Introduction

A lesson in the O’odham Language Lesson – Part 1 History course.

About the image

This is an image of artist Michael Chiago’s painting “Tohono O’odham Friendship Dance.” The painting is in the Amerind Museum. If you attend an O’odham event, you will hear the O’odham language spoken. You will also hear O’odham songs fill the air, always sung in the O’odham language. The photo in the upper left shows the No:lik Traditional Singers sharing their songs at Amerind. The object on the upper right is a rattle made by Angelina Saraficio, a teacher who has written many children’s books in O’odham. Rattles often accompany traditional singing. As you will learn in this lesson, Native languages are vital to citizens of Native American Nations. They are tremendously important today and for future generations.