Brief aus Arizona

Phoenix is the fifth largest conurbation in the US. The current 5 million population is projected to swell to 12 million by 2020. It seems extraordinary that so many people can be supported by just one tributary from the “mighty” Colorado River (which apparently no longer reaches its delta). Yet before the European settlement of the US there were already more than 6 million Native Americans living here, the Hohokam supported by agriculture and an ingenious canal and irrigation network.

Now what remains of the 22 indigenous Nations in Arizona are based on the reservation lands rapidly being encroached by the land-hungry city devouring more desert to build even more housing, schools and the ubiquitous strip malls.

It took me two weeks of asking everyone I met before I found someone who was actually born here in this city. Her name is Svetlana. This might sound like an unlikely name for a Phoenician. Yet it clearly illustrates the reality of this population, most of whom are migrants, just like me. Displaced by opportunity, war, shifting economies, or just a sense of adventure. (I am still trying to identify my rationale). Her parents were indigenous too, but her grandparents had ...