The Original Inhabitants of the valley are my people, The Akimel O'odham(River People), and we are descendants of the HuHuGam(HoHoKam) who also lived in the valley thousands of years before any other culture/civilization. This mural is a tribute to our mountain we call Moadak(Greasy Mtn), which is known as South Mountain to the none O'odham people of the valley.
Moadak or "Greasy Mtn" as its known in our O'odham Niok, is traditionally a sacred mountain in our HimDak (way of life). The story of I'toi or the elder brother, who is the Man inside the Maze, watches over us and in the Akimel O'odham belief, his home is on top of Moadak. The Man in the Maze symbol represents the circle of life, and the decisions we make as we journey through it.
Moadak for the HuHuGam ancestors held secrets and mysterious power, You can find evidence of this by the art the ancestors left behind on the rocks.
Today, South Mtn is a natural preserve and park, along with it still holding importance to us, the Akimel O'odham of Salt River and Gila River.
It is also in the middle of a battle between ADOT, Gila River, and traditionalists from surrounding O'odham communities, because there is a proposal to build a freeway that would go through parts of Gila River and the mountain, but attempts to stop construction and throw out the proposal are underway. The last thing we need is another sacred mountain to Indigenous peoples and land taken away.
