Blooming pink cactus with pink cliffs in the background in the east section of Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni national monument
Amy S. Martin

Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Grand Canyon National Monument

Expanding protection for tribes’ ancestral homelands around the Grand Canyon

Tribes unite to protect their ancestral homelands around Grand Canyon National Park

Thanks to tribes’ advocacy and leadership, Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument fills in missing protections in the Grand Canyon region. 

The national monument protects forests and grasslands above the Grand Canyon that have sustained Native peoples for countless generations. It also protects critical water supplies, animal habitat, rare species, scenic vistas, natural quiet, and dark skies.

Pictographs of human-appearing figures on orangish red rock in Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni National Monument
Blake McCord

About the national monument What does Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni protect? 

The Grand Canyon and the plateaus above it have given life to Native peoples since time immemorial. 

Ancestral footprints in the form of petroglyphs, pictographs, rock structures, and more follow the ridges, canyons, and creeks of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni.

The monument also protects tribes’ ceremonial lands, springs, hunting grounds, trading and migration routes, and other places that figure prominently in Indigenous histories.

“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.”

Hope Silvas

Shivwits Band of Paiutes

Natural resources protected

Majestic bighorn ram against a blue sky
Ed Moss

Plants and animals

Rare plants and animals like the endangered California condor and the Brady pincushion cactus call the monument home.

Two women in camping chairs sitting at the edge of marble canyon in Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni National Monument
Amy S. Martin

Geology

Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni spans a textured landscape of faults, folds, cliffs, canyons, and other interesting geologic features.

A Grand Canyon spring with green plants overhanging water
M. Jenkins, National Park Service

Water

Monument lands drain into the Colorado River, which provides water to 40 million people and 5.5 million acres of farms.

Learn how to pronounce the monument’s name

What does Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni mean?

Baaj Nwaavjo means “where Indigenous peoples roam” in Havasupai.

I’tah Kukveni means “our ancestral footprints” in Hopi.

Everyone loves the Grand Canyon

The poll results are in and the message is clear: Arizonans love national parks and monuments

See the December 2024 poll results

Arizona voters see national parks and monuments as essential
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Do you love the Grand Canyon too?

Help us show Arizona’s elected officials, the president, and the federal government that people around the world support the Grand Canyon national monument.

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“The Creator gave us a gift. And that gift is in the form of the Grand Canyon. 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.”

Tim Nuvangyaoma

Hopi Tribe

13 tribes lead Grand Canyon national monument protection efforts

The Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition leads protection efforts in Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni. Its 13 tribes include: 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 today.

Learn more about Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni

A cactus on a stone outcropping overlooking the Colorado River in Marble Canyon
Amy S. Martin

A timeline of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni

April 2023
Tribes propose Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument

The Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition calls on President Biden to permanently protect about 1 million acres of their homelands near the Grand Canyon by designating a new national monument.

Aug 8, 2023
President Biden designates Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument

The designation of Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni national monument marks the third successful Native-American-driven campaign for a national monument. 

The proclamation also lays the foundation for collaborative stewardship, with a tribes working alongside federal agencies to manage the new monument.

Read Biden's proclamation

Your monument questions, answered

All the lands within the monument boundary are federal public lands. No state, tribal, or private lands are included in the monument.

The monument designation prevents new mining claims from being staked. Mines with valid existing rights, including Canyon Mine (renamed Pinyon Plain Mine), may move ahead inside the monument.

Native peoples have hunted in what is now Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni since time immemorial, and hunters from around the state and across the country travel here to pursue elk and track epic migrations of mule deer across the landscape.

The monument respects and preserves these traditions.

Livestock grazing on federal public lands that are now protected as part of the monument continues, and the same rules that applied before the monument apply now. 

Read more on the blog

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