Havasupai

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Havasupai home, Arizona, 1887

Havasu Falls, located 2 miles further into the canyon from Supai

The Havasupai (sometimes called Havasu 'Baaja) are a Native American tribe inhabiting the western Grand Canyon area in the U.S. state of Arizona. The tribe has about 650 enrolled tribal members, governed by an elected seven-member Tribal Council. The tribal center is the village of Supai, Arizona, and is only accessible by foot, horseback or helicopter.

The Havasupai have lived in the area for hundreds of years (since roughly A.D. 1300). Historically the tribe would spend the fall and winter months hunting in plateau regions south of the Colorado River, and the spring and summer months farming in Havasu Canyon (a southwestern branch of the Grand Canyon). However, the U.S. federal government established the Havasupai Indian Reservation in 1882 and restricted the tribe to the reservation. The 518 acre reservation covered only about 10 percent of the tribe's aboriginal lands (primarily in Havasu Canyon), and the tribe was forced to rely almost entirely on farming. Over time, outdoor enthusiasts have been drawn to Havasu Creek and its four blue-green waterfalls. As a result, tourism has today become a major source of income for the tribe.

In 1975, the U.S. Congress reallocated 185,000 acres of hunting grounds back to the Havasupai. The current reservation grounds cover a land area of 715.225 km² (276.150 sq mi) in western Coconino County, adjacent to the south side of Grand Canyon National Park. The 2000 census population living on the reservation was only 503 persons, 84 percent of them in the community of Supai.

The Havasupai speak a dialect (Havasupai) of Upland Yuman, a Yuman-Cochimí language also spoken by the Yavapai and Walapai.

1 Tribal video documentary
2 See also
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Tribal video documentary

A 1987 tribal government video says the tribe's name means "people of the blue-green water" in the tribe's language. The video opens with a narrator revealing what sounds like oral history tradition of the tribe.

Tribal Council member James Umqualla, Jr. is prominent in much of the footage. He, and the voice-over speaker, reveal the fact that camping and rooms in the Havasupai Lodge are available to visitors who stay overnight. There is a Village Restaurant and, (as of 1987,) the community hosts an annual Arts and Crafts Festival. The lodge is believed to be closed as of 2006. Tribal members make and sell jewelry, woven baskets, traditional paintings with elements of tribal culture, modern paintings, and beadwork. In 1987, the tribe had a fashion show with a line by Umqualla Designs and featuring six models. The models walked runways over the water below one of the waterfalls.

The tribal government limits the number of visitors on tribal lands at any one time. Tourism is only allowed by tribal government regulations at certain times of the year. Visitors arrive on foot, horseback, or by rotary-wing aircraft. Reservations are required to visit the tribal lands.