Tohono O'odham Nation

Visit the ancestral lands of people who continue to thrive in the vast deserts southwest of Tucson.

The Tohono O’Odham Nation is the second largest American Indian tribe in the state (second only to the Navajo Nation), spanning a vast area from south of Casa Grande all the way into Sonora, Mexico. Within this expanse of the Sonoran Desert, natural attractions and tribal enterprises invite visitors to experience an ancient culture and modern gaming destination.

Destination Gaming

The Tohono O’odham Nation operates four casinos in Arizona. Off Nogales Highway near the airport in Tucson, Desert Diamond Casino is the largest enterprise with hundreds of slots and table games. A second casino off I-19 south of Tucson in Sahuarita provides another roadside stop for travelers coming to and from Mexico. Visitors in the west valley of Phoenix find another Desert Diamond and yet another in the town of Why provides a convenient stop for travelers on their way to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Rocky Point, Mexico.

People of the Desert

The Tohono O’Odham Nation Cultural Center & Museum hosts annual cultural celebrations that are open to the public to attend. The museum presents a collection of historic and contemporary Tohono O’odham art plus artifacts with ties to the past. Visit the nation’s lands south of Sells to view exhibits that tell the stories of the People of the Desert from historic to contemporary times. Outside, walk the nature trail to admire native desert plants up close, enter a traditional watto and view petroglyphs.

Origin Stories

See how the area’s original inhabitants cultivated crops in the Sonoran Desert along the Santa Cruz River at the base of what today is A Mountain in the heart of Tucson. Tour Mission Garden to learn about food pathways in the Sonoran Desert and the history of the area’s first residents. From the garden, visitors can take backroads through tribal lands to reach San Xavier Mission. The White Dove of the Desert is the oldest European structure in Arizona, dating back to the 17th century when Spanish missionaries explored the area and influenced the original inhabitants for generations to come.