About 12 miles south of Grand Canyon National Park, Red Butte rises 1,000 feet above the surrounding forest. This hulk of rock, known as "Wii’i Gdwiisa" to the Havasupai people, forms a rounded silhouette against the dawn sky. In the early morning hours, the horizon burns bright yellow and the first rays splash across the sagebrush sea below the lone peak. Light steadily marches up the slopes of Red Butte, and soon the entire forest glows under the hot sun.
"We’ve existed here since the birth of the world," says Dianna Sue White Dove Uqualla, a Havasupai Tribal Council member. "Our elders said when the sun comes up, when the sun touches all the land, that is your land."
Havasupai Tribal Council Member Dianna Sue White Dove Uqualla at Red Butte. RAYMOND CHEE
Red Butte, the birthplace of the Havasupai people, is one of countless cultural sites on the north and south rims of the Grand Canyon. Since time immemorial, the mile-deep canyon and the high plateaus above it have been a source of life and livelihood for Native peoples. The Indigenous ancestors of tribes today hunted woolly mammoths here at the end of the last ice age. They grew corn, beans, and squash along the Colorado River and its tributaries. They built homes, raised families, and gathered wild plants.
These histories are written across the landscape — etched in stone, painted on ceramics, chiseled into projectile points, mortared into buildings. But they also live in the stories, songs, histories, and ceremonies of modern tribes today.
The Havasupai Tribe, Hopi Tribe, Hualapai Tribe, Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, Las Vegas Tribe of Paiutes, Moapa Band of Paiute Indians, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Shivwits Band of Paiutes, Navajo Nation, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, Yavapai-Apache Nation, Zuni Tribe, and the Colorado River Indian Tribes all maintain strong historical, cultural, and spiritual connections to the Grand Canyon region.
Chairwoman of the Shivwits Band of Paiutes Hope Silvas addresses federal officials during a public meeting on the intertribal monument proposal, held in Flagstaff, Arizona on July 18, 2023. JOHN BURCHAM
As the canyon’s original stewards, these tribes called on President Biden to permanently protect their ancestral homelands outside Grand Canyon National Park as a new national monument. And Biden listened. In August, at the base of Red Butte alongside Native leaders and local and state politicians, President Biden signed a proclamation establishing Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
"Ai’uck (Thank You) President Biden, Secretary Haaland and Secretary Vilsack…for hearing our voices on the importance of protecting and preserving our ancestral homelands and for supporting our tribal efforts to designate the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni as a national monument," says Hope Silvas, chairwoman of the Shivwits Band of Paiutes.
Southwest tribes have been working to secure federal protections for their sacred lands and waters that lie outside reservation boundaries for decades. This spring, with a historic proposal in hand, the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition urged the president to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, which spans traditional hunting and gathering grounds, migration routes, and other culturally important sites around the Grand Canyon.
"The creator gave us a gift, and that gift is in the form of the Grand Canyon," says Timothy Nuvangyaoma, chair of the Hopi Tribe. "That gift is not only to the tribal nations that have that intimate connection with it, but it’s a gift to the state of Arizona, it’s a gift to the United States, it’s a gift to the entire world."
Baaj Nwaavjo means "where Indigenous peoples roam" in Havasupai. I’tah Kukveni means "our ancestral footprints" in Hopi. Together, the name represents a unison of tribes that find the Grand Canyon sacred.
"We felt it was important to include tribal names, because of the connection we have to this region," says Carletta Tilousi, coordinator of the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition and Havasupai tribal member.
Chairman of the Hopi Tribe Timothy Nuvangyaoma addresses federal officials during a public meeting on the intertribal monument proposal, held in Flagstaff, Arizona on July 18, 2023. JOHN BURCHAM
Divided into three units, Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni protects nearly 1 million acres of forests and grasslands above the Grand Canyon that have sustained Native people for countless generations. It also protects critical water supplies, animal habitat, rare species, scenic vistas, natural quiet, and dark skies.
"The Grand Canyon region has always provided strength and refuge to the Navajo people. We continue to collect plants, herbs, water, minerals, salt, and other resources in the greater Grand Canyon region, to continue our cultural lifeways and to worship in our traditional ways," says Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren.
The United States took over these ancestral lands in the 1800s, displacing Native peoples. The monument footprint includes only federal public lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service. No state, tribal reservation, or private lands are included in the monument, and the designation does not change land ownership, public access, grazing permits, water rights, or existing rights-of-way. It does prevent new mining claims from being staked and most, if not all, existing mining claims from being developed.
