Who Are the Havasupai?
The Havasupai ("people of the blue-green water") are a Native American tribe inhabiting Havasu Canyon, a side canyon of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Numbering approximately 650 enrolled members, they are one of the smallest tribes in the United States. They speak Havasupai, a Yuman language nearly identical to the Hualapai language—the two peoples were once one before separation. The Havasupai have lived in and around the Grand Canyon for at least 800 years, utilizing the canyon floor for farming in summer and the plateau above for hunting in winter. Their stunning homeland—turquoise waterfalls cascading into pools surrounded by red rock walls—has become world-famous, making tourism central to the modern Havasupai economy.
Canyon Life
Traditional Havasupai life was a dual adaptation: summers in the well-watered canyon bottom growing corn, beans, squash, and sunflowers irrigated by Havasu Creek; winters on the plateau hunting deer, antelope, and gathering wild plants. This seasonal movement covered vast territory—the Havasupai homeland extended across much of what is now Grand Canyon National Park. Havasu Canyon provided a unique microclimate: the year-round springs and protected location allowed agriculture impossible elsewhere in the region. The blue-green color of Havasu Creek (from dissolved calcium carbonate) gave the people their name and marks their homeland's distinctiveness. Traditional housing included dome-shaped structures of poles and brush. The isolated canyon location meant limited contact with other peoples and limited impact from early European colonization.
Colonization and Restriction
The creation of Grand Canyon Forest Reserve (1893) and later Grand Canyon National Park (1919) restricted Havasupai to a tiny 518-acre reservation at the canyon bottom—their winter hunting grounds on the plateau were taken. This "smallest and most isolated" Indian reservation became a symbol of injustice as the Havasupai were confined to a fraction of their homeland while tourists celebrated Grand Canyon beauty. After decades of advocacy, the Havasupai Land Bill (1975) returned 185,000 acres of plateau land, a rare victory in tribal land restoration. However, life at the canyon bottom remains challenging: there are no roads (all access is by foot, horse, or helicopter), no cellular service, and limited infrastructure. Supai village is the only community in the US where mail is still delivered by mule.
Contemporary Havasupai
Modern Havasupai economy centers on tourism to Havasu Falls, Mooney Falls, and other waterfalls. Tens of thousands of visitors annually pay fees to visit, providing the tribe's main income source. Tourism brings both opportunity and challenge: managing visitor impacts on the fragile canyon environment, preserving privacy and sacred sites, and addressing the contrast between visitor experiences and resident conditions. The community faces health and social challenges common to isolated Native communities. A 2010 lawsuit against Arizona State University over research using Havasupai blood samples without consent (collected for diabetes research but used for other studies) resulted in settlement and raised important issues about genetic research and indigenous consent. The Havasupai language, with only elderly fluent speakers remaining, faces endangerment despite preservation efforts. The Havasupai represent both the spectacular beauty of Native homelands and the challenges of maintaining community in extreme isolation.
References
- Hirst, S. (1985). Havsuw 'Baaja: People of the Blue Green Water
- Spier, L. (1928). Havasupai Ethnography
- Braatz, T. (2003). Surviving Conquest: A History of the Yavapai Peoples