Renaming Indian Garden – Why the Havasupai Name Matters in the Grand Canyon
Scribbled by Claire ◊ 21 Aug 2024
The National Park Service renamed the Grand Canyon’s most famous campground – previously Indian Garden, to Havasupai Gardens. This step towards recognising the native American heritage in the area is an important one – but what does the name mean?
Indian Garden, five miles along the renowned Bright Angel Trail on the Grand Canyon South Rim, is one of the most well-known and frequented campgrounds in the national park. In 2019, it was announced that the area would be changing its name to Havasupai Gardens, an acknowledgement of the original Native American Havasupai inhabitants who were displaced early in the 20th century.
I have never visited the settlement of Supai, the current home of the Havasupai, although like many others I dream of exploring the perfect chalky aquamarine ribbon of Havasu Creek that runs alongside it. I have, however, camped at Indian Garden. Like many others, I knew very little about the problematic history associated with it.
The announcement of the name change was an important turning point in recognition of the original inhabitants of the canyon. I learnt a lot when researching it; the Grand Canyon has a different significance to me now. Even after my twelth and most recent visit to the park, I still saw only magnificent vistas; now I see the inhabitants too.
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Who are the Havasupai?
The Havasupai are a Native American tribe who have resided in the Grand Canyon (‘Wikatata’ in native Yuman language) for over 1000 years.
The ‘people of the blue green waters’, relating to the famously vivid streams of Havasu Creek, are indigenous to the area previously called Indian Garden, within the National Park. This region, considered sacred, was used for farming by the Havasupai due to the year-round flowing water and fertile ground. It was traditionally home to the tribe for large portions of the year, particularly throughout winter.
Historically, their seasonal journey as hunters and farmers was said to cover vast regions, as much as 1.6 million acres. This included the settlement of Supai, in the western Grand Canyon, where much of the 750-person tribe reside today. They remain the only community left living near the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
Why was Indian Garden Renamed to Havasupai Gardens?
The retitling of the campground and surrounding area has been a long time coming.
‘Indian Garden’, named in 1928 by the National Park Service, was previously called Ha’a Gyoh (meaning ‘the place where the cottonwood groves live’). This new name is a highly derogatory title and was subsequently changed in 2022 after an official request by the Havasupai tribe.
Some Grand Canyon History
In 1880, President Rutherford B. Hayes assigned a 38,000 acre plot of land to be the first Havasupai reservation, under pressure of miners searching for silver, effectively restricting movement of the tribe. Two years later, the reservation, centred around Cataract Canyon in the western region of the Grand Canyon, was then further reduced to 518 acres (just over 2 square miles) including very little arable land.
Around the same time, a railroad to Flagstaff (80 miles south of the rim) was built. Three years later a road had been constructed leading to the South Rim itself. This provided improved access to the canyon for the many prospectors and businessmen travelling west to find their fortunes. The introduction of men from the east had a permanent impact on the Havasupai way of life. Tourist camps were set up, and farmland and burial grounds were disturbed. In 1901, the Santa Fe Railway arrived in the South Rim, and with it, thousands of tourists.
Even before 1908, when a section of the Grand Canyon was designated a National Monument by President Theodore Roosevelt, it was decided that the Native Americans were to be removed. The Forest Reserve (effectively the forerunner of the Grand Canyon National Park Service) said that the Grand Canyon:
. . . should be preserved for the everlasting pleasure and instruction of our intelligent citizens as well as those of foreign countries. Henceforth, I deem it just and necessary to keep the wild and unappreciable Indian from off the Reserve
The Grand Canyon National Park, (mostly) as we know it now, was established in 1919. Despite promises of increased land for the Havasupai to use for grazing, access continued to be reduced and attitudes of the National Park authorities grew more hostile over the following decades. In more extreme cases, homes were even burnt down, and the tribe members rounded up and forcibly removed. The final Havasupai inhabitants of Indian Garden were evicted in 1928.
