PROGRAM DETAILS

Su:dagī o wud doakag means ‘Water is Life’ in the language of the Tohono O’odham (TO), a desert Indigenous community located along what is today known as the US/Mexico border. At a recent Climate Change Forum, TO youth discussed their endangered water resources, voicing a desire to preserve rainwater and groundwater, and to connect more deeply with their himdag or ‘Way of Life.’ 

Baboquivari High School and Borderlands Restoration Network collaborated to pilot an after-school program that hired BHS students to work alongside conservation professionals, designing and installing a rainwater-harvesting native plant and heritage food garden on campus. This program, called Su:dagī o wud doakag, was designed for TO youth to earn valuable skills, training, and work experience. 

Thank you partners & supporters!

PROGRAM HISTORY

BHS is located near Sells, AZ, the modern-day capital of the TO Nation along what today is recognized as the US/Mexico border. This large reservation, equal in land area to the state of Connecticut, is in the heart of the Sonoran Desert and receives less than 10” of rain per year.

While the TO have lived on these arid lands for many generations, the reservation's groundwater resources face increasing encroachment from Tucson’s urban sprawl and for concrete footers of the new border wall, endangering himdag  for the people who have lived here long before Tucson was founded.

​In 2018, Desert Diamond Casino and The North Face funded a one-year pilot program designed and coordinated by BHS and BRN staff. One student from the TOCC was hired to facilitate the paid after-school program, leading daily activities. Thirteen BHS students were then hired as interns with Su:dagī o wud doakag.

​Between August 2018 and May 2019, the Su:dagī o wud doakag interns met weekly after school with TOCC, BHS, and BRN mentors to design and install the on-campus rainwater harvesting design. To gain inspiration for their project, interns first visited Tucson’s Manzo Elementary School, a Tucson community Flowers & Bullets cistern-installation project, the Watershed Management Group’s urban demonstration site, and Patagonia Union High School’s rainwater fed pond and native plant terraces.
Interns collectively developed a design, selected the name Ju:ki Oidag (or 'Rain Garden'), and presented it to BHS administration and staff for approval before installation began. Working with professionals, Su:dagī o wud doakag interns then hand-shaped the earth to accept water, reinforced high places with harvested rock, built a central Watho (or ‘Ramada’), planted native pollinator-attracting plants, and constructed a rain cistern with Flowers & Bullets.
In April, the Su:dagī o wud doakag program was presented the annual Stewardship Award by the Tohono O’odham Environmental Protection Office at the Tohono O’odham Nation’s Earth Day Festival. The program concluded at the end of the school year with a community graduation ceremony, where youth first led guided tours of Ju:ki Oidag to visitors, shared a meal with the community, and received graduation certificates, post-graduation Resource Guides, and community-designed t-shirts.

The Future 

BRN is committed to the Su:dagī o wud doakag program and relies on the generous support of donors, grants from foundations, and sponsorships to continue the program. 

                                            Contact us with questions about this program or make a donation today!