Century-old photographs show the Havasupai, a Native American tribe that has lived in the Grand Canyon region for more than a thousand years.
Two Havasupai women in front of a native dwelling, Havasu Canyon, ca.1899 | James, George Wharton/ University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society A series of century-old photographs documents the Havasupai, a Native American tribe that has lived in the Grand Canyon region for more than a thousand years.
The Havasupai are one of 11 Native American tribes traditionally connected to the Grand Canyon and are the only tribe that still lives below the canyon’s rim today. For at least a millennium, the tribe has lived primarily in Havasu Canyon, a remote area within the wider Grand Canyon region in what is now the U.S. state of Arizona. Two Havasupai women with “Kathaks” on their backs, ca.1900 | Charles C. Pierce /University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society Havasupai boy with his father, Vesna, eating lunch during a walking trip, ca.1899 | James, George Wharton/ University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society Havasupai mother, Pana Mahita, carrying her little boy on her back, ca.1900 | Charles C. Pierce /University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society The name “Havasupai” translates to “people of the blue-green water,” referring to Havasu Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River known for its distinctive blue-green color. The creek runs through Havasu Canyon and has long been central to the tribe’s way of life. The Havasupai lived in the canyon long before the arrival of European settlers and before the area became part of a United States national park. Historically, the tribe occupied a much larger territory that included large sections of the Grand Canyon and the surrounding plateau lands. Havasupai man on horseback, with two pack-horses, standing beneath a cliff overhang, ca.1899 | James, George Wharton/ University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society Group of nine Havasupai girls playing “Hue-ta-queech-e-ka,” ca.1898 | James, George Wharton/ University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society Havasupai man, Vesna, a tribal leader, ca.1899 | James, George Wharton/ University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society The community traditionally followed a seasonal pattern of living. Families moved between the canyon floor and the higher plateaus at different times of the year. Agriculture, hunting, and gathering were central to survival in the desert environment. During the late 19th century, increasing settlement and the expansion of the U.S. government dramatically reduced the land controlled by the tribe. Their territory was eventually limited to just 518 acres within the canyon, a major loss that disrupted their traditional way of life. The Havasupai Uta’s daughter, Tis-wi-a-yar-i, making “piki” , ca.1899 | James, George Wharton/ University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society Havasupai men gambling, ca.1900 | James, George Wharton/ University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society Young Havasupai girl, Waluthama’s daughter, carrying an “Olla” or water jug, ca.1899 | James, George Wharton/ University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society Portrait of a Havasupai hunter, Chickapanagie, with two slain deer in the forest on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, ca.1900 | Charles C. Pierce /University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society When Grand Canyon National Park was officially established in 1919, the Havasupai lost further access to their ancestral lands. Throughout the 20th century, the tribe pursued legal and political efforts to regain some of this territory. After decades of advocacy, the United States Congress passed legislation in 1975 that restored about 185,000 acres to the Havasupai. The restoration is considered one of the most significant land returns to a Native American community in the United States. Two Havasupai women basket makers, ca.1900 | James, George Wharton/ University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society Havasupai pictographs on the rocks in Havasu Canyon on the Topocolya Trail, Grand Canyon, ca.1900 | James, George Wharton/ University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society Two Havasupai children, the daughters of Chickapanagie’s, enjoy a melon, ca.1900 | Charles C. Pierce /University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society Old Havasupai man crouching on the ground, smoking a cigarette, ca.1900 | Charles C. Pierce /University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society Several of the images of the Havasupai in the early 1900s were taken by an English-born photographer and writer named George Wharton James. Around the turn of the 20th century, while the Havasupai were dealing with these changes to their land and way of life, James began documenting the American Southwest. He initially worked as a Methodist minister in Nevada and southern California. But in 1889, his career collapsed following accusations made during a difficult divorce and a church trial involving allegations of misconduct and fraud. After resigning from the ministry and losing his position within the church, James left California. He then traveled through the landscapes of Arizona and New Mexico, exploring canyons, deserts, and forests that were still largely unfamiliar to many white Americans at the time. His journeys focused on remote environments and life outside established settlements. Lands farmed by the Havasupai in Havasu Canyon, Grand Canyon, ca.1899 | James, George Wharton/ University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society Havasupai women making baskets in front of a dwelling in Havasu or Cataract Canyon, ca.1900 | James, George Wharton/ University of Southern California – Libraries/California Historical Society During these travels in the 1890s and early 1900s, James began carrying a camera and photographic equipment with him. He photographed landscapes, settlements, and the people he encountered, while also recording details of his travels in journals and books. Many of the photographs he produced during this period document the Havasupai and their homeland in and around the Grand Canyon. At the turn of the 20th century, James compiled an album of images that includes portraits of Havasupai individuals as well as scenes from life in the canyon. The photographs show a range of subjects, including tribal leaders, women weaving baskets, and children living within the community.in several of James’ photographs, the subjects look directly toward the lens and appear to have been posed. Other images seem more informal and capture everyday moments. The photographs are also taken at relatively close range, which indicates that the photographer was working at a short distance from the people he documented. James’ photographs provide a rare visual record of the Havasupai at the beginning of the 20th century, documenting both the community itself and the landscape that has been its home for generations.
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