The Qahatika (or Kohatk) were a Native American tribe of the Southwestern United States. They were apparently a subtribe of the Tohono O'Odham, and lived in the vicinity of present-day Quijotoa, Arizona.[1]
According to Edward Sheriff Curtis, the Qahatika belonged to Pima group of tribes and lived in five villages "in the heart of the desert south of the Gila River",[2] about forty miles from the Pima reservation.[3] A legend said that after the Pima suffered defeat in a war with Apache, the tribe fled and split. One splinter of the tribe, the ancestors of Qahatika, went into the barren desert and settled there in separation from other Pimas.[3] The Qahatika, according to Curtis, managed to find land suitable for growing wheat. Their methode of "dry farming" relied exclusively on winter rainfall: the soil near their villages was capable of retaining winter moisture for a whole season, and a few winter rains guaranteed a fair crop in summer.[4]
The Qahatika seen by Curtis were "almost identical in appearance" to Pima and Papago. They retained the Pima art of basket-weaving and developed their own tradition of pottery.[5] Their houses were built almost exclusively of dried giant cactus carcasses.[4]