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Record: 1
Title: My Desert Encounter with Himdag.
Authors: Martinez, George A.1
Source: Tribal College Journal; Winter2005, Vol. 17 Issue 2, p54-54, 1p
Document Type: Article
Subject Terms: *TOHONO O'odham Indians
*LIFESTYLES
*FIELDWORK (Educational method)
*INDIAN universities & colleges
*INDIGENOUS peoples -- Education
*INDIANS of North America -- Arizona
Geographic Terms: ARIZONA
Abstract: The article presents the author's experience of a study trip in May 2005 to
Tohono O'odham Community College (TOCC) in Sells, Arizona, where he
gleaned about Himdag, the unique way of life of the Tohono O'odham people.
He was amazed and surprised at how quickly he felt immersed in the fusion of
multi-faceted Himdag with traditional approaches to higher education. He
discovered in a very personal way, partly through the hands-on blessing and
partly through the academic depth presented, that learning about culture is
much more than an intellectual exercise. Himdag is at the core of this reality.
Much more than "culture," Himdag incorporates everything that makes the
Tohono O'odham unique as individuals and as a nation: values, language, the
arts, kinship, games, environment, mobility, and medicinal plants, among other
elements.
1Director
Author Affiliations: of institutional advancement at Glendale Community College in the
Maricopa Community College District and as adjunct faculty at Arizona State
University.
Full Text Word Count: 771
ISSN: 10525505
Accession Number: 20950453
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Database: Academic Search Complete

Section: Voices
My Desert Encounter with Himdag
A brief visit to a remote tribal college became a meaningful learning opportunity in more ways
than I ever expected, ending with an unforgettable blessing from a tribal elder.

This moving experience was one of several that touched me and my classmates during a study
trip to Tohono O'odham Community College (TOCC, Sells, AZ). TOCC represents a dynamic new
pathway for learning that is helping preserve and extend the social, political, and economic life of
the Tohono O'odham Nation. Chartered in 1998, opened in 2000 in conjunction with the
Tucson-based Pima Community College (PCC), and now fully accredited by the Higher Learning
Commission, TOCC has emerged as a source of pride serving a reservation about the size of
Connecticut.

I visited TOCC in May 2005 as a doctoral student enrolled in a three-state educational

administration study trip of New Mexico State University. As a Tucson native, the experience was
indeed coming home. As a former administrator with PCC, I witnessed up close the initial
meetings in 1997 that led to TOCC's charter.

Eight years later, I was amazed at the progress and palpable sense of energy that is now TOCC.
The vision had become reality. Through presentations by TOCC administrators and tribal elder
Danny Lopez, it quickly became clear that love of learning had been intertwined with national
pride and a constant awareness of the unique way of life, or Himdag, of the Tohono O'odham
people.

I was amazed and surprised at how quickly I felt immersed in the fusion of multi-faceted Himdag
with traditional approaches to higher education. I discovered in a very personal way, partly
through the hands-on blessing (literally) and partly through the academic depth presented, that
learning about culture is much more than an intellectual exercise.

This is learning that consciously engages values and emotions — clearly an advanced
perspective that holds lessons for higher education administrators.
Himdag is at [he core of this reality. Much more than "culture," Himdag incorporates everything
that makes the Tohono O'odham unique as individuals and as a nation: values, language, the
arts, kinship, games, environment, mobility, and medicinal plants, among other elements.

And these are just some of the ancient elements of Himdag that tribal elders chose to reveal.
Himdag equally connotes a sense of a holistic, lifelong journey; a pathway; and a balance of
mental, physical, and spiritual health. As a concept of cultural identity, Himdag preserves
strength, protection, and wellness for the Tohono O'odham people.

Significantly, tribal leaders determined at the outset of planning for TOCC that Himdag must
remain central to the overall process, governing its content, timetable, and relationships with
entities beyond the nation. Our traditional notions of what a community college should be — its
courses, assessments, and scheduling, for example — were incorporated into Himdag and not
the other way around.

While sometimes frustrating and difficult to understand for non-Native college planners, this
guiding principle has made all the difference in how TOCC has developed, how it has been
embraced by the Tohono O'odham government (the governance of the college is separate from
the governance of the nation), and how it continues to evolve into an increasingly well-known
focal point for celebrating all things Tohono O'odham.

Thus, the dynamic, cyclic interplay of Himdag and traditional community college planning
continues and is now poised to inform the next phase of TOCC's growth and development.

Beyond the importance of Himdag to the Tohono O'odham and how it helped create TOCC,
Himdag is emerging as a source of non-traditional assessment. Thorough embedding of culture
into required curriculum can serve as a platform for the measurement of learning as well.

Finally, Himdag may also he thought of as a kind of living bridge between cultures. As Lopez
said, "We take what's good elsewhere and bring it here to become O'odham." I'm hopeful that
such an active embrace of diversity, blended with core values and a deep sense of identity, will
assist me as I strive to impart relevance and meaning in my outreach to all my students.

For more information about Himdag, see "O'odham Himdag as a source of strength and wellness
among the Tohono O'odham of Southern Arizona and Northern Sonora, Mexico," by T. Woods, K.
Blaine, and L Francisco in the Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare (2002).

~~~~~~~~
By George A. Martinez

George A. Martinez is a doctoral student in educational administration at New Mexico State

University. He also serves as director of institutional advancement at Glendale Community
College in the Maricopa Community College District and as adjunct faculty at Arizona State
University.

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