Irrigation (American Indian history)
Irrigation in American Indian history primarily pertains to the practices developed in the arid regions of the Southwest, notably by the Hohokam people, who began constructing irrigation systems around 100 CE. Unlike other regions in North America where agriculture benefited from adequate rainfall, the Southwest's dry climate necessitated the development of irrigation to support farming. The Hohokam's earliest canals were simple and unlined, but by 700 CE, they had evolved into an extensive network, featuring advanced control structures such as gates and plunge pools. These systems facilitated the irrigation of fields and represented significant engineering accomplishments of their time.
Over the centuries, the complexity of Hohokam irrigation diminished, leading to smaller, less sophisticated ditches by 1400 CE. Other Indigenous groups, including the Pueblo Indians and Colorado River tribes (Mojave and Yuma), also engaged in irrigation practices, with some adopting techniques influenced by Spanish methods. Understanding the historical context of irrigation among American Indians highlights the adaptive strategies employed in response to environmental challenges and the rich agricultural traditions that developed in prehistoric North America.
Subject Terms
Irrigation (American Indian history)
Tribes affected: Southwestern tribes
Significance: Irrigation permitted some tribes of the Southwest, particularly in prehistoric times, to practice effective agriculture in arid lands
Irrigation, the bringing of water to agricultural fields, was practiced widely in pre-Columbian Mexico and Peru, but it was used relatively little by prehistoric North American Indians. Most of eastern North America had adequate rainfall for agriculture, and much of western North America was so dry that agriculture was impractical. As a result, irrigation in pre-Columbian North America was restricted to the Southwest cultural area. There, the earliest known irrigation was practiced by people of the Hohokam archaeological tradition, beginning around 100 c.e.
The earliest canals were modest in scope, unlined, and without sophisticated water control features. By 700, they had been expanded to a massive network, including one main canal at least 17 miles long; in addition, control features such as trash gates, head gates, and plunge pools had been added to the system. A few centuries later, the canals were lined to reduce loss from seepage. By 1400, however, irrigation by Hohokam had diminished to small-scale ditches with far less engineering sophistication than the earlier systems, and this sort of irrigation was continued by the Pima. Other historic tribes using irrigation include the Pueblo Indians and the Colorado River tribes (Mojave and Yuma), who probably adopted their irrigation practices from the Spanish.