Pioneering diversity

Arizona is home to 21 federally recognized American Indian tribes, and 300,000 members live in this state, as their ancestors have for hundreds of years.

Each tribe has its own rich history, distinct language and cherished ceremonies. Modern times have jeopardized some of the traditions, yet there are many members of Arizona’s tribes working tirelessly to maintain their connection to their past. It’s those rituals that continue to enhance Arizona’s rich culture.

In his book, “Arizona, a Calvacade of History,” Trimble says that Arizona’s American Indians “have kept that which is most important to them: that inner strength that one acquires when one lives in harmony with the land.”

For some historians, it’s fitting that the Great Emancipator, Abraham Lincoln, played a role in Arizona’s path to statehood.

Lincoln signed an act creating the United States Territory of Arizona on Feb. 24, 1863, less than two months after he proclaimed the freedom of slaves in the 10 states then in rebellion during the Civil War.

Arizona is a pioneer of diversity, Trimble said.

In 1946, the state opened the doors for Black Major League Baseball players when Larry Doby took the outfield for the Cleveland Indians in the Cactus League, he said.

Many forgot that when Arizona was being chastized in 1987 for then-gov. Evan Mecham’s cancellation of the state’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Trimble said.

“But we have been beaten up since our territorial days, and a lot of that reputation was from stories written for the thrill of Eastern people,” he said. “People could get their thrill vicariously about stories of people in the West. The stories were later transformed into movies and books.”

Even when Arizona became a state, Trimble recalled, a prominent federal official said it would be 100 years before Arizona sent anyone to Washington who would make a difference.

“So we sent them Carl Hayden, Henry F. Ashurst, Ernest Mcfarland, who was father of the GI Bill, Barry Goldwater, John Rhodes, Morris and Stuart Udall, Paul Fannin and Sandra Day O’connor.”