Native Americans
Learning about the Hualapai and Havasupai tribes.
Guide Sections
Use Native Americans's guide sections to understand how this stop fits into the larger park plan.
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Learn About the Park
Humans have lived in and around the Grand Canyon for about 4,000 years, and several Native American tribes continue to inhabit the region today. Primitive figures made from twigs and found in canyon caves mark the passing of some of the earliest inhabitants. Ancient Pueblo Indians left more substantial reminders of their culture, including several ruins of adobe houses along the canyon rim and granaries carved into the canyon walls near Nankoweap Creek. The Hualapai tribe has lived near the south rim of the canyon since about 1300 A.D., and the Havasupai people still live on their ancestral lands inside the canyon, at the western village of Supai. The canyon plays a role in the creation stories of several southwestern tribes, including the Hopi, who believe that they originally came from the canyon and that the spirits of their ancestors still dwell within.