Kitt Peak National Observatory Hosts Open Night for the Tohono O’odham Nation

May 28, 2024

Kitt Peak welcomes hundreds of visitors for a night of cultural heritage celebration underneath the stars

More than 70 NOIRLab staff volunteers welcomed hundreds of visitors from the Tohono O’odham Nation to Kitt Peak National Observatory to enjoy a night of telescope viewings, cultural performances, and educational activities.

On the evening of 25 May 2024, the U.S. National Science Foundation Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab, hosted a highly anticipated Open Night event to celebrate the longstanding relationship between the astronomical community at Kitt Peak and the Tohono O’odham Nation. With a world-class observatory as the stage and the star-speckled night sky as the backdrop, the event drew a large crowd, welcoming 650 members of the Tohono O’odham community. Attendees took part in various activities including large and small telescope viewing, tours of the domes, Waila music, and entertainment for kids.

KPNO sits atop I'oligam Du'ag (Manzanita Shrub Mountain), a revered location in the homeland of the Tohono O’odham Nation. The Tohono O’odham have inhabited this area for centuries, and it holds deep historical and cultural significance for them. The selection of this site in 1958 was made possible by a lease agreement with the Tohono O’odham Nation, marking the beginning of a longstanding partnership.

In honor of this partnership, NOIRLab is committed to maintaining a good relationship with the Tohono O’odham community, providing educational and community engagement programs, and conducting operations with respect and acknowledgment of the Tohono O’odham Himdag (Way of Life). As stated in NOIRLab’s land acknowledgment, we honor their past, present, and future generations who have lived here for time immemorial and will forever call this place home.

The principal event organizer, Jacelle Ramon-Sauberan from NSF NOIRLab/KPNO said: “It was an honor to be able to organize this event for my tribe, the Tohono O’odham Nation and I loved seeing everyone, especially the youth enjoying themselves during the event.”

The Open Night event was a special opportunity to express appreciation for the privilege of conducting science on I'oligam Du'ag and to share the exciting work of NOIRLab with the Tohono O’odham community. This event is traditionally held every 2–3 years, though it has not taken place since 2015 due to various challenges, including the coronavirus pandemic and the Contreras fire of 2022, which threatened KPNO and surrounding land. With normal operations now resumed, it was an honor to once again host this event.

The event featured various cultural and astronomical activities designed to entertain and educate. Some highlights include performances by Waila band-Carl & Buddies and children’s storytelling presented by Arizona Humanities. Attendees also had the opportunity to see the Sun through solar telescopes and enjoy a fascinating Science on a Sphere show in the new Windows Center, an astronomy visualization and presentation center coming soon to KPNO. The UArizona Bok 2.3-meter and WIYN 3.5-meter telescopes even opened their domes to give attendees the rare opportunity to look through these large telescopes with an eyepiece!

Among those who visited the telescopes was Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Verlon Jose, who was hosted by Lori Allen, Mid-Scale Observatories (MSO) Director at NSF NOIRLab. Food was provided by Tohono O’odham vendors and transportation was offered from three locations on the Nation.

A huge thank-you is also owed to those who volunteered their time and expertise at the event, including 70+ NOIRLab staff as well as volunteers from Saguaro National Park (U.S. National Park Service) and Children’s Museum of Tucson. Your commitment and enthusiasm helped make this long overdue event successful and allowed us to reconnect with the Tohono O’odham community.

More information

NSF NOIRLab (U.S. National Science Foundation National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory), the U.S. center for ground-based optical-infrared astronomy, operates the International Gemini Observatory (a facility of NSF, NRC–Canada, ANID–Chile, MCTIC–Brazil, MINCyT–Argentina, and KASI–Republic of Korea), Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), the Community Science and Data Center (CSDC), and Vera C. Rubin Observatory (operated in cooperation with the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory). It is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with NSF and is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. The astronomical community is honored to have the opportunity to conduct astronomical research on I’oligam Du’ag (Kitt Peak) in Arizona, on Maunakea in Hawai‘i, and on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón in Chile. We recognize and acknowledge the very significant cultural role and reverence that these sites have to the Tohono O’odham Nation, to the Native Hawaiian community, and to the local communities in Chile, respectively.