Papago woman brushing girl’s hair. Photo: 1916. The Tohono O’odham are a group of people who reside primarily in the Sonoran Desert of the south east Arizona and northwest Mexico. “Tohono O’odham” means “Desert People.” Although they were previously known as the Papago, they have rejected this name (meaning literally “tepary-bean eater”), which was applied to them by conquistadores, who had heard them called this by other Piman bands who are very competitive with the Tohono O’odham.
