-All photos by Ravell Call
SUPAI in the Grand Canyon is a unique place of both beauty and serenity. Indeed, it has been called the Eden of Arizona, a Shangri La.
Located west of Grand Canyon Village and about 90 miles northwest of Flagstaff, Ariz., this Native American Village has only three ways of access -- by foot or horseback, or helicopter. The hiking or horse trail at Hill Top is located 68 miles off of the historic Route 66 highway. Then, it is eight miles of trail to the village of Supai. No day trips are permitted there -- visitors must camp in the campgrounds or stay at the lodge and pay all required entrance fees.
One of the first newspaper mentions of Supai, or the Havaupai people was in the Weekly Journal-Miner of Prescott, Ariz., on Aug. 27, 1890 when a California man wandering the area stumbled across the tribe.
His newspaper account is:
"The chief of the strange tribe in the Grand Canyon is an old man of 60 years named Captain Tom, a name given him by *John D. Lee, the Mormon who escaped from Utah and for six years lived in hiding with the red men," the newspaper stated. "He was the first white man the Yavi-Supais had ever seen and he taught the chief the whiteman's language
"I found these Indians in a starving condition, living on cedar berries and grass seeds."
The man then proceeded to get government aid for the natives.
Others too knew of Supai. There were mines in the area and a miner named Mooney had lost his life in the canyon below the village when his rope broke above a cliff. (Today, one of the waterfalls is named in his honor.)
"Havasu Falls" is also not the original name of the largest water drop below the village of Supai. According to the Weekly Journal-Miner of Sept. 12, 1894, "Bridal Veil Falls" was its original title.
The story also mentions Mooney Falls and states, "A view of these alone is worth the trip there, as they are magnificently grand."
One of the first affects of the white men to this isolated village centered on the dead. The tribe had always traditionally burned the bodies of the deceased, as well as all of their belongings. The white man taught them to bury their dead and then make use of their possessions.
Two of the deadliest of enemies to the Supai Village were severe weather, particularly floods and disease.
"Supai Villege destroyed" was a Jan. 7, 1910 headline in the Conconino Sun newspaper out of Flagstaff. "Not a house was left standing. One of two Indians are missing. There was a twenty foot breast of water that came down in a flood," the paper reported.
Another big flood hit Supai in September of 1952. Then, one struck in August 2008, that totally reshaped the main Havasu waterfall. Then, floods came again in July of 2018 and December of 2019.
(There were likely other floods too, as the narrow canyon is very prone to them.)
-Jump back to 1941 and "Measles killing Indians" was a United Press story of Sept. 10, stating that two natives had died and 35 others were ill from the disease.
Medical care was a key issue in the village at that time. "Indian boy dies despite physician's efforts" was a Sept. 17, 1941 headline in the Salt Lake Telegram. The boy's mother had "defied tribal medicine men" to put him under the care of a doctor.
Jumping back to the mid-1920s, the Morning Sun newspaper of Yuma, Arizona published the account of "Arizona Charlie" Meadow's visit to Supai in its Sept. 4, 1923 edition.
Meadows reported there were some 250 members of Supai at the time. However, they knew little of their history and that nothing beyond the last half century was known to them. The tribe claimed to have been prosperous decades earlier in cattle and sheep, but they were robbed by other tribes of Indians. They grew corn, watermelon and peaches now.
"But very few of their number have ever been out of this place, and know of no country, no land, and no home except the valley of this narrow canyon."
The winter of 1933 was brutal for the village of Supai. "Rangers carry food to the Havasupai Indians" was a Feb. 3, 1933 headline in the Williams News of Williams, Ariz. Some 200 Indians were reported to almost be near starvation because of heavy snowfall. The Grand Canyon Park rangers led a rescue crew carrying food as they broke through six-foot-high drifts of snow.
By 1932, another newspaper said the tribe was fast becoming extinct.
The Williams News of May 17, 1935 reported that 31 college students from Flagstaff visited Supai and camped in the area just before Mooney Falls (today's campground area). This story described the Indian tribe as "rapidly diminishing." The students began their hike down from the "Hill Top," a same-named location today.
The Provo, Utah Daily Herald of May 12, 1940 carried the headline, "Herd of 'Dwarf Horses' discovered in isolated Grand Canyon valley." Les Clayon, a veteran Arizona cattleman, confirmed the existence of some 50 horses just 30 inches tall and weighing only 20 to 90 pounds. Clayton and his men had to use ropes to lower themselves into a small canyon where the horses were a box-like valley.
Clayton said the Indian legend for the horses was that centuries ago the chief of the Supai tribe hid horses there to prevent them from being stolen by plundering Navajo Indians. Then, the animals were never able to get out and apparently the Havasupai Tribe forgot about them.
Clayton theorized that inbreeding and a lack of food led to their small nature of the animals.
(No later mention could be found of the dwarf horses.)
After World War II, Supai had its first church and even a post office. Eventually, the tribe was able to reclaim land in the surrounding area that it held before being forced into reservation status in its small canyon in the 1880s.
A big milestone came too in 1954.
"Tribe finally hangs out welcome mat" was an Intermountain News Network story carried in the Ogden Standard-Examiner of Utah on Oct. 21, 1954.
The tribe was now ready to welcome visitors and they soon became its biggest industry and one that has led them to become self-sustaining.
However, in 1954, the only electricity there was from a gasoline powered motor for the town's movie projector, so that it could show Hollywood movies.
The story stated that the women loved gambling and their cards, while the men favored a game with a ball and poles.
"There is no formal law enforcement," the 1954 story stated. "And no marriage certificates. To marry, the boy moves into the wickiup of his intended. If not chased out, he gives presents to her parents and stays ... Every man and boy has a horse, and learned to ride it, and swim in pools beneath their three beautiful waterfalls, even before they learned to walk," the story stated.
*John D. Lee was blamed for the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857 in Utah. He was executed in 1877.
NOTE: All photos are by Ravell Call, from April of 2004.
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