Piipaash

The Piipaash, known to outsiders as the Maricopa, were a River Yuman people whose self-name meant people. Maricopa came from the Pima label Kokmalik'op, enemies in the big mountains, as written down by the Spanish.

They lived in villages along the Colorado River, but in the sixteenth century began moving east to the Gila River to escape Quechan and Mohave attacks. The migrants were several related River Yuman groups who settled together for protection and were grouped together by Spaniards and Mexicans under names such as Cocomaricopa.

On the middle Gila and later the Salt River they allied with the Akimel O'odham, the Pima, farming side by side. In 1825 American trappers led by James Ohio Pattie killed about two hundred Maricopa in a revenge attack on a Gila village.