Today, descendants of the Tohono O'odham (formerly known as the Papago), a native people of Arizona, are spread all over the United States, some with better knowledge of their family backgrounds than others. Those who wish to learn more of their ancestors and the culture from which they came often turn to family history, or genealogy. Family history is the detailed study of the common people overlooked in most histories, the faceless masses of farmers, immigrants, and others whose individual lives make up the sum of history but whose stories are rarely told at an individual level. Native American family history, and in particular that of the Tohono O'odham, presents difficulties due to cultural and historical issues and requires resources beyond those normally utilized in family history research. By examining a Tohono O'odham family, changes in society, religion, politics, even the weather, can be shown directly influencing the people within the family, presenting a microcosm of the time period.

The Tohono O'odham Narcho family is an example of a family missed in most traditional sources, such as census records and birth registries. Because most individuals tracing their ancestry do not have the resources to search old records in person, the average researcher must rely on records available online, narrowing potential sources of information further. Beginning with a search of reservation census records made by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, dicentennial censuses of the United States government, vital records from the state of Arizona, the results of the Papago Population Register, the lineage of this family was documented as far back as possible.  


Published and Last Updated May 13, 2013

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