Table of Contents
According to Andrews and Bostwick, the Hohokam planted their crops in a series of earth mounds along irrigation canals and near washes, possibly with extended families cultivating their own small plots.
How did Hohokam make the land conducive for farming?
The Hohokam used a complex network of canals to irrigate fields surrounding the area’s permanent rivers. In addition to growing crops, such as corn, cotton, and tepary beans, the Hohokam also gathered a variety of plants from the surrounding desert. The line between cultivated crops and wild plants was indistinct.
The Navajo started to apply dry-land farming methods to small “hidden gardens.” Rain became an important element to Navajo life with the coming of agriculture. Today, corn is still an important part of life and considered a traditional cultural item. Navajo people love steamed corn, kneel-down bread, and winter squash.
What do the Navajo farm?
The Navajo were farmers who grew the three main crops that many Native Americans grew: corn, beans, and squash. After the Spanish arrived in the 1600s, the Navajo began to farm sheep and goats as well, with sheep becoming a major source of meat. They also hunted animals for food like deer and rabbits.
Why were the Hohokam able to farm their dry land?
The Hohokam grew their crops with the use of irrigation canals. They dug miles of canals in both the Salt and Gila River valleys using only stone tools, digging sticks, and baskets. With water from the rivers, they were able to grow corn, beans, squash, and cotton in the desert.
What was life like for the Hohokam Indians?
Life for the Hohokam focused, in large extent, on agriculture and growing crops. The canals required the organization and labor of thousands of people to build, maintain and operate. Farmers had to maintain the fields and open and close the irrigation gates at the proper time.
When did the Hohokam people come to Arizona?
The Hohokam peoples occupied a wide area of south-central Arizona from roughly Flagstaff south to the Mexican border. They are thought to have originally migrated north out of Mexico around 300 BC to become the most skillful irrigation farmers the Southwest ever knew.
How big was the Hohokam irrigation system in Arizona?
Irrigating up to 110,000 acres by AD 1300, the Hohokam irrigation systems supported the largest population in the prehistoric Southwest. Mural in the Arizona Museum of Natural History of the Rowley Site, near Park of the Canals in Mesa, c. 1200-1450, by Ann and Jerry Schutte.
What kind of pottery did the Hohokam make?
The art of making ceramics was highly advanced in the Hohokam culture. Using different firing techniques and paints hey made jars and bowls of different styles and colors. Archaeologists once thought that each Hohokam village produced the bowls, jars and scoops that it needed.