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The saguaro cactus is the iconic plant of the Arizona borderlands, and in June and early July, its fruit ripens. For the Tohono O'odham Nation, harvest time for the “bahidaj” is a sacred start to the new year. That's because they consider the towering saguaro cacti as people, as family. It's also sacred because they make wine with the fruit for ceremonies asking the Creator to send the monsoon rains that make desert life possible. For many families, it's also a time to gather across generations and pass down the traditions and centuries-old knowledge enjoying a resurgence as more youth rediscover their ancestral ways.