Havasupai Tribe
The Havasupai Tribe (Havasuw Baaja) are the traditional guardians of the Grand Canyon. Related to the Yuman, the Havasupai have, from the beginning, lived in the Grand Canyon and its environs.
With the establishment of Grand Canyon National Park in 1919, the Havasupai Tribe was restricted to 518 acres, 5 miles wide and 12 miles long in a side canyon. Fortunately, the Havasupai has since had 188,077 acres of their former homelands returned to them which makes up their reservation today.
The population for the Havasupai Tribe is about 700, with a median age of 24.8 years. The largest employer of the tribal members on the reservation is the tribe itself. The main occupation of the Havasupai is packing and working for tribal enterprises, including tourism.
The Havasupai draw their strength from the land, which is sacred. Visitors are asked to preserve the magnificence of the Havasupai homeland and respect their natural resources which contribute to their spiritual direction. All visitors are asked to leave their liquor, drugs, weapons and pets at home and to take their trash out of the canyon.
Havasupai means "people of the blue-green water." The tribe has been in this region for more than 1,000 years. Throughout their history, they have practiced the tradition of irrigation farming in the canyons during the summer and hunting on the plateaus during the winter. The Havasupai people are known for their basketry and beadwork. The Havasupai Reservation was established in June 1880 and later enlarged to 188,077 acres in 1975. All of the tribal members live in Supai Village at the base of Havasu Canyon.
Tourism is helping the tribe's living standards, although it is difficult. This is due to the fact that there are only a few ways in and out of the community. Traveling down to Havasu Falls can only be done by foot, horse or helicopter. Still, more than 12,000 visitors come to see the amazing high waterfalls. This land is sometimes called the "Shangri-la of the Grand Canyon" because of its towering cliffs, spectacular waterfalls and calming pools of water.
There are two major divisions of the native people. One division is called the River Yumas, who lived along the lower Colorado and middle Gila rivers and included the Mojaves, Hakchidhoma, Yuma, Cocopa and Maricopa. The other division is the Upland Yumas which included the Hualapai (Walapai), Havasupai and Yavapai. While many of the other contemporary tribes subsisted on hunting and gathering, the Havasupai were the exception. The location of their land made irrigation and farming possible.
The Havasupai speak a form of Yuman, which was derived from Hokan languages. These languages use prefixes, suffixes and compound words to form longer words made up of several elements. A complete sentence or phrase may be expressed by one word. They believe in a Supreme Being and some have accepted Christianity, but many still cling to ancient traditions and prayers. The Havasupai draw their strength and spiritual direction from their land and consider their land sacred.
In 1880, an executive order was issued that restricted the Havasupai to 38,000 acres and was amended in 1882 to restrict them to only 500 acres. Presently, they live on 188,000 acres. Their main occupations are farming and packing. They have a lodge for guests, but visitors are limited. The women of the tribe are still practicing basket weaving, using cottonwood and willow coils. Other native crafts are sold on the reservation and surrounding areas. Children are schooled eleven months of the year.
Heavy rains and flooding in 1992 and 1995 washed out most of the beautiful travertine dams below Havasu Falls. However, the larger pool below the falls is still there and still sparkling blue-green.