How well do you know the Sonoran Desert? Even if you live close to this beautiful area, we’re betting you would be surprised to learn how much food can be grown in this landscape. In this, our fourth post in our National American Indian Heritage Month blog series read about the Native American Advancement Foundation in the GuVo District, Tohono O’odham Nation in southern Arizona. They’re combining cultural knowledge with programming that improves personal and collective wellness.
Read the below and we bet you will end up craving a taste of prickly pear stew!
Welcome to Ruth’s Oidag in the GuVo District, Tohono O’odham Nation. Oidag is the Tohono O’odham word for “garden” and our oidag is named for a beloved elder, Ruth Ortega. The Native American Advancement Foundation (NAAF) built this outdoor learning classroom for our flagship After School Program (ASP), in February 2020, just before COVID-19 hit. ASP is a multi-faceted program for K-12th grade students and provides enrichment learning in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), health and wellness, and Tohono O’odham language and culture.
During the pandemic, Ruth’s Oidag grew into a beautiful space for students to learn Sonoran Desert ecology, biology, traditional Tohono O’odham agriculture and irrigation. They were able to try new healthy recipes, practice O’odham language, and listen to stories from elders. NAAF educators cultivated Ruth’s Oidag with Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and hosted regular and special activities, including: traditional mud brick-making, family plantings and arid irrigation trainings. They harvested crops with O’odham language learning: hiv [h]ai (sunflower), huñ (corn), gepï and miloñ (melons).. Community response has been incredible. Amazing volunteers worked hard through desert heat and monsoons to tend Ruth’s Oidag. GuVo District mothers were honored in May with a garden harvest, birdhouse gift and homemade prickly pear stew to take home for dinner
The NAAF team included fresh produce from Ruth’s Oidag in the COVID-19 daily meal delivery service to each child’s home in GuVo District. We have a special Ruth’s Oidag salad of dinosaur kale, romaine and red leaf lettuces, celery, and carrots. Adriana Fitts, NAAF Program Coordinator included education on the produce with each delivery—STEM and nutritional information, as well as Tohono O’odham language and culture. For example, blue huñ included planting and cooking ideas, as well the symbolism of four kernels and the four wind directions.
NAAF’s education team uses Ruth’s Oidag as a jumping off point for other outdoor learning experiences. The Tohono O’odham new year is celebrated in late June with the blooming and subsequent harvest of ha:san cactus (saguaro). Harvesting the bahidaj (saguaro fruit) is a joyous and important tradition. NAAF led multiple family sessions in the bahidaj harvest as a way for young people to learn and practice Tohono O’odham himdag (lifeways). In Ruth’s Oidag, young people are learning critical knowledge and skills, and celebrating their identity as Tohono O’odham people. Traditional farming is interwoven with language and culture, personal and collective wellness in the Sonoran Desert environment.
Learn more about NAAF:
The Native American Advancement Foundation (NAAF) formed in 2011 to promote holistic well-being for members of the Tohono O’odham Nation. Operating mostly out of the GuVo District on the border with Mexico near Ajo, NAAF runs a variety of programs related to education, health and wellness, food sustainability and environment, and language and cultural knowledge. Collaborating closely with Arizona Food Bank Network staff members Alexander Meyer and Tristan Kitch, NAAF is developing the GuVo District Youth Food Security Project. With generous support from national anti-hunger organization No Kid Hungry, this project will support the use of traditional O’odham agricultural practices to sustain food access in GuVo District.
English 
Spanish 