The Tohono O'odham of Mexico

The Tohono O'odham of Mexico, numbering approximately 475 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as an Uto-Aztecan ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the Sonoran desert in southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico They are an Indigenous people, with Oodham as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the North American Indigenous people cluster of the North American Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Catholicism. They primarily speak Spanish.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Tohono O'odham

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: North American Peoples
Country: Mexico
People Cluster: North American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Spanish (spa)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Catholicism
Population: 475
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG024934
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Pray for the Tohono O'odham of Mexico

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

79%
%
Folk Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Spanish
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Spanish Speakers

Bible Resources in Spanish:

Or check out the Spanish bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Marginally Reached People Group, (LPI: 4), 3% to 6% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical (GSEC: 4), this people group is greater than or equal to 2% evangelical

Next steps for the Tohono O'odham:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Tohono O'odham are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Tohono O'odham:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Tohono O'odham are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Tohono O'odham:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Tohono O'odham of Mexico

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
readRomans 5:7-8

Pray for the many who don't yet understand the hope of the gospel, and pray that God will reveal to them that while they were in darkness, Christ died for them.

For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples.
readLuke 2:30

Pray that the lost will see the salvation of God, and that they will trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
readJohn 14:2-3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will persevere in hope, remembering that Jesus went to prepare a place for them to be with Him for eternity!

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
read2 Corinthians 5:20

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will be His ambassadors, faithfully imploring people on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God through Jesus.

O'odham, Tohono Across Countries (ROP3 - 110410) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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