Tucson Opinion: Celebrating Tucson and S-cuk Sọn

Like many cities, Tucson recognizes its founding day annually, on Aug. 20, with a public event. The purpose of this has long been to celebrate our history and heritage. However, celebrating our history is also a challenge, as there are many examples of confrontation and oppression that we, as a community, are still reckoning with, centuries on. Those of us charged with planning the event recognize that this founding date is heavily symbolic and that the lens through which history was celebrated in the past now must be revisited.

Tucson’s official Founding Day is Aug. 20, 1775. This is the day that Hugo O’Conor, a Spanish soldier, wrote a decree that the Spanish army would build the Presidio San Agustín del Tucson on the east side of the Santa Cruz River across from modern day A-Mountain (which they referred to as Sentinel Peak). This original decree is on display today at San Xavier del Bac Mission.

Although this date makes Tucson one of the oldest communities in the United States, it is rather arbitrary in the context of our region. In fact, people have lived here for thousands of years, and the Tucson basin is known as the longest continuously inhabited valley in North America. Early local people, the ancestors of the Tohono O’odham, referred to their village as “S-cuk Sọn” which meant “at the base of the black mountain,” and this is where “Tucson” derives.

The impact of the Spanish conquest is vast and complex. Tucsonans who descend from early Spanish settlers are considered Mexican-American. For many this means their ancestry is part European and part Native American. This is the case for individuals across Latin America and the United States, and it is a centuries old question of identity.

As we plan this annual “birthday,” the goal is to acknowledge our whole history while also celebrating our current-day community. While the Presidio Museum, the venue where the event is presented, represents a structure that was built by the Spanish, it is also part of a larger story of the region. When you visit the Presidio you will also learn about our timeline from the Ancestral Native Americans, through the Spanish Colonial, Mexican and Territorial Periods. If you expand your journey you might visit Mission Garden, the Sosa-Carrillo House, or Fort Lowell Park and learn more about the evolution of our community.

So how do we approach planning this “birthday”? Although we still use Aug. 20, which only represents one moment in time, the event is about so much more than this date. Instead of focusing on dates and flags, as has been done in the past, we have strived in recent years to focus on what makes us unique.

This year’s Celebration of All Things Tucson / S-cuk Sọn offers mariachi, folklorico and waila performances. Community partners at the event are organizations that teach our diverse history including Los Descendientes, Mission Garden, Archaeology Southwest, Southern Arizona Transportation Museum, the Rodeo Museum, the Chinese Cultural Center, and the Vail Preservation Society.

Most importantly, the basis of planning is that this is a community event. All voices are welcome. Last year, Tucson lost one of its strongest advocates for tolerance. Supervisor Richard Elías, a ninth-generation Tucsonan. Elías frequently acted as emcee at this event. He will be honored this year with a posthumous award. Before his passing he expressed to us that he wanted to continue to focus on cultural inclusivity. We hope we are honoring that vision.

Time marches on. In four years, 2025, the Tucson will officially be 250. We prefer to think of it as 250-plus! As we move toward that day, we hope to continue to celebrate Tucson, its people, culture and story, and we invite you to share that with us.