President Biden signs the proclamation establishing Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in a ceremony at Red Butte on August 8, 2023 while Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, Congressman Raúl Grijalva, D-AZ, Colorado River Indian Tribes Chairwoman Amelia Flores, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren, Hopi Tribe Chairman Timothy Nuvangyaoma, and other tribal leaders look on. Biden was introduced by Havasupai and Hopi youth leader Maya Tilousi-Lyttle (standing immediately behind the president). JIM ENOTE
"That very act of preserving the Grand Canyon as a national park was used to deny Indigenous people full access to their homelands," says President Biden in his dedication remarks, adding that the designation of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni helps "right the wrongs of the past and conserve this land of ancestral footprints for all future generations."
Looking ahead, Biden’s proclamation of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni lays the foundation for collaborative stewardship of the monument’s lands and waters, with a directive for federal agencies to work with tribes to incorporate traditional Indigenous knowledge in the management of the monument.
"Through the designation of the Grand Canyon as a national monument, we continue in [our] ancestor’s footsteps of stewardship responsibilities of this important area, from protecting the lowliest of insects to the humans that rely on the life-giving waters," says the Zuni Tribe in a statement.
Pronghorn on monument lands. RICH RUDOW
The south parcel of the monument, with Red Butte at its physical and spiritual center, encompasses sprawling forests that are stocked with traditional foods and medicines. Birds flit between pinyon trees; deer bound through tall grasses; rabbits hide in the sagebrush.
Given the stores of resources here, it’s no surprise that trade routes and seasonal camps crisscross this landscape. The Havasupai migrated up to these forested lands in the winter. They camped, hunted game, and gathered pinyon nuts ("ko’o" in Havasupai), edible roots, and medicines.
Uqualla, a traditional practitioner, says sage treats respiratory problems and sap mixed with ochre heals wounds.
"This is all-powerful land of medicine," she says. "And not just for the Havasupai people. Other tribes came and took medicine too. We shared this place."
The Hopi gathered pinyon nuts, herbs, and other foods. They would stop at Red Butte, or "Qawinpi," while traveling a trade route between the Hopi and Havasupai communities.
Still today, the Hopi Greasewood Clan regards the region between Red Butte and Wupatki as ancestral clan lands.
The Navajo call Red Butte "Tsé zhin Ii’ahi." They have gathering sites, trails, and ceremonial sites across the South Rim. The Zuni make pilgrimages to Red Butte to leave offerings and collect plants.
Today, these tribes continue to collect medicines, hunt wild game, and gather foods on the canyon rims.
Whispering Falls, in a side canyon off Kanab Creek in Grand Canyon National Park. Groundwater beneath Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument feeds many springs and creeks in the Grand Canyon. PETER HATHAWAY
Over in the west parcel of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, deep human history traces the contours of cliffs and canyons, leading to petroglyphs, ceremonial sites, and springs. You might know this area as the Arizona Strip, but the Southern Paiute tribes call it "Yanawant," a term for their traditional territories.
"The Grand Canyon is the traditional homelands of the Southern Paiute people. It’s a place our people harvested food, fished, and conducted ceremonies. And they still do today,"says Silvas. "So you see why it’s important for us to protect and preserve this area, as it is our history, our people. It is us."
Kanab Creek, called "Kanare’uipi" or "Kanav’uipi" (Willow Canyon) in Paiute, is the largest tributary on the north side of the Grand Canyon. Its vital waters feed the Colorado River and Southern Paiute cultures. For thousands of years, Native farmers planted crops along Kanab Creek, developing complex irrigation systems. They hunted animals on the high plateaus and gathered plants and minerals. Goods and materials flowed easily along Kanab Creek as a north-south trade route that connected the North Rim to the Colorado River.
Corrina Bow, chair of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, addresses federal officials during the public meeting in Flagstaff, Arizona on July 18, 2023. JOHN BURCHAM
In the late 1800s, when gold miners, homesteaders, and white settlers flocked to the Arizona Strip, the Kaibab Paiute sought shelter and refuge in Kanab Creek Canyon. In its safety, they held a world-rebalancing ceremony called the Ghost Dance, which was an Indigenous spiritual movement to restore life to its aboriginal conditions and shift power back to Native peoples.
The entire west parcel of Baaj Nwaajo I’tah Kukveni holds cultural, spiritual, and religious significance to tribes today.
"[My grandpa] told me stories about the sacred ceremonies that took place there and the ones who had lived there...if you were lost, confused, this is where you would go, to pray, to meditate, to sing, to talk to the land," says Corrina Bow, chair of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah. "I want to believe that you hear and listen to the voices of your Indigenous people and you will help preserve and protect the lands that need to be protected."
House Rock Valley makes up the east parcel of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni. Wedged between the Kaibab Plateau to the west, the Grand Canyon to the east, and the Vermilion Cliffs to the north, this flat grassland has supported plants, animals, and people for millennia.
"Navajos have crossed the Colorado River for countless generations to access resources north of the canyon…There are sacred places throughout the region, where our ancestors walked and lived, often guided by the Holy People," says Nygren.
