuncia spp.). Other cultivated crops, as well as animal foods and post-contact (Hispanic Period, Anglo Period) dietary changes are discussed.
- Type
- Newsletter Article
- Authors
- Rea, Amadeo
- Units
- SAGU
- Keywords
- Akimel O'odham, arid regions, diabetes, ethnobotany, Gila River Pima, Hohokam, native foods, riparian, Sonoran Desert, Tohono O'odham
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Human Use | Consumptive Use | Consumptive Use , NPS.gov Subject Site: Agriculture & Ranching , NPS.gov Subject Site: Deserts , NPS.gov Subject Site: Oral History , NPS.gov Subject Site: Rivers