Nuh nuhy Himdag. The Role of Song in the Identification of O’Odham Traditional Cultural Properties

Summary

The Gila River Indian Community Tribal Historic Preservation Office and Cultural Resource Management Program have been engaged in Traditional Cultural Property (TCP) inventory for more than two decades. This presentation considers the role of Nuh nuhy Himdag (song culture) in TCP identification with specific reference to a recent study of Vainom Do’ag (Iron Mountain), which, based on a ruling by the United States Board of Geographic Names in 2008, was named Piestewa Peak in honor of the first Native American woman to be killed in combat while on active duty in the United States military. New translations of the Vainom Do’ag song in the Ant and Oriole series reveal the significance of this TCP, while demonstrating the fundamental misunderstandings that can arise when the naming practices of two cultures confront one another. In spite of recent advances in the recognition of TCPs in cultural resource management, this study acknowledges that the O’Odham can never be free of the cultural appropriation that continues to be part of the national process and the accommodation that is required for Tribes to perpetuate their own culture within federally legislated frameworks.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 18841