Ongtupqa

The Grand Canyon cuts a vast, steep-sided gorge through the plateaus of northern Arizona. The Colorado River and its tributaries have exposed successive layers of rock, while springs and side canyons create habitable places within the depths. The canyon is part of the homelands of several Indigenous peoples, including the Hualapai and Havasupai, whose ancestors used both the rim and the river corridor seasonally. In 1540 a party sent from Francisco Vázquez de Coronado’s expedition reached the canyon with Hopi guides. Its members saw the river far below but were unable to descend to it. The canyon remained a landscape known through the routes, stories and seasonal practices of the peoples who lived around it.