At first glance, these parched lands seem harsh and unforgiving. But look a little closer, and you’ll see rare pockets of water and abundant plants and animals. Springs emerge from the base of cliffs, offering rabbits, coyotes, bighorn sheep, and many critters a drink. Ancestral Puebloans built check dams to catch runoff from the Kaibab Plateau. You can see their structures and buildings throughout the valley.
The Southern Paiute call this place "Aesak," which means "basket-shaped." In the spring, globemallow paints the valley orange. A traditional tea made of the plant soothes sore bones. And when the rabbitbrush blooms in the fall, it’s time to harvest pinyon nuts. These buttery morsels have been a staple food for Native peoples in the Grand Canyon region for thousands of years.
The San Juan Southern Paiute hunted pronghorn and deer here, gathered Indian ricegrass seeds, and collected medicines and other resources.
"The land of the Grand Canyon region is hailed as a special traditional, spiritual, and cultural place for our Paiute people. Our people have utilized these lands and continue to do so for our cultural and religious practices," says Candelora Lehi, vice president of the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe. "We are here today as caretakers to these lands, the watershed, and the rivers."
The three units of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni are puzzle pieces that fill in missing protections in the greater Grand Canyon region. They bump up against Grand Canyon National Park and Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, and share borders with the Havasupai, Navajo, and Kaibab Paiute reservations.
The designation of this tribally proposed monument essentially creates a buffer around the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon, linking 16 other national parks, monuments, and recreation areas across California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.
This vast swath of protected land across the Southwest, with the Grand Canyon at its heart, will help guide wildlife migrations, preserve sensitive habitats, and protect precious water resources in a region that’s famously dry and already facing a stressed future under the weight of climate change.
Plants and animals have evolved to thrive here, like the endangered Brady pincushion cactus that retracts into the soil during times of drought and grows only as large as a golf ball, and the House Rock Valley chisel-toothed kangaroo rat that survives without drinking water. Instead, the hopping rats use razor-sharp teeth to strip moisture off desert shrub leaves. They bathe in sand and are found nowhere else on the planet.
An endangered California condor in what is now Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. ANDREW ORR
California condors, endangered birds with 9.5-foot wingspans, soar throughout the monument. Mule deer nibble their way between summer and winter pastures. Bighorn sheep scramble up steep cliffs. Life, in all shapes, sizes, and colors, abounds.
And what does all life need? Water. You don’t see much of it in the monument, except for Kanab Creek and desert springs that bubble to the surface. All other canyons and washes in the monument are dry, until snowmelt and monsoon storms send muddy torrents coursing downstream. All of the monument lands drain into the Colorado River, which provides water to 40 million people and 5.5 million acres of agriculture.
An interconnected system of caves and sinkholes underlies the monument. The cave pictured here is one of the longest known to exist in the Grand Canyon region. Delicate curtain-like structures called draperies form over vast periods of time as water runs down the ceiling and deposits trace particles of calcite. STEPHEN EGINOIRE
Below Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, water flows through a limestone maze of tubes, sinkholes, and caverns. This subterranean plumbing system collects snowmelt and rain that falls across the Grand Canyon region.
The exact movement of water below the rim is still a mystery, but water pools in large aquifers thousands of feet below the monument. This deep groundwater feeds springs and creeks in the Grand Canyon, including Thunder River, Bright Angel Creek, and Vasey’s Paradise, plus hundreds of unnamed drips, seeps, and hanging gardens. At these desert oases, canyon tree frogs sing and monkey flowers cling to mossy walls. Springs support more than 500 times the species compared to surrounding arid lands.
Tribes and local communities rely on these groundwater resources too. The Havasupai and Hualapai tribes; the town of Tusayan; and Grand Canyon National Park all rely solely on the stores of groundwater beneath the monument.
Amelia Flores, chairwoman of the Colorado River Indian Tribes, addresses federal officials during the public meeting in Flagstafff, Arizona on July 18, 2023. JOHN BURCHAM.
"For millennia, the waters that flow through the Grand Canyon have carried to us the rocks, gravel, sands, and soil that form our homeland. Spring floods carved and then spread the fertile material of the Grand Canyon across the valleys on which we build our homes, raise our children, and grow our food," says Amelia Flores, chairwoman of the Colorado River Indian Tribes.
As the climate warms, and we experience some of the driest conditions in 1,200 years, Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni will help keep the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River — and the people, wildlife, and lands that rely on them — healthy for generations to come.
Groundwater isn’t the only resource below the rim of the Grand Canyon. Uranium deposits sit deep within the canyon’s sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone rock layers in geologic features called breccia pipes. For decades, mining companies have looked to the Grand Canyon region, and specifically the lands within Baaj Nwaajo I’tah Kukveni, to make a profit.
And for decades, tribes have said: No uranium mining.