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More Recent Havasupai History
There were some victories for the Havasupai throughout the second half of the twentieth century, however, these successes were relative.
Financial compensation was provided (although substantially less than was appropriate) for the loss of their land. Despite this payment being an admission that the territory was seized illegally, the land was still not restored to them. They were also granted expanded access to land but with the limitation that it was used for ‘traditional use’ such as farming and grazing.
Currently, many of the Havasupai people still reside permanently in Supai, where their income is predominantly from tourism. They are still battling for the rights of their tribe.
Havasupai Recognition from the National Park Service
In 2019, the Grand Canyon National Park celebrated its one hundredth anniversary. Meanwhile, the Havasupai people have existed in the region for centuries, even millennia, more. They contributed to the early construction of much of the infrastructure still used in the park today, like the trails, the Kaibab suspension bridge, paths and sewage plants. They were forced off their land to make way for us.
During the National Park Service celebrations though, little was said about the tribe.
Lack of recognition of their significance in the region by the National Park Service (NPS) has continued to fuel the tension between the tribe and the park services. A Havasupai tribal councilwoman has suggested that:
◊ the Park Service could rename trails, places, and springs to indigenous names;
◊ there should be more signage and exhibitions explaining the history of the people of the canyon;
◊ staff should receive sensitivity training and education.
The renaming of Indian Garden to Havasupai is just one small step in the right direction.
Current Mining Threats to the Havasupai
The Havasupai are also fighting uranium mining that jeopardises water sources of Supai and, fundamentally, their entire existence in the region. Canyon mine (renamed Pinyon Plain Mine in 2020), is a uranium mine less than 10 miles from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Currently, efforts in congress to close this mine have failed, however there is a more widespread bill called the Grand Canyon Protection Act. This seeks to ban all uranium mining throughout a million acres of federal land around the canyon but has yet to pass through congress.
To support the Havasupai and other advocates of the Grand Canyon, visit the Grand Canyon Trust to find out more. Contact your senators and express your support for the protection of one of the natural wonders of the world, and the people who reside within it.
HOW TO VISIT THE HAVASUPAI PEOPLE
When I first wrote this post, in 2022, the Havasupai reservation had been closed due to covid for several years. Currently, in 2025, visiting the region is possible again via a permit system.
You can book a permit to visit through the website. This can be very competitive and there are far fewer lodge and campsites than requests, so book on the day the reservations become available (1st February). Set up an account online beforehand.
The official season runs between February and November – February-March is colder, and the summer months are sometimes dangerously warm and prone to flooding. Go prepared for extreme weather in either case. Trails to Supai are closed when the temperatures exceed 115 F (46 C).
The campground reservations are for three nights, even if you want more or less, this is what your booking will allow. There is also a lodge available for reservation if you are not into camping.
There is no car access to Supai. A parking lot at the Hualapai Hilltop is eight miles away, meaning that access is by foot, mule, or helicopter only. It is a moderately difficult hike, with a large elevation change of 1800 feet over the first few miles.
No alcohol or drones are allowed on the reservation.
Check out the official website of the Havasupai for information, reservations and how to create an account.
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Final Thoughts – Havasupai Gardens
The renaming from Indian Garden to Havasupai Gardens highlighted how little I knew about the history and plight of Native Americans in the Grand Canyon. Although I am not American, I feel that as a visitor, it is appropriate to know more about their story, no matter my origin.
I am white and British; I should know better than to visit a place without a thorough understanding of the hardships people have faced in the past for me to enjoy it today. I hope to visit Supai when the pandemic subsides; maybe I can gain an in-person perspective and update this post with my experiences.
It is effortless to just gaze at the incredible vistas and overlook the uncomfortable past that is concealed within the canyon. When you visit, ask the rangers about the Havasupai people; show them you have an interest in the history of the canyon beyond the geology.
I hope that the name change brings much recognition to the indigenous people of the Grand Canyon and it increases visitor awareness. It did for me.
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