The site at the base of Sentinel Peak is known as the birthplace of Tucson.  The first humans to live here were the Archaic people, noted to have been in the area as early as 7500 BC.  From them, a uniform culture arose around 300 BC, known as the Hohokam people and they flourished for nearly 1,100 more years.

Hohokam is an Akimel O’odham (Pima tribe) word meaning “those who have gone” or “all used up”.  By the 1450’s the Hohokam culture had disappeared.  They were later followed by the Piman people.  Piman is an anthropological term defining the cultures of today’s Tohono and Akimel O’odham people.

In 1698 the Jesuit missionary and explorer Father Eusebio Francisco Kino stopped on the west bank of the Santa Cruz River.  There rested a Piman Indian village called by them Chuk Shon, meaning black mountain.  About 750 people lived in this village in dome shaped grass huts where they farmed along the river.

Kino and his fellow Jesuits were building a system of missions through what are now Mexico, Arizona, and California.  The Spaniards rendered the village name of Chuck Shon to Tuc-son.  Here Father Kino established a small mission he called San Cosme de Tucson.  Later as a visita, its name was changed to San Augustin de Tucson.

In 1821 When Mexico won independence from Spain, Tucson became a northern frontier town.  Throughout this century more missions were established in the valley and the O’odham competed for fertile land with newcomers to Tucson.  San Augustin Mission was abandoned by 1843 and in 1854 the Gadsden Purchase brought Tucson under United States jurisdiction.

In 1859 the Akimel O’odham (Pima) tribe entered into an executive order with the U.S. government which eventually led to the creation of the Gila River Indian Reservation located about 70 miles north of Tucson.  In 1874 the Tohono O’odham (Papago) tribe signed an executive order which instituted a reservation in 1916, part of which is located at San Xavier Mission and the larger section about 60 miles southwest of Tucson.  Some O’odham remained in Tucson and with the Yaqui Indians who fled here from war in Mexico in the early 1900’s; they established neighborhood communities in the Santa Cruz River Area.

After World War II in which many O’odham and Yaqui served, many O’odham form the western reservation migrated to Tucson to seek employment opportunities.  Members of the San Jose Church in South Tucson, a Tohono O’odham Mission, organized the St Nicholas Club in the 1950’s for religious celebrations, socializing, and fund raising activities.

Community members served by the House of Neighborly Services, a Presbyterian social services agency, and the Association of Papago Affairs, held a meeting in April 1956 and agreed that an Indian Center was needed.  The House of Neighborly Services and various churches offered facilities for meetings and a new Native American Club was formed in 1957.  On September 16, 1962 the Club incorporated as the American Indian Association of Tucson, Inc., to do business as the Tucson Indian Center.

With funds form the Brewster Foundation and those raised from sales and donations, a facility was sought.  An old building at 120 West 29^th Street was first rented in October 1964 and then purchased the next month.  This was the Center’s first home.

During the 1960’s and 70’s, with very limited funds, the Center provided social services for youth, adult, and senior citizens.  At this same time the Yaqui become more politically established.  In 1978 they received U.S. federal recognition and established their reservation about 10 miles west of Tucson.  The historic Yaqui urban neighborhoods remained in Tucson and Phoenix, including the villages of Old Pascua, 39^th Street, Marana, and Guadalupe.

As funds nationwide increased for targeted programs in the 1980’s and 90’s the Tucson Indian Center services increased to address the many needs of Urban American Indians.  The Majority of the clients served live in the Greater Metropolitan Tucson area and the non-reservation areas of Pima County, Arizona.  Many local urban Indians are not eligible to receive services from their respective tribes because they reside off the reservation.  Thus, they rely on the Tucson Indian Center to provide much needed social services in the areas of education, training, employment, and supportive services relative to urban living.