The O'odham language, variously called O'odham ñeʼokĭ, O'odham ñiʼokĭorOʼotham ñiok, is spoken by all O'odham groups. There are certain dialectal differences, but they are mutually intelligible and all O'odham groups can understand one another. Lexicographical differences have arisen among the different groups, especially in reference to newer technologies and innovations.
The Pima Alto or Upper Pima groups were subdivided by scholars on the basis of cultural, economic and linguistic differences into two main groupings:
One was known commonly as the PimaorRiver Pima. Since the late 20th century, they have been called by their own name, or endonym: Akimel Oʼotham
Akimel O'odham (Akimel Au-Authm, meaning "River People", often simply called Pima, by outsiders, lived north of and along the Gila, the Salt, and the Santa Cruz rivers in what is today defined as Arizona)
Keli Akimel O'otham (Keli Akimel Au-Authm, oft simply Akimel O'odham – "Gila River People", lived and farmed along the Gila River), now known as the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC)
Sobaipuri, (also simply called Sobas, called by the neighboring Akimel O'odham as Ṣáṣavino – "spotted"), originally lived in the valleys of the San Pedro River and Upper Santa Cruz River. In the early 18th century, they were gradually driven out of the lower San Pedro River valley. In the middle of the century, their remaining settlements along the upper San Pedro River were broken up by Arivaipa and Pinaleño Apache attacks. They moved west, seeking refuge among the Tohono O'odham and Akimel O'odham, with whom they merged.
The other peoples are the Tohono O'odham or Desert Pima, enrolled in the Tohono O'odham Nation.
Tohono O'odham ("Desert People"); the neighboring Akimel O'odham called them Pahpah Au-AuthmorBa꞉bawĭkoʼa – "eating tepary beans", which was pronounced Papago by the Spanish. They lived in the semi-arid deserts and mountains south of present-day Tucson, Tubac, and south of the Gila River[7]
Areneños Pinacateños or Pinacateños[9] (lived in the Sierra Pinacate, known as Cuk Do'ag by the Hia C-eḍ O'odham in the Cabeza Prieta Mountains in Arizona and Sonora)
Areneños (lived in the Gran Desierto around the mountains, which were home to the Areneños Pinacateños)
^ abcSheridan, Thomas E. (30 March 2006). Landscapes of Fraud: Mission Tumac‡cori, the Baca Float, and the Betrayal of the O'odham. University of Arizona Press. ISBN978-0-8165-2513-3.
^Alternate spellings include: O'odaam, Ootoma, or Odami.[1]
