Page 56 - LKP19

culture arose, the Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) basket makers. It’s speculated that their increasing problems with drought and disease caused them to disappear. As they left the area, Paiute, Ute, and Navajo tribes moved in.
AREA HISTORY 7
moved to a reservation one-fourth the size of their ancestral land. Today they’re thriving and enjoying numerous opportunities to maintain and cultivate their cultural identity.
Hopi
928-734-3202
www.hopi-nsn.gov
Native Americans generally agree the Hopi Indians are the oldest inhabitants of North America. Hopi trace their history in Arizona back two millenniums. In 1540 the first Europeans arrived, and found the Hopi peaceful and very prosperous agriculturally. The Spanish brought horses, vegetables, and new fruits. Sadly, they also brought smallpox, which decreased the Hopi population. To fight against the oppression they faced, they joined the Rio Grande Pueblos in the Pueblo Rebellion of 1680 and drove the Spanish back into Mexico. After some land disputes with the Navajo Nation, the Hopi have dwelled on their land for decades and are holding onto their traditions and lasting culture.
Havasupai
928-448-2121 HavasupaiTourism
theofficialhavasupaitribe.com
PO Box 129, Supai, AZ
In the canyon of Havasu Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River, some 450 Havasupai Indians (the “people of the blue-green water”) live a secluded life. They’re mainly dependent on tourist trade and their modest agriculture. For over 1,000 years the Havasupai have lived in the Grand Canyon, practicing irrigated farming during the summer months and hunting on the plateaus during the winter. In this breathtaking valley, the Havasu creek has created several waterfalls and carved out basins in the travertine rock, which form attractive bathing pools. Tourism brings in more than 12,000 visitors a year.
In 1776, two young Spanish priests, Dominguez and Escalante, explored the area and nearly died in a harsh winter. Then came Major John Wesley Powell: soldier, scholar, scientist, and fearless explorer of Glen Canyon on the mighty Colorado River. He began the first of his two River expeditions in 1869. From the Green River in Wyoming to the lower Grand Canyon, Powell mapped, explored, and kept detailed journals of the 1,000-mile trip. The Lake was named after this intrepid leader, who lost one arm in the civil war and still climbed up cliffs to plot his river maneuvers and map the first geological surveys of the canyon.
Today Lake Powell attracts nearly 3 million
visitors annually to enjoy it’s sparkling water and breathtaking scenery. Recreation enthusiasts explore the secrets of Powell by houseboat, jet boat, personal watercraft or even diving. A 50-mile run from Wahweap will take you to Rainbow Bridge, a stone arch spanning 275 ft. and rising more than 290 ft. Other surprises await the patient explorer, including ancient Native American petroglyphs and ruins.
American Indian Nations
Navajo
928-810-8501 NavajoLandTourism
www.discovernavajo.com
PO Box 663, Window Rock, AZ
Centuries before Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas, Navajos were already settled in the Four Corners area of the Colorado Plateau. It isn’t known exactly when the Navajo people entered the southwest, but the Navajo traditionally teach that their people came into Colorado and New Mexico after traveling through several worlds underneath this one. Their skills in agriculture and livestock produced a thriving economy. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo brought conflict in 1848, and they ended up at Fort Sumner. In 1868 they were
AREA HISTORY
2019
Havasupai Falls