Grand Canyon hiking stop's "offensive" name changed to honor Native tribe that was forcibly removed
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Board of Geographic Names has voted to change the "offensive" name of a popular hiking stop in the Grand Canyon. The location, formerly called Indian Gardens, has been renamed to honor the Native tribe that was forcibly removed from the area nearly 100 years ago.
Havasupai Tribal members had passed a resolution earlier this year to formally request the change from the National Park Service. The spot, located along the Bright Angel Trail near Flagstaff, Arizona, will now be called Havasupai Gardens in connection to the Tribe, which has a reservation nearby.
NPS said in a press release that the gardens were originally called Ha'a Gyoh before the agency created policies that forced Tribal members off the land. The Tribe says it has had an established reservation since 1880. But in this particular area, members were forcibly removed, with the last Havasupai Tribal member being forced out in the late 1920s, the NPS said.
The Tribe has stayed close to that spot since, and today has a reservation just west of the Gardens and south of the Colorado River.
Havasupai means "people of the blue-green waters," according to NPS, a definition that is clearly visible to the thousands of visitors to the reservation every year. Their land is home to several waterfalls, including Little Navajo Falls, Fifty Foot Falls, Havasu Falls and more, each providing an oasis in the midst of canyon.
Currently, the reservation is closed to tourists.
Havasupai Chairman Thomas Siyuja, Sr. said in NPS' statement that the forced removal of the Tribe from its lands, as well as the government allocating the area the "offensive name" of Indian Garden, "has had detrimental and lasting impacts on the Havasupai families that lived there and their descendants."
"Every year, approximately 100,000 people visit the area while hiking the Bright Angel Trail, largely unaware of this history," Siyuja said. "The renaming of this sacred place to Havasupai Gardens will finally right that wrong."
The last Havasupai resident to be removed from the area was Captain Burro. According to Ophelia Watahomigie-Corliss, a Tribal member and former Council member, Burro would walk up and down the canyon walls to the Garden.
"This man and his family were pushed out of Indian Garden, forced to leave the land they had farmed for generations so the national park could make it theirs. Billy Burro's daily trail was turned into what is most of Bright Angel Trail today."
That man's descendants are still fighting to protect their Tribe's history and culture today, under the name of Tilousi.
"I am glad to see that we will always remember and honor the true history of my family's forced relocation due to the development of the Grand Canyon National Park," Carletta Tilousi said. "...I hope this historic action will help other Tribes take similar steps and reclaim lands back by changing place names for historic and cultural preservation purposes."
Siyuja said that Tribal members "have always called the vast Grand Canyon and the plateau lands south of it our homeland."
"The Creator made the Havasupai People the guardians of the Grand Canyon, and this is a role that we take very seriously," he said. "We are a small tribe. But our voices and our spirits are large."
NPS Superintendant Ed Keable said that the agency is "proud" to have worked alongside the tribe to rename the area.
"The Havasupai people have actively occupied this area since time immemorial, before the land's designation as a National Park and until the park forcibly removed them in 1926," Keable said. "This renaming is long overdue. It is a measure of respect for the undue hardship imposed by the park on the Havasupai people."
The Park Service is already making efforts to update area signage, as well as the website and other materials to reflect the new name. The agency and Tribe are also planning a formal rededication ceremony for next Spring.