Hohokam is one of the four major prehistoric archaeological Oasisamerica traditions of what is now the American Southwest.
Many local residents put the accent on the first syllable (ho'-ho-kahm).
Variant spellings in current, official usage include Hobokam, Huhugam and Huhukam.
The culture was differentiated from others in the region in the 2000s by archaeologist Harold S. Gladwin, who applied the existing O'odham term, to classify the remains he was excavating in the Lower Gila Valley.
According to the U.S. National Park Service Website, Hohokam is a Pima (O'odham) word used by archaeologists to identify a group of people who lived in the Sonoran Desert of North America.According to local oral tradition, the Hohokam may be the ancestors of the historic Akimel O'odham and Tohono O'odham peoples in Southern Arizona.
Recent work among the Sobaipuri, ancient ancestors of the modern Pima, indicates that Pima groups were present in this region at the end of the Hohokam sequence.
