SCWC acknowledges that the lands and waters included in our planning area were stewarded for thousands of years by the Hohokam and Sobaipuri people, and those of the Pascua Yaqui and Tohono O’odham people whose relationship with their ancestral land (https://native-land.ca) continues to this day. We acknowledge that water in the Sonoran Desert is of great spiritual, physical and ecological significance, and is to be protected, cherished and celebrated. The continued stewardship by the Tohono O’odham Nation’s San Xavier District of reserved lands and water, and the setting of a vision by their elders many decades prior, to restore farming and river heritage can guide us in our approach. The Santa Cruz Watershed Collaborative acknowledges that watershed management and stewardship decisions were historically made in a non-inclusive manner and by non-Indigenous peoples. SCWC is committed to including Indigenous voices moving forward and the continuous improvement of our understanding, actively promoting the application of traditional ecological knowledge, and to aiding residents and visitors in understanding these values.