"The benefit to a few does not, in our view, outweigh the risks," says Flores.
"We know from firsthand experience the damage that can be caused by uranium mines, contaminating our water and poisoning our animals and our children," says Nygren.
Uranium mining’s toxic legacy has left hundreds of abandoned uranium mines scattered across the Navajo Nation. Since the Cold War era, at least eight uranium mines have operated in or near Grand Canyon National Park, including the active Canyon Mine (now renamed Pinyon Plain Mine) that is a few miles from Red Butte in the south parcel of the monument.
Tribes, local governments, hunters, anglers, conservation groups, and many others successfully campaigned for a 20-year mining ban around the Grand Canyon in 2012.
Mooney Falls, on the Havasupai Reservation, fed by Havasu Creek, whose blue-green waters come from the Redwall-Muav Aquifer below the monument. ED MOSS
"The threat of contaminating our water is real and current…once our water is contaminated, there is no way of restoring it," says Edmund Tilousi, vice chairman of the Havasupai Tribe.
The Havasupai have actively opposed Canyon Mine since learning of plans to mine uranium near Red Butte in the 1980s. They are worried the mine could contaminate the groundwater that feeds springs in their village.
While the designation of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni doesn’t eliminate the threat of uranium mining near the Grand Canyon completely, it does provide a layer of much-needed protection. The 20-year mining ban is now permanent. Mines with valid existing rights, including Canyon Mine, are exempted and will be allowed to operate. But most of the nearly 600 mining claims in the monument footprint are unlikely to move forward. And the best news of all: no new mining claims can be staked.
"We all came together because of the water," says Carletta Tilousi. The monument designation, she adds, means that "people can enjoy camping without having a uranium mine nearby. People can go hiking and not be in fear of the water being contaminated."
Public support for the monument has echoed throughout the Grand Canyon state, to Washington D.C. and beyond. Arizona’s governor, both senators, state representatives, county and city governments, local businesses, hunting and angling groups, and faith leaders all solidly support the national monument.
"Arizona is known as 'The Grand Canyon State,'" says Governor Katie Hobbs in a letter to President Biden, "and I can think of no better use of the Antiquities Act than to protect our state’s namesake treasure."
Baaj Nwaavjo I'Tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument lands offer important habitat for wildlife and are visited by hunters and recreationists, including campers, hikers, and mountain bikers. AMY S. MARTIN
Arizona voters agree. Opinion polling consistently shows overwhelming bipartisan support for a Grand Canyon monument, this year by a more than six-to-one margin. Coconino County, the city of Flagstaff, and the town of Payson unanimously passed resolutions in support of the monument.
For neighboring communities and the state, the monument makes economic sense. The Grand Canyon and surrounding public lands draw millions of annual visitors to northern Arizona who stay at hotels, eat at restaurants, and shop at local stores.
"A national monument extends our outdoor recreation focus and further enhances the tourism economy we have here in Coconino County," says Patrice Horstman, chair of the Coconino County Board of Supervisors.
With hundreds of miles of lonely dirt roads, the monument offers visitors a chance to unplug and enjoy the rugged beauty of the north and south rims of the Grand Canyon. Forty miles of the 800-mile Arizona Trail pass through the southern parcel of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, offering hikers and bikers glimpses of the Grand Canyon, elk, and other forest animals. Sunsets and sunrises in House Rock Valley are some of the best around, and those who venture to the remote west parcel are rewarded with quiet campsites and expansive views.
A section of the Arizona Trail popular with mountain bikers passes through the south parcel of the monument. AMY S. MARTIN
For hunters and anglers, the monument offers key protections for wildlife habitat.
"The greater Grand Canyon area is wildlife sportsmens’ paradise…the hunting and fishing opportunities are exactly what we’d like to take care of and pass on to future generations," says Michael Cravens of the Arizona Wildlife Federation.
President Biden and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland have emphasized that conservation only works when it’s locally led and collaborative. The tribes’ leadership plus the public's overwhelming support for the monument not only embody these values, but also show unwavering commitment to protect the Grand Canyon and its cultural resources, lands, and waters for generations to come.
Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni is the third national monument created at the request of tribes to conserve Indigenous history, following President Biden’s designation of Avi Kwa Ame in Nevada earlier this year and President Obama’s designation of Bears Ears in Utah in 2016.
"Although there is still more work to do, we will sleep easier tonight knowing that our water, sacred sites, and plant medicines are more protected," says Thomas Siyuja Sr., chairman of the Havasupai Tribe, "and that our ancestors’ tears are finally tears of happiness."
Amber Reimondo directs the Grand Canyon Trust’s Energy Program.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The views expressed by Advocate contributors are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Grand Canyon Trust.
Also in this issue:
Native peoples' connections to Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni are rooted in the lifeways of their ancestors. Learn about these ancestral ties ›
