Native Art and Activism of the Grand Canyon

The area known today as the Grand Canyon has been home to people since time immemorial, with 11 contemporary tribes maintaining cultural connections to the area. Many individuals in these tribes have inspired their own communities, and the country, with their traditional art. Some tribal members have bestowed historic structures around the canyon with their artwork, while others have utilized art as one of many tools towards activism and uplifting their communities.

“When I first began to paint, I used to go to the ancient village and pick up pieces of pottery and copy the designs. That is how I learned to paint. But now, I just close my eyes and see designs and I paint them.” - Nampeyo ¹

Nampeyo working on pottery, ca. 1900

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Nampeyo was a Hopi woman born around 1860 at Hano, also known as Tewa Village, on First Mesa in Arizona. Her mother, White Corn, taught her how to make pots. At the age of 19, Nampeyo began studying pottery shards she found at archaeological sites to inspire her creations. Her artwork became so well known that her potter would have a sticker noting, "Made by Nampeyo," rather than the standard "Made in Hopi." In 1905, she moved into Hopi House at the Grand Canyon with her family for a three-month stay. Nampeyo returned home to First Mesa for the planting season, and upon her mother’s passing became the matriarch of the Corn Clan. While her tenure at Hopi House was brief, only returning once more for three months in 1907, Nampeyo created a lasting legacy. Her pottery continues to inspire artists and can be found in museums around the world to this day.

Fred Kabotie painting on the walls of Desert View Watch Tower, ca. 1930s

NPS

Fred Kabotie was another important artist in Grand Canyon history. Born in 1900 on the Hopi Reservation, he worked as in illustrator and gained great acclaim in the 1920s when his exhibit was showcased in New York City. In the 1930s, he worked as a tour guide and shop manager for Fred Harvey and was hired to paint murals in a traditional Hopi style on the walls of the new Desert View Watchtower, and he later served as the caretaker of the Watchtower. Kabotie's paintings, which can be seen on the second floor of the Watchtower, depict the first Indigenous man to travel down the Colorado River. His mural was a response to the popularly held belief that John Wesley Powell was the first person to navigate the Colorado River.

"I painted the Snake legend showing that the first man to float through the canyon was a Hopi -- hundreds of years before Major John Wesley Powell's historic Grand Canyon trip in 1869." Fred Kabotie²

Kabotie also painted murals inside of Bright Angel Lodge, using a more contemporary style to depict visitors and residents of Grand Canyon. These murals decorate the walls of the Fred Harvey Tavern inside of Bright Angel Lodge. After he finished his paintings at Grand Canyon, he continued to receive recognition and encouraged Native artists of the next generation. His grandson, Ed Kabotie, continues his grandfather's legacy of art at the Grand Canyon through his work with the Desert View Watchtower Conservation Project in 2015 as well as the Cultural Demonstration Program.

Artists from the Grand Canyon’s affiliated tribal communities not only created influential works of art, but also long last impacts on their nations.

Hastíín Tłʼa, weaving a sandpainting tapestry, ca. 1925

BANCROFT LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA / DANE COOLIDGE (BANC PIC 1905.17171:47)

Hastíín Tłʼa (anglicized: Hosteen Klah) was born in 1867 in the Navajo Nation and was a Two-Spirit individual, a beloved weaver, and a healer. The term Two-Spirit describes an individual who balances or combines both male and female qualities. It is used in reference to both male-bodied and female-bodied Indigenous people. Diné, which means “the people” in Navajo, traditionally have four genders. Tłʼa’s gender would be described as nádleehí, which translates to “one who is changing.” Tłʼa dispelled the western ideas of gender conformity and fulfilled both female and male roles in the Navajo community.

Hastíín Tłʼa’s mother and sister taught Tłʼa weaving from a young age. It was Tłʼa’s uncle who shared the skills of traditional chanting and sandpainting, both important healing practices in the Navajo community. Learning these chants is an incredibly intricate skill and requires intense training. Tłʼa mastered many chants over the years and helped to immortalize these important traditions. Hastíín Tłʼa also preserved traditional weaving techniques despite religous persecution.

We’wha, a Zuni Lhamana, weaving with a backstrap loom, ca. 1886

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION / JOHN K. HILLERS

Another Native artist who did not conform to traditional western ideas of two genders was We’wha from the Pueblo of Zuni. We’wha was born in 1849 and was a Two-Spirit male, or in Zuni lhamana. For many cultures, Two-Spirit individuals are beloved and held in high regard by their communities. Writings about We'wha in the late 1800s used both "he" and "she" pronouns to describe them. We’wha was a talented potter and weaver. They were not only an incredible artist, but also a pioneer in representation and advocacy for Indigenous peoples. During a trip to Washington, DC in 1886 to meet President Cleveland, We’wha was widely perceived as a woman. We'wha gave two signed pots to the American Museum of Natural History. We’wha worked to raise awareness of the importance of protecting Zuni people and cultural traditions.

