This podcast episode shares the indigenous perspective on the yearly harvest of the bahidaj (saguaro fruit) by the Tohono O’odham. This social gathering and harvest has been a generational tradition that includes song and dance for ceremony purposes to call in the summer rains. Today few families and O’odham villages continue to gather every summer to harvest the bahidaj. In this interview you will hear from Tanisha Tucker discuss the long standing history her family has in regards to the bahidaj camp within Saguaro National Park boundaries. Surprisingly, O’odham families have harvested within the park’s boundaries long before the park ever existed! The camp has provided a great cultural space for many tribal and non-tribal people to come and participate in the harvest, as well as get a glimpse of the syrup making process. For year’s Juanita Ahill carried on this traditional practice and after her, her grand-daughter Stella Tucker followed in her steps after her grandmother’s passing. After year’s of watching her great, great grandmother and mother, Tanish Tucker is next of her generation to take on a leadership role in doing demonstrations and being the main contact person for the upcoming bahidaj harvests.
Cultivating Indigenous Voices main page: https://kxci.org/programs/cultivating-indigenous-voices/
