Hohokam

American  

[huh-hoh-kuhm] / həˈhoʊ kəm /

adjective

1. of, belonging to, or characteristic of an American Indian culture of the central and southern deserts of Arizona, about a.d. 450–1450, roughly contemporaneous with the Anasazi culture to the north.

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noun

1. the Hohokam culture.

Etymology

Origin of Hohokam

First recorded in 1935–40; coined by U.S. anthropologist and archaeologist Jesse Walker Fewkes (1850-1939) from O'odham huhugam “those who are gone,” a term applied to the ancient inhabitants of the pueblo ruins

Example Sentences

More than 1,000 years ago, the Hohokam dug hundreds of miles of irrigation canals through the desert and slept in pit houses to escape the worst of the summer heat.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 3, 2023

It sprouted from the desert floor in the early 1800s, long before Arizona became the 48th state in 1912, on the site of an ancient Hohokam settlement.

From Washington Post • Aug. 31, 2022

Jerry Dipoto and his wife, Tamie, traveled to Mesa that day, eschewing the Mariners game vs. the A’s at Hohokam Stadium, to see if Jonah might pitch against the Cubs as a back-up reliever.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 29, 2022

He looked up at the big green and gold sign on Hohokam Stadium.

From New York Times • Jun. 6, 2018

And yet, by 2100 BCE, the Hohokam peoples of that area had traded for, and were cultivating, corn, beans, squash, and cotton.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz