The Tohono O’odham Nation is set to receive more than 10 acres of its ancestral land near the base of Sentinel Peak, known as the birthplace of Tucson, after decades of uncertainty regarding its use.
The City Council voted unanimously on April 18 to begin the process of transferring ownership of a 10.6-acre parcel of city-owned land to the nation to “recognize the sovereignty of the Tohono O’odham Nation and restore the Nation’s stewardship over its ancestral lands,” according to the council’s motion.
The land surrounding the base of Sentinel Peak, or “A” Mountain, is known as the birthplace of Tucson and was inhabited by the Hohokam, the ancestors of the Tohono O’odham, for more than 4,500 years. Tucson got its name from the 17th-century O’odham village at the base of Sentinel Peak: S-cuk Son.
The 10 acres set to be transferred to the nation are south of West Cushing Street, east of South Melwood Avenue and west of Diamond Street Loop, west of downtown.
“There have been identified significant archeological and historical remnants of our ancestors all along the Santa Cruz River. This particular area has that archaeological and that cultural significance to our ancestors,” said Ned Norris Jr., chairman of the Tohono O’odham Nation.
“This is something that previous administrations within the nation, and something that Mayor (Regina) Romero and my current administration have been working on for the last couple of years to begin the process of negotiating the transfer of that portion of that land back to its rightful people, meaning the Tohono O’odham.”
Land use uncertain
Norris Jr. said, “There’s still some very significant work that needs to get done,” and there’s not a draft agreement in place to delineate the land transfer.
Once the land is transferred, he said the nation does not yet have any planned use of the land but “whatever the nation considers doing with that property should complement the intent of that whole area. Now, what is that? I can’t say right at this point.”
Romero said Tucson won’t “attach limitations to their land” when the city hands over the title, and “It will be (the nation’s) land, and they decide what to do.”
The area is currently zoned as an R-2 residential zone, which provides for medium-density single-family and multifamily residential development with other public services such as schools and parks that allow for urban residential growth.
That zoning will still apply under Tohono O’odham ownership “to the extent that the Nation might choose to use the property for purposes other than governmental purposes,” city officials said in an email.
Representatives from the city manager’s office said Tucson will retain its easements to ensure connection to other city property in the area, but “We do not contemplate other restrictions on the property, given that the approved motion identified the purpose of the transaction as to recognize the sovereignty of the Nation and restore the Nation’s stewardship over its ancestral lands.”
Romero also mentioned the possibility of putting the land into trust in the future, a conversation she said she’s already initiated with U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva. Putting the land into trust would guarantee self-government and allow the nation to create developments outside the current residential zoning. Norris Jr. said putting the land into trust is “something that the nation will give consideration to, but has not really had an in-depth conversation about.”
A 40-acre parcel of land at Grant Road and Interstate 10 was recently placed into trust on behalf of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe after President Biden signed the Old Pascua Community Land Acquisition Act into law. The act allowed for gaming activity and was sponsored by Grijalva, a Tucson Democrat.
Demolition of the former Century Park 16 theaters on the land began in February to make way for a casino, parking garage and three food and beverage outlets.
Kylie Walzak, president of the Menlo Park Neighborhood Association, said residents in the Menlo Park area near the 10 acres being transferred to the Tohono O’odham Nation have questions like “What are they going to put there? What are the plans? How are residents going to be involved in the process?”
But the neighborhood association “doesn’t have any answers for them right now,” Walzak said.
Landfill remains a concern
The 10 acres soon to be owned by the nation previously sat atop the Congress Landfill, where Tucson dumped its waste from 1953 to 1960. According to the city, some of the land still contains landfill waste.
The city of Tucson and Rio Nuevo, the financial district that invests in developing downtown Tucson, report having previous discussions with Tohono O’odham Nation leaders about giving the nation part of the land that was once the ancient home of indigenous people, but the landfill contamination left the nation reticent.
Norris Jr. said the nation’s position is it would not have to finish any landfill remediation once the land is transferred, but the issue is yet “to be negotiated.”
“(The landfill) was one of the primary concerns that I had as we continued to have this conversation with the city … we have been given a level of assurance thus far that the remediation has pretty much been addressed,” he said. “We’re content at this point with what the city has done in that regard ... Our effort is to make sure that we are able to give the O’odham Nation some assurance that we’re not going to have to burden that responsibility even once the land is transferred.”
Part of the Congress landfill, and neighboring Nearmont landfill, was remediated in 2018 to attract the Caterpillar regional offices to the area. The city says it remediated the Congress Landfill and “some small sections just north of it” for $6.5 million, but the entirety of the 10-acre parcel isn’t remediated. Tucson representatives weren’t able to provide which parts of the area still contain landfill waste.
The logistics for remediation and specific land use protocols have yet to be ironed out, as is a specific date when the city will hand over the title to the land according to the city.
‘Eurocentric’ past
Potential uses of the 10 acres of land and the surrounding area have been a point of consternation for decades, especially after Tucson’s voters passed Proposition 400 in 1999. The measure used state sales tax dollars for cultural development and restoration of the area near downtown Tucson and at the base of “A” Mountain known as Rio Nuevo.
Initial plans were to create a heritage park in the area and a Hohokam village museum at S-cuk Son. Controversy ensued over the control of indigenous lands and the toxic waste underneath them.
During her tenure as Ward 1 Council member from 2007 to 2019, Mayor Regina Romero said the “dreams of preserving our history on the foot of ‘A’ mountain were important” and “as mayor, of course, I understand even more now the importance of that history and the historic preservation of it.”
However, she said, past discussions were “a different way of seeing the preservation of history. It was very Eurocentric … we should not interpret their history in how we want it, it is for (the nation) to interpret their history the way they want to.”
Voters didn’t know at the time Proposition 400 was passed that most of the land was contaminated by methane gas from the “A” Mountain landfill south of the Congress landfill, which stymied development in the region, according to Fletcher McCusker, the chair of the Rio Nuevo Board of Directors.
The state legislature took over Rio Nuevo and transitioned it from a cultural project to one geared toward economic development after the city failed to produce culture-centered developments despite spending millions on planning them.
The impetus for starting the process of giving the 10 acres of city land back to the Tohono O’odham Nation, Romero said, was when current Ward 1 Council Member Lane Santa Cruz came to the mayor with the idea.
“We erase and invisibilize our original Indigenous communities here in Tucson, and so for me, it’s important being in the position that I’m in to make amends,” Santa Cruz said. “I’m not personally responsible for the harms prior, whether it was elected representatives or just other people in power, but I am responsible for addressing those historic harms and trying to create a better playing field moving forward.”
Watch now: Tucson City Council members unanimously approved a motion at its April 18 meeting to give ancestral land near the base of “A” Mountain to the Tohono O'odham Nation.
