When the first dining guide to the Valley of the Sun appeared in 1978, the authors had to explain what “sushi” was. Fast forward four decades, and Arizonans are munching rainbow rolls in shopping-mall food courts. The restaurant business in Arizona now brings in more than $11 billion a year. With stories, statistics and insider […]

The ethnobotanical story of the Southwest begins with the plant knowledge the people have inherited from their ancestors who lived entirely off the land. The nutritional values of many wild foods are only recently gaining attention of western dietitians.  These foods however, have long been known by local Tribes for their nutritional and medicinal value.  […]

This presentation will explore the US Army’s experiment with using camel from the Middle East to make it more mobile in the newly acquired Southwest.  In order to teach the soldiers about camels, a local from the Middle East, who was called Hi Jolly, was shipped over with the camels.  Even though Secretary of War […]

The ethnobotanical story of the Southwest begins with the plant knowledge the people have inherited from their ancestors who lived entirely off the land. The nutritional values of many wild foods are only recently gaining attention of western dietitians.  These foods however, have long been known by local Tribes for their nutritional and medicinal value.  […]

Arizona’s rivers were first, lush green ribbons of life through a desert landscape. They became sustaining paths, first for the indigenous, later for immigrants leaving wagon tracks. On the Salt River, Hohokam built vast canals to direct water for irrigation. The first European citizens of Phoenix used these same trenches. The history, stories and songs […]

From artists and healers, teachers and entrepreneurs, women who plowed the land and those who were instrumental in establishing laws for the new territory of Arizona. Many early Arizona women became known for their fortitude in the face of adversity, their confrontation of extraordinary and sometimes dangerous situations, their adventuresome spirits, and their dedication to […]

Where lies the cure to diabetes? “Ask the prickly pear, or the mesquite bean pod…maybe they will tell you.” This is the answer you may hear from elder instructors of the Hualapai Ethnobotany Youth Project. The ethnobotanical story of the Hualapai Tribe begins with the plant knowledge the people have inherited from their great grandparents […]

Fort Huachuca, in Sierra Vista, is the surprising site of a remarkable story of African American art during World War II. Central to the chronicle is Arizona painter Lew Davis. The base was home to two black divisions, and Davis painted murals for the two segregated officers’ clubs. For the black officers’ club, Davis produced […]