Land use and legislation; the impact of nineteenth century United States land legislation on the indigenous landscape of southern Arizona between 1853 and 1912

Land policies of nineteenth century United States significantly impacted the indigenous landscape and ways of life in southern Arizona after its purchase from Mexico in 1853. This research is to understand how the land legislation policies were interpreted and implemented, why the culture of the United States supported these policies and what impact they had on the indigenous cultures of the region. Contemporary accounts, land legislation at both regional and national level, as well as recent commentaries have been consulted to understand the prevailing nineteenth century cultural norms which supported and accepted policies that denuded indigenous people of their traditional lands and ways of life. It will be determined that the land policies were deliberately prejudiced in their formation and were aggressive both in the use of and in their results on the indigenous landscape and people of southern Arizona. Both the Tohono O’odham and the Chiricahua Apache indigenous people have lost significant amounts of cultural heritage and ways of life because of their inability to challenge the laws and prevailing culture in the United States between 1853 and 1912, when Arizona became a state. This analysis of a little-known region in the United States could help to explain why the results of nineteenth century land policies are still resonating in both the indigenous experiences and on the land management of the region to this day.