Southwest Shakespeare Acknowledges:
Arizona is home to 22 Native cultures that have inhabited this land for centuries.
The name Arizona is believed to derive from the O’odham name alĭ ṣonak, meaning “small spring”, which initially applied to an area near Planchas de Plata, Sonora.
Roughly 1/3 of the land known today as Arizona is currently under First Nation sovereign governance.
As we serve the entire State and other parts of the Southwest, we acknowledge those who have been and are caretakers of the land long before Spanish and Mexican colonization.
Specifically at our home, Mesa Arts Center, we acknowledge the HoHoKum people whose ingenious engineering, irrigation and careful cultivation of the land allow us to be here today. We acknowledge the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Consisting of 52,600 acres, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community adjacent to Mesa, Scottsdale, Tempe, and Fountain Hills. The community is home to nearly 6,000 enrolled members who represent two pre-American sovereign Indian tribes: the Pima (Akimel Au-authm or “River People”) and Maricopa (Xalychidom Pipaash or “People who live toward the water”). Created by Executive Order on June 14, 1879, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community has dedicated its resources to finding its way successfully through urban pressures. Respectful of the land, the community maintains 19,000 of its acres as natural preserve. Through programming, fundraising, and professional development we seek to support Native Americans and through endeavor and collaboration hope to gain acceptance in their communities. Southwest Shakespeare has several company members who identify as Indigenous. We respectfully honor this heritage.