Four O’odham Tribes travel to U.S./Mexico Border on the Tohono O’odham Nation

October 23, 2026

Emma Hughes

Community Newsperson

Tribal leaders from the Ak-Chin Indian Community, Gila River Indian Community, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, and the Tohono O’odham Nation gathered on Friday, Sept. 25, for a tour of the United States/Mexico border that crosses through the Tohono O’odham Nation.

Tohono O’odham Nation has been working to prevent the construction of a 30-foot border wall, in addition to current barriers that are placed along the border, which would further destroy natural resources and sacred sites.

Gila River Indian Community’s delegation included Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis and Council Representatives Duane Jackson Jr., Kristina Morago, and Joey Whitman, who were given a firsthand look of the land that is at risk.

The Tohono O’odham Nation is one of the largest reservations in the state with nearly 40,000 members, and its land covers 2.8 million acres including 62-miles of land that is divided by the U.S/Mexico border. It has spent millions of dollars each year assisting with border security and has maintained a longstanding relationship with the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Patrol, for several years to protect the border.

In 2025, President Donald Trump issued a memorandum that excludes Federal Indian Reservations from any border wall construction plans. On June 16, 2026, the Tohono O’odham Nation filed suit against the U.S. government to stop its plans to utilize the tribe’s land and water to construct the border wall.

“Their concerns about the proposed building of this wall, and to hear it and then to come out here and see it, it makes you understand why and what this means to them,” said Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community President Martin Harvier. “It’s beautiful out here, it really is and to see this land desecrated the way that they’re talking about and to hear what other archaeological sites, burial sites and everything else; I would just wish other people would imagine if that was their family, how would they feel.”

Many from the delegation shared their own connections to the Tohono O’odham Nation, as they visited the Tadai Mei camp, located at the San Miguel border gate, where tribal members have set up camp to closely monitor the activity on the border.

This particular area has been used for several years to allow O’odham to cross back and forth from Mexico to the Nation to visit family or receive essential services from the tribe. Many tribal members also utilize this area for their annual pilgrimage to Magdelena de Kino, Mexico for St. Francis Day.

“We’re all connected to this area as O’odham. This is not about politics; this is about solidarity. This is about tribal sovereignty,” said Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis.

“We’re here showing support from the from the Salt River Indian Community to the Nation and their efforts in opposing the building of the wall,” said Harvier.

Tohono O’odham Nation Vice-Chairwoman Carala Johnson stated, “Help us educate others out there, O’odham or not, we’re all in this together. Our voice is strong and our abilities to communicate to others what this means to us and why a border wall would not be good here.”