Tohono Oʼodham Nation

The Tohono Oʼodham Nation covers about 4,460 square miles of the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona, in four separate pieces, the largest stretching from near Tucson to the Mexican border. Tohono Oʼodham means 'Desert People,' and their land is a country of saguaro forests, dry washes and sky-island mountains topped by Baboquivari Peak, the Nation's most sacred landmark. Kitt Peak National Observatory operates on land leased from the Nation, and the historic Mission San Xavier del Bac stands on its San Xavier District.

The 1853 Gadsden Purchase drew the U.S.–Mexico border straight through the Oʼodham homeland, and the Nation still shares about 62 miles of that border, with relatives on both sides. In June 2026 it sued the Department of Homeland Security to stop construction of a border wall on its land. Known to outsiders for centuries as the Papago, the Nation adopted its own name in its 1986 constitution. It has about 37,000 citizens, governs through 11 districts from its capital at Sells, and is known for producing more basketry than any other U.S. tribe.

• Mission San Xavier del Bac
  The White Dove of the Desert, near Tucson contains
• Arizona
  The Grand Canyon State, admitted 1912 located in
• The Sonoran Desert
  The lush desert of the saguaro cactus located in
• Tucson
  A Sonoran Desert city ringed by mountains near