Description
The Havasupai people are an Native American people and tribe who have lived in the Grand Canyon for at least the past 800 years. Havasu means "blue-green water" and pai "people". Located primarily in an area known as Havasu Canyon, this Yuman-speaking population once laid claim to an area the size of Delaware. In 1882, however, the United States federal government forced the tribe to abandon all but 518 acres of its land. A silver rush and the Santa Fe Railroad in effect destroyed the fertile land. Ethnically, the Havasupai and the Hualapai are one people, although today, they are politically separate groups as the result of U.S. government policy. The Hualapai (Pa'a or Pai) had three subtribes: the Plateau People, Middle Mountain People and Yavapai Fighter.
Language
Havasupai is a dialect of the Upland Yuman language spoken by about 450 people on the Havasupai Indian Reservation in and around the Grand Canyon.
Culture
Prior to modern times agriculture was the essential means of progress and survival for the Havasupai. While in the winter the tribe members stationed themselves on the plateau of the canyon, in the summer irrigation gardening of the crop fields brought the members back inside the canyon walls. The bow and arrow were of primary importance to a Havasupai hunter. Built from an unidentifiable tree, an entire process of crafting, bending, and designing went into the construction of these hunting tools.Throughout the years, sheep and deer were the dominant game for the Havasupai, but small game including rabbits and squirrels were also used as food. The gathering of wild plants and seeds was typically done by Havasupai women. Walnuts, wild candytuft, and barrel cacti were only a few of the many plants and seeds gathered by the women throughout the spring and summer months. A seven-member tribal council, which handles most policy matters, is elected once every two years. It is led by a chairman who is elected from among the members of the council.