A morning spent with the curators and artists at the Ak-Chin Him-Dak EcoMuseum was positively an amazing and wonderful cultural experience. For those of us who are unaware, the word Ak-Chin is an O’ odham word and translates to the “mouth of the wash” and Him-Dak translates to “the way of life”.
Elaine Peters, the Museum Director and Johnny Lopez, Museum Technician, provided us with a tour of the art and artifacts that are now on display at the museum. The art included cultural oil paintings, watercolor paintings, baskets, and weaves from past to present members in honor of their culture.
The community researched all types of museums to start the plans, architecture and building of their museum, found the “EcoMuseum” concept and wanted to know more about it. Members traveled to an EcoMuseum in Montreal, Canada, to tour and understand the adaptation of such a museum that favors the public participation, social surroundings and environment for which the museum was created.
The land was first being cleared by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in 1991 when artifacts were being found, in the desert southwest of Maricopa, AZ within a 100 mile radius from and around the Ak-Chin Indian Community. When this occurred, the BIA began the excavation process. With the help of the federal government, these artifacts we stored properly for preservation until the Ak-Chin Indian Community was able to build their storage facility to house all of the artifacts.
Each year in April, the community celebrates their Him-Dak at the EcoMuseum by opening an additional exhibit and this year, the Museum sent out a survey to the members to ask what they wanted to see. The Him-Dak celebration has turned out to be a wonderful event and is open for anyone to come and learn about the Ak-Chin Indian Community and its culture.

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