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Pueblo Grande Museum, Phoenix
Before Phoenix was Phoenix, the Hohokam people built a city right here with miles of canals and a massive platform mound. Pueblo Grande Museum preserves this chunk of urban history – ancient apartment complexes and irrigation systems included – smack in the middle of modern Arizona’s biggest city.
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It’s Now the S’edav Va’aki Museum
Phoenix renamed the Pueblo Grande Museum to S’edav Va’aki in March 2023 after working with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa and Gila River tribes. S’edav Va’aki means “Central Va’aki” in the O’odham language and directly refers to the big platform mound at the site.
Mayor Kate Gallego announced this change during Phoenix History Month. If you’re wondering how to say it, S’edav is pronounced “suh-UH-dahf” and Va’aki sounds like “VAH-ah-kee.” This name honors the actual O’odham term instead of using the Spanish word “pueblo.”
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An Ancient Complex with 100+ Rooms
The huge platform mound at S’edav Va’aki holds more than 20,000 cubic meters of carefully packed fill material. Construction started around 800 AD with just two small round mounds that grew bigger over hundreds of years…