Malcolm Comeaux, Department of Geography, Arizona State University, comeaux@asu.edu.

A Death Among the Pima.

The Pima Indians were sedentary farmers living in villages along the Gila River when the Spanish arrived, and today they have two reservations in central Arizona. The Americans thought one way to "settle down" the Indians was to give them a Christian faith, and the Presbyterians were assigned to work among the Pima, who since then have had a strong presence among the Pima. There was, however, always a strong Roman Catholic tradition on the reservations, and today many other Christian groups are found on these reservations. The Pima accepted Christianity, but there was a strong blending of Christian and Native religions and traditions. This paper will look at death and burial as found among the Pima, and the impact of the blending of the two cultures.