Even We’wha’s advocacy could not stop the eventual pressure from the U.S. Office of Indian Affairs. Like many tribal communities across the country, the Zuni faced violence, forced assimilation, and loss of cultural tradition. This included pressure to no longer recognize lhamana individuals like We’wha, and to force Two-Spirit individuals to assimilate to western gender roles and presentation. This forced assimilation was felt by many Native communities across the country. Though Two-Spirit people have existed since time immemorial, Indigenous people coined the term "Two-Spirit" in 1990 during the Third Annual Inter-tribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference. This was a means to rediscover and reclaim an important part of their cultural traditions and identities. It has since been embraced as the best way to articulate a tradition that has always existed in many Indigenous cultures. Two-Spirit individuals have been documented in at least 155 tribes, although it is important to note that Indigenous communities are not a monolith and so this term cannot always be used universally.

Ethel Jack (right) and her sister, Viola Crook, with unidentified child, ca. 1937

CLINE LIBRARY, NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY (NAU.PH.95.48.1137)

Many Indigenous tribes continued to fight for their right to their homelands and the importance of preserving their cultures. Ethel Jack of the Havasupai Tribe was another artist who fulfilled the role of advocate and activist. Jack was born in Havasu Canyon in Supai in 1908. She was a talented basket weaver and sold some of her work to the Smithsonian. Before the Grand Canyon became a National Park, the Havasupai people spent the summers farming plateaus that are now within park boundaries. By the 1880s, White settlers began to encroach onto Havasupai land. In 1880 the Havasupai were forced onto a reservation, the size of which was dramatically decreased in 1882. The reservation contained only 518.6 acres. Ethel Jack’s grandfather, Billy Burro, continued to farm the lush plateau in what is known today as Havasupai Gardens. Ethel Jack had found memories of her grandfather’s laughter on the farm. Billy Burro was physically forced off this land in 1928 by two park rangers. In 1942, Ethel Jack’s husband, Clark Jack, was hired by the Park Service to maintain Bright Angel Trail. He also took tourists on mule trips through the land Jack’s grandfather had once been forcibly removed from. Ethel and Clark Jack lived on this land for a year as National Park Service employees, but generational memories and trauma remained.

Many Havasupai people lived in Supai Camp within the park, many employed by the National Park Service. In 1955, the National Park Service told any Havasupai individuals who were not employed by the NPS to leave Supai Camp, and then Grand Canyon National Park and concessioners began terminating the employment of many Havasupai tribal members. Park officials then demolished the remaining homes in Supai Camp. The Havasupai Tribal Council called upon Ethel Jack to advocate for their people. Jack traveled to Washington, DC to demand the return of their lands. She worked with governmental officials on bills, spoke to representatives, and waited long hours in government buildings for results. She said, “This isn't for me, it is for the younger members of the tribe.” In 1975, Ethel Jack and other tribal members succeeded in securing 185,000 acres for the Havasupai Tribe.

Ethel Jack said of sharing the news with young members of the tribe, “I’ll tell them that the land is our grandmother and our grandfather, for it feed us and provides for us. Then the land was taken from us, and we were alone for many years. But now we have our grandmother and grandfather back. I’m just so very happy.”³

Many inspiring Indigenous artists have influenced the park. They have shown how the Grand Canyon and tribal communities are intrinsically connected. This influence is not only seen at the Grand Canyon in Hopi House or at Desert View Watchtower. This impact can also be seen in beyond the walls or rim of the canyon, throughout Indigenous communities and the country at large.

Citations and Sources:

¹ Kramer, Barbara. Nampeyo and Her Pottery. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1996.

² Kabotie, Ed. "Native American Artist Fred Kabotie." Sharlot Hall Library & Archives, June 29, 2017. https://la.sharlothallmuseum.org/index.php/blog/cat/2017DP/post/native-american-artist-fred-kabotie/.

³ Leavengood, Betty. Grand Canyon Women: Lives Shaped by Landscape, 3rd ed. Grand Canyon, AZ: Grand Canyon Association, 2014, 195-196.

"Desert View Watchtower," American Southwest Virtual Muesum, https://swvirtualmuseum.nau.edu/wp/index.php/national-parks/grand-canyon-national-park/desert-view-watchtower/.

Brandman, Mariana. "We'wha," National Women's History Museum. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/wewha.

Crawford-Lackey, Katherine and Megan Springate. Identities and Place: Changing Labels and Intersectional Communities of LGBTQ and Two-Spirit People in the United States. Berghahn Books, 2019.

Hirst, Stephen. I Am the Grand Canyon: The Story of the Havasupai People. 3rd ed. Grand Canyon, AZ: Grand Canyon Association, 2006.

Leavengood, Betty. Grand Canyon Women: Lives Shaped by Landscape. 3rd ed. Grand Canyon, AZ: Grand Canyon Association, 2014.

Roscoe, Will. "Sexual and Gender Diversity in Native America and the Pacific Islands," in LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History, edited by Megan E. Springate. Washington, DC: National Park Foundation, 2016. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/lgbtqheritage/upload/lgbtqtheme-nativeamerica.pdf.