GEO 101: INTRODUCTION TO

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GEO 101 INTRODUCTION TO
WHEATHER AND CLIMATE
Instructor Michael Evans
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Guest Lecture Portfilo by
Damascus Francsico June Starr
Eva Lewis
Natalie Stevens Fred Stevens
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Introduction We learned practical fundamentals of
the science of meteorology, and discuss related
aspects of Tohono O'odham culture.  Links between
Tohono O'odham culture and Sonoran Desert weather
and climate. Class sessions included six guest
lectures. The following are reviews and thoughts
of all guest lectures from the students.
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• Links between Oodham culture and regional
  physical geography.

Guest Speaker Danny Lopez
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On this field trip as explained by Danny Lopez
was that during planting seasons the people of
Crowhang moved from the lower part of their land
to the near by mountain range.
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In the past the land was lush with grass and
mesquite bosque compared to todays dry
conditions. Mr. Lopez also mentioned these dry
conditions may have been caused by lack of
ceremonial practices by the Tohono Oodham,
especially rain ceremonies.
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We also observed the difference in climate and
vegetation from the community of Crowhang to Kitt
Peak. In Crowhang we saw more cactus, greasewood,
mesquite and at Kitt Peak we saw pine trees, red
wood, oak. The climate got cooler as we went up
the mountain.
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The reason for moving from lower to higher
grounds was to take advantage of rainfall during
the monsoon season and winter rains. Later, time
passed people and with the introductory of modern
technology there was no longer the need to move
from one place to another for farming and
survival purposes.
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How Do We Know

• GEO 101
• Guest Lecture By Philip Miguel

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How did Tohono Oodham predict weather to help
determine the time for their crop-growing
seasons?

• It was around June and July the monsoon seasons.
• They went by the traditional ways that were
  passed down from generations
• But what were some of their ways?

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• Some Tohono Oodham ways
• of predicting the rains were arriving were
• Performing the rain ceremony
• Looking up at the sky Observing vegetation, and
  animals
• Elders complain of achy joints

This graph depicts the most time It rains on
Tohono Oodham Land
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Rain Season for Tohono Oodham was
June Hasan Bak Masad Bahidag Harvesting
Season
How did the Tohono Oodham predict the weather to
help determine the time for their crop-growing
season?
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July Jukiabig Masad Oodham Ceremonies
The rain season was very important for Tohono
Oodham our crops depended on it!
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The Wind and Rain Legend
The wind blew on the community and was chased
out. The Wind and Rain Legend.doc
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• Tohono Oodham
• Rain Ceremony

Guest Lecture Danny Lopez
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Long ago and today the Oodham do a special
ceremony to bring the rains for our crops. The
Big Field community, for example, still performs
this ceremony annually. There are actually two
parts to this ceremony one portion is done in the
early winter and the other during the monsoon
season.
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• The first one was the offering of eagle fluffs to
  the saguaro cactus to bring sufficient rains for
  the summer crops. The second one is when the
  community joins together in preparing ceremonial
  wine.

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The way it was done is that there were certain
people that did the blessings, the singing, and
the making of the saguaro syrup. Everyone in the
village had to do their own part by donating the
syrup.
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Everyone in the village had to do there own part
by donating the syrup. This ceremony is so
special to the Oodham because water is needed in
order to survive, especially in the sonoran
desert. Special people like the medicine men, who
have complete knowledge ( including songs, the
process of the wine preparation and ceremonial
itself) on the rain ceremony, are very hard to
find.
MAY 10, 2005
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Another thing today was the education we get
today. The more we know about the weather and
climate the more less we believe in our rain
ceremonies. Also the more education the more
distant we become towards tradition in general.
Though on the other hand there are very few today
that still struggle to keep these traditions
going.
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University of ArizonaAtmospheric Science
Mr. Bob Maddox March 05, 2005
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Mr. Maddox showed us video monitors of current
weather conditions, taken from satellites, what
was most interesting was that these moments are
what television weather forecasters use when
reporting the weather to the public.
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On top of the PhysicsAtmospheric Science
Building Mr. Maddox introduced roof top
instruments. At this time we also learned that
Sells also has a weather gauging instruments, but
are not in proper working conditions, this
instrument has been down for some time and the
owners may not be aware of its current condition.
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Mr. Maddox than showed us a ground level weather
instruments, but these instruments do not report
accurate conditions because of their location.
When the ground-level site was constructed it was
in a remote area away from buildings, but as the
city of Tucson grew, it is now situated between
buildings and next to an asphalt parking lot, so
there are a lot man made structures interfering
with the proper readings of weather conditions
for these instruments.
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Medicinal Plants
Guest lecture Frances Manuel
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Guest Lecture Frances Manuel
Medicinal Plants  Frances Manuel presented
medicinal plants used by the Tohono Oodham. Her
teachings came from her grandmother as she grew
up as young girl. How each plant was used for
certain purposes in healing.   In the past these
medicinal plants were strong in belief in curing
the sick. Belief was the most important factor
that made these plants work. This was the most
common item used by the Tohono Oodham before
current medicines. As time changed these
medicines became less used because of the
availability of modern medicine. Also technology
and other influences, for example vehicles made
it easier to get to hospitals and religion caused
uncertainty among our culture. This caused the
belief in the medicinal plants to become less
practiced.
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In current times a few the Oodham still belief
in healers. So when a person goes to see
medicine and is instructed to use a certain
medicinal plant, his the only time when medicinal
plants are really used or practiced. Frances
also discussed the gathering the plants. The
medicinal plants were only located in certain
areas of the reservation. Some of the plants
were seasonal so there were limited sources of
the plants. As time changed over the years the
seasons have changed causing the availability and
the location of the plants. The following
pictures are examples of Tohono Oodham medicinal
plants.
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Wild Tea Used for upset stomachs or just to
drink.
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Prickly Pear Pads Used for burns (in the far
right hand corner).
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Creosote Bush Used for multiple purposes.
Examples are athletes feet, congested chest,
getting rid of lice, sores, and can be used on
animals.
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?
Other miscellaneous medicinal Plants.
Wild Mustard
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• Guest Lecture Phillip Miguel
• March 19, 2005
• The Two Village Cropping System

