AT GRAND CANYON WEST
Cuando visitas el Gran Cañón Oeste, estás entrando en la reserva Hualapai, establecida en 1883. Más de 1600 personas viven aquí, con 1353 miembros de la tribu. Como nación indígena soberana, la tribu es autosuficiente. Una de las empresas tribales es el Gran Cañón Oeste, que ofrece una alternativa al Parque Nacional del Gran Cañón. Los visitantes disfrutarán de una experiencia única al conocer el patrimonio y las ricas tradiciones de la tribu Hualapai.
THE RESERVATION
“Hualapai” means “People of the Tall Pines.” The Hualapai Tribe’s reservation encompasses about one million acres along 108 miles of the Grand Canyon and Colorado River. Occupying part of three northern Arizona counties: Coconino, Yavapai, and Mohave, the reservation’s topography varies from rolling grassland to thick forests to rugged canyons. Elevations range from 1,500 feet at the Colorado River to over 7,300 feet at the highest point of the Aubrey Cliffs.
An outdoorsman’s paradise, the reservation is rich in hunting, fishing, and river rafting opportunities. In addition to the attractions at Grand Canyon West, the Tribe sells guided big-game hunting permits for desert bighorn sheep, trophy elk, antelope, and mountain lion. The Hualapai River Runners, the only Indian-owned and operated river rafting company on the Colorado River, offers one and two-day trips.
THE HUALAPAI BIRD SINGERS
The Hualapai Tribe has thrived at the Grand Canyon West Rim for centuries. As one people in unity, these Native Americans rely on each other to survive, using song to share their journeys through life. The live performances by the Hualapai Bird Singers at the Grand Canyon West are about the Hualapai Tribe’s culture, a culture steeped in the belief that the universe and the earth are connected in a circle with no beginning or end. Women and men of all ages perform for guests at Eagle Point before or after they walk on the sky at the world’s only Grand Canyon Skywalk.
THE SONGS
Los hombres de la tribu son el corazón de cada actuación. Las canciones surgen de sus sueños, fluyendo naturalmente de ellos gracias a su conexión con el mundo espiritual. Otras canciones se transmiten de generación en generación, a medida que los jóvenes aprenden de sus mayores. Acompañando a sus cánticos en lengua nativa se encuentran los sonidos rítmicos de los tambores y las maracas.
THE DANCES
While the men play and chant, the ladies of the Hualapai Bird Singers dance to their tribal sounds in regalia adorned in colorful, meaningful shawls. The beading represents the breast of the mighty eagle and the shawls its wings, a bird that is very important to the spiritual guidance of the Tribe. The colorful dresses they wear today replace the buckskin and yucca leaves of days gone by. Today’s traditional garment includes ribbon detailing representing the universe, the earth, the sky, and the stars.
Las mujeres comienzan a moverse cuando empieza la canción, imitando los bailes de los pájaros. A menudo se unen al canto. Mientras se balancean al ritmo de la música, extienden los brazos y bendicen la tierra sobre la que bailan y a todas las personas y cosas que las rodean. Estos bailes representan los viajes de la tribu, compartidos por las mujeres mayores y transmitidos a las generaciones más jóvenes.
THE TRADITIONS
These songs and dances the Hualapai Bird Singers perform have survived hundreds of years through traditions carried on by generations of the Hualapai Tribe. Today’s Tribesmen recall years gone by when their grandfathers would rise before the sun to sing and dance in their own homes—the songs a gift to the universe and the earth, as they sang their blessings that they had lived another day. They sang about what they have learned from the past and how they look toward the future that will bring happiness and a good life. Eventually, the songs and dances created in their homes would be performed with the Tribe, a tradition carried on today that you can witness when you visit Eagle Point at Grand Canyon West. Multiple performances are held daily at Eagle Point on a covered open-air, circular stage.
THE VILLAGES
One of the many misconceptions about Native Americans is they all lived in teepees. Visitors to the Grand Canyon West can take a self-guided tour through an authentic Native American village for a view of local and regional tribal heritage and tradition. The Native American Village at Eagle Point lets guests imagine a simpler time when Hualapai, Navajo, Plains, Hopi, Havasupai, and other Indian Tribes roamed the lands. People can stroll through traditionally built housing, ovens, and sweat lodges to see the unique architecture, style, and functionality of each structure and feature.
