Pima (
pē'mə), Native North American tribe of S Arizona. They speak the Pima language of the Uto-Aztecan branch of the Aztec-Tanoan linguistic family . There are two divisions, the Lower Pima and the Upper Pima. Before the mission period, the Pima and the Tohono, who spoke variations of the same language, called themselves the People-River People (Akimel O'Odham, the Pima) and Desert People (Tohono O'Odham). Archaeological evidence shows their probable ancestors to have been the
Hohokam who built a network of irrigation canals for farming. Many of the ruined pueblos in the Pima territory have been attributed to an ancient Pueblo tribe. Tradition further states that increased population caused the Pima to spread over a larger territory, but invading hostile tribes (probably Apache) forced them to consolidate. Thus in 1697, when visited by Father Eusebio Kino , the Pima were living on the Gila River in S central Arizona.