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• Phillips lecture was not from a textbook or
  other sources but his own childhood memories
  growing up in Crowhang village. Where we saw the
  ruins of the old crops.
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• About 50 yrs ago they did have technology,
  such as windmills but they still relied on the
  natural weather resources. The people had to
  know what time of the year to plant their crops.
  During monsoon seasons were ideal, but they also
  had to know what to do during drought seasons or
  floods. Also what time of the year each plant
  would survive, and the amount of nutrients it
  needed to grow.

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• It was mentioned how it took an entire village to
  tend the crops, to make this way of survival
  work, the two village system was also in play at
  this time where a village high up near the
  mountains was used for winter cropping and the
  village below was used for summer cropping.
  Farming had a great influence on the village
  relationships such as marriages and new
  friendships, for Phillip this was the ideal way
  of living.

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• A lot of our ceremonies were surrounded around
  planting because it was our only way of survival.
  Over the past 50yrs things have changed and been
  lost. Imagine how things will be in another
  50yrs. I hope that with the information we are
  learning now we will be able to preserve our
  traditions and maybe bring them back Phillips

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Phillip Miguel Tohono Oodham Language and
History Instructor at TOCCGuest Lecture

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Indigenous Climate Forecasting in the Peruvian
Andes
Dr. John Chiang April 09, 2005
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Dr. Chiangs lecture on the indigenous climate
forecasting in the Peruvian Andes was very
interesting. His lecture was on an Indigenous
tribe living in Bolivia.

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These Indians are known for predicting the
rainfall for their upcoming planting season by
looking at the constellation of Pleiades. This
tribe has a tradition of predicting the weather
for their upcoming planting season with one
hundred percent (100) accuracy.
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The prediction is made during the Feast of San
Juan, after a night of celebrating their patron
saint, the people of the community would go high
into the nearby mountain range and look into the
heavens for the seven sister, the Pleiades.
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If the stars are big and bright it meant for a
good rainfall for the upcoming harvest season,
but if the stars are small and dim it meant for a
bad rainfall for the upcoming harvest season.
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Based on this information the tribe could better
determine what types of plants were to be planted
for the upcoming rain season.
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Scientists became familiar with this technique,
and wanted to know how this Indigenous tribe
could be so accurate in making their predictions
of the upcoming rainfall season..
Upon their investigating they learned that when
the stars were dim it was during El Nino when
there were high clouds in the atmosphere
obstructing a clear view.
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During a non El Nino season the stars shone
brightly because the skies were clear..
Ancient ways are less mysterious or another
tradition uncovered.
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Tohono OodhamCalendar Sticks

• Guest Lecture By Mary Garcia

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What was the importance ofCalendar Sticks?

• The Tohono Oodham people used these stick to
  record special events in the Tohono Oodham
  cultural.

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How Could Calendar Stick Serve us today?

• Record current events
• Bring us back to our traditional ways
• Pass on the tradition of how to record p
• events

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Kiyomi MorinoTree Ring Lecture

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For this lecture we visited the UofA tree ring
lab.  Here Kiyomi shows us the purpose for the
study of the tree rings.  Each ring in the trunk
represents a year that the ring has lived.
Depending on the size of each individual ring it
can be determined how much nutrients the tree had
received in a years time.  There are also
distinguishable marks that will show if the tree
has been through any trauma, such as  a fire. 
this also tells us if the tree survived a drought
season or if there was a rainy season.
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• Once we determined these facts we compared the
  results to the recordings of a man made calendar
  stick.  The calendar stick is what the Tohono
  O'odham once used to record major events on a
  saguaro cactus rib. Various marks were carved
  into the stick that represented each event. 
  These sticks were usually a representation of the
  maker's life alone

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• What we determined was that they recorded the
  same data, just in different ways. Some would say
  that the recording were village gossip but they
  were actually historical events and this provides
  some evidence of it's reliability.

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In appreciation to Mr. Mike Evans Instructor for
GEO 101, Introductory to Climate and Weather.
He is a great teacher, very opened minded, he
allowed us to express our ideas and he
incorporated our Oodham Himidag into this course
by bringing members of the Tohono Oodham
Community to share their knowledge and
experience, which Mr. Evan than integrated into
science.
On behalf of the GEO 101 students we would like
thank you for your knowledge and patience.
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• We, as a class, would like to thank the
  presenters for sharing their knowledge with us,
  so that we may pass it on to others.