Post
by Kristy McCaffrey
This
is the third installment of a 4-part series on the Grand Canyon.
Read
Part I: Description & Early Exploration here.
Read
Part II: Important Men of the Canyon here.
The
Havasupai Indians have lived in the Grand Canyon for the past 800 years. Known
as the Blue Water People, they’ve turned their land, consisting of richly
colored waters and awe-inspiring waterfalls, into a famous tourist attraction
that draws thousands of people each year. They live primarily above and inside
the southwest end of Grand Canyon in a place known as Cataract Canyon. In the
1700’s they had little contact with the Spanish, and during the U.S. westward
expansion the same was also true with white people, but this changed when
silver was discovered in 1870 within Cataract Canyon. Relations with other
Native American tribes have been generally mixed, but they have maintained a
strong bond with the Hopi people.
 |
| Havasu Falls |
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| A Havasupai family in front of a home in Havasu Canyon, circa 1883. |
Today
the town of Supai, located at the bottom of Grand Canyon, is the capital of the
Havasupai Indian Reservation. It is home to around 500 of the tribe members,
and is one of the most remote cities in the U.S. It can be accessed by taking
the old Route 66 about 60 miles to the trailhead. An 8 mile hike leads to the
town of 136 houses, a café, a general store, a tourist office, a post office, a
school, and several churches.
The Hualapai Indians live along a stretch of the southern rim of Grand
Canyon. Their reservation was created in 1883, and they’re closely related to
the Havasupai Indians. They traditionally lived in wikiups, structures formed
from cedar boughs.
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| Wickiup |
The Grand Canyon Skywalk, built in 2007, is owned by the Hualapai Indian
Tribe. It’s a transparent, horseshoe-shaped cantilever bridge on the edge of a
side canyon of the Grand Canyon. This tourist attraction, easily accessed from
Las Vegas, offers views from an elevation of 4,770 feet. While this attraction
has caused some controversy regarding over-development, the skywalk brings in
much needed revenue for the reservation.
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| Grand Canyon Skywalk, managed by the Hualapai Indians. |
The Hopi Indians, while not based
in Grand Canyon proper, consider the area sacred and home to the original sipapu. In Hopi mythology this is the
entrance through which the Hopi entered this world from the previous one. The
Hopis construct kivas—underground chambers used for religious ceremonies—with a
small hole in the floor at the north end to symbolize the sipapu. It’s considered bad luck, especially for white people, to
trek to the original opening (located off the Little Colorado River, a
tributary connected to Grand Canyon). Stories abound of ensuing misfortune.
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| The Sipapu, the entryway from the lower world that all Hopi traversed to enter the current Fourth World. |
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| A young Hopi girl. |
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Kristy’s
short story in Lassoing A Groom
features U.S. Deputy Marshal Angus Docherty as he hunts a fugitive in Grand
Canyon, but he’s saddled with an unwanted companion when he rescues a young
woman who may not be what she seems. To learn more, visit Kristy’s website.
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Photo Credits
desertusa.com
grandcanyonhistory.clas.asu.edu
mygrandcanyonpark.com
cpluhna.nau.edu
old-picture.com
bobbordasch.com
