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A border tribe, and the wall that will divide it
Many fear the border wall would result in all tribal ties with Mexico being cut off.The Tohono O’odham Nation — the tribe is the second-largest in the U.S., by land holdings — sits on an estimated 2.7 million acres in southern Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. Ancestral lands stretch across the border into the Mexican state of Sonora.
About 2,000 of the tribe’s 34,000 members live in Sonora, according to tribal officials. They were cut off from the rest of the nation by the 62-mile international boundary and have found themselves increasingly isolated from their people in Arizona.
The Tohono O’odham people consider the San Miguel Gate a traditional passage of their ancestors.
Today, it connects family members who live on both sides of the border. It is used by tribal members who travel for sacred pilgrimages and ceremonies in Mexico, as well as those living in Mexico who travel to the U.S. for tribal services, to sell or buy goods, or to visit the hospital in Sells, the capital of the Tohono O’odham Nation.
At the San Miguel Gate, Rivas can legally cross the border into the U.S. Most Americans and Mexicans cannot. A tribal ID serves as a passport of sorts for members to travel back and forth.
About 2,000 of the tribe’s 34,000 members live in Sonora, according to tribal officials. They were cut off from the rest of the nation by the 62-mile international boundary and have found themselves increasingly isolated from their people in Arizona.
The Tohono O’odham people consider the San Miguel Gate a traditional passage of their ancestors.
Today, it connects family members who live on both sides of the border. It is used by tribal members who travel for sacred pilgrimages and ceremonies in Mexico, as well as those living in Mexico who travel to the U.S. for tribal services, to sell or buy goods, or to visit the hospital in Sells, the capital of the Tohono O’odham Nation.
At the San Miguel Gate, Rivas can legally cross the border into the U.S. Most Americans and Mexicans cannot. A tribal ID serves as a passport of sorts for members to travel back and forth.
https://www.usatoday.com/border-wall/story/tohono-oodham-nation-arizona-tribe/582487001/
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