Popular Grand Canyon Spot With 'Offensive' Name Now Honors the Havasupai Tribe

A popular spot in Grand Canyon National Park has been renamed to honor the Havasupai Tribe.

The spot, formerly known as the Indian Garden, will now be called Havasupai Gardens, according to the National Park Service. The change was made after the U.S. Board of Geographic Names voted unanimously to approve a formal request submitted by the NPS on behalf of the Havasupai Tribe.

The renamed spot sits along the Bright Angel Trail, which the NPS said is frequently visited by day hikers and backpackers.

“The Grand Canyon National Park team was proud to work alongside the Havasupai Tribal Council in our joint effort to rename this culturally significant location at the Grand Canyon,” Superintendent Ed Keable said in a statement. “The Havasupai people have actively occupied this area since time immemorial, before the land’s designation as a National Park and until the park forcibly removed them in 1926. This renaming is long overdue. It is a measure of respect for the undue hardship imposed by the park on the Havasupai people.”

The NPS is currently working to update signs, the website, and other materials. A rededication ceremony is planned for early spring 2023.

Originally, the area was called Ha’a Gyoh, but the Havasupai people were eventually forced out, and the last Havasupai resident was forcibly removed in 1928.

“The eviction of Havasupai residents from Ha’a Gyoh coupled with the offensive name, Indian Garden, has had detrimental and lasting impacts on the Havasupai families that lived there and their descendants,” Chairman of the Havasupai tribal council Thomas Siyuja, Sr., said in the statement. “Every year, approximately 100,000 people visit the area while hiking the Bright Angel Trail, largely unaware of this history. The renaming of this sacred place to Havasupai Gardens will finally right that wrong.”

This isn’t the first time a significant landmark has been renamed to honor its native roots. In 2015, for example, Mount McKinley in Alaska was renamed Denali, The New York Times reported at the time, restoring an Alaska Native name.