Members of the Tohono O鈥檕dham Nation will be allowed to continue harvesting saguaro fruit and cholla buds at Saguaro National Park in accordance with their ancestral traditions, park officials said this week.
A new National Park Service regulation required that an environmental assessment be conducted on gathering of plants by Indian tribes before the practice could continue.
Upon completion of the assessment, the director of the Park Service鈥檚 Intermountain Region signed a finding that the gathering has no significant impact on Saguaro Park and therefore can go on.
鈥淲e realize that the current engagement of the Tohono O鈥檕dham people with the lands of Saguaro National Park is an important part of their cultural heritage, and that鈥檚 part of what the park is here to protect,鈥 said Scott Stonum, chief of science and resource management for the park.
People are also reading…
鈥淏ased on the way they harvest and the relative small quantity they harvest, we feel it鈥檚 very compatible with the operation of the park,鈥 Stonum said, noting that harvests took place long before the park was established, originally as a national monument, in 1933.
Tohono O鈥檕dham officials welcomed the decision to permit continued harvesting.
鈥淭he saguaro fruit harvest brings families together every year to celebrate our cultural heritage,鈥 said Edward Manuel, chairman of the Tohono O鈥檕dham Nation.
鈥淭his fruit has also been a critical source of sustenance for thousands of years so we appreciate that the national park will continue to welcome this important O鈥檕dham tradition.鈥
Stonum said the environmental assessment was conducted over the last year and the 鈥減rocess did not identify any substantial impacts from their activities.鈥
Members of the tribe use poles constructed from the ribs of dead saguaros to harvest the fruits, Stonum said.
鈥淭hey are allowed to collect a minimal amount of those ribs in the park,鈥 he said.
Stonum said the harvesting typically takes place in June and is expected to begin soon.
鈥淯sually one to three family groups harvest in the park, but it varies from year to year,鈥 he said.
