The Hualapai
6
The Background of the Hualapai
In the present day, the Grand Canyon is managed by two Native American tribes, the Havasupai Tribe, and the Hualapai Tribal Nation. Hualapai people, who are closely related to the Havasupai Indians, are living at the southern part of the Canyon. Their name means "People of the
Tall Pines", which is a re-
ference towards the pine
forests that can be found at
the southern Canyon re-
gions. The traditional
area under Hualapai autho-
rity was over five million
acres large. Sadly, this was
before a lengthy war that
was caused by the discove-
ry of gold in the area. This
made the Grand Canyon tri-
bes to forge an alliance
against the United States.
The Hualapai fought in this
alliance as well in order to
protect their lands from gold-hunters between 1866 and 1868, but after they suffered great losses from the United States, they had to sign a peace agreement in 1868.
The Present of the Hualapai
Ever since the establishment of the Hualapai American Indian Reservation in 1883, this five-million acre area has been reduced to a million acres. Since 1925, this area is rightfully in the posession of the Hualapai tribe.
The capitol of the Reservation is Peach Springs, which is positioned near the legendary Route 66 and has a population of six hundred. Interestingly, the town served as the source of "Radiator Springs", a fictional town depicted in the 2006 Pixar animation movie entitled Cars.
The U.S. Department of the Interior, through as Act of Congress (43 Stat. 954) on February 20, 1925 restated recognition of the fact that the Hualapai Tribe is the rightful legal owner of the entire Hualapai Reservation by right of occupancy.
The Legend
The Hualapai originate themselves from the Spirit Mountain. The Spirtit Mountain of Creation, or Wikame in Hualapai language, is a mountain with the height of 5,900 feet, located near where Bullhead City is in present day.
According to the legend, it was there where their people came into this world, formed by the clay and the sediment of Colorado River, to protect nature and the ancestral Hualapai Grounds, and they are successfully handling this noble responsibility since the last 1,400 years.
Ta'thamiche, a Hualapai