Cutting Edge Tech on the Rez

Bigger isn’t always better. Arizona’s Tohono O’odham Nation covers some 2.8 million acres, only a small portion of which is occupied by the successful San Xavier District’s Hi:kdan Business Park. The tribally chartered, Native-owned private business operates under the banner: “Moving Forward with the Future.”

Housed in the shadows of Raytheon, the nearby giant missile manufacturer, the O’odham have done quite well for themselves with their 51 percent ownership of Advanced Ceramics Manufacturing (ACM)–a Native Small Disadvantaged Business providing “high tech products for a better world.”...