History
When gold was discovered near Prescott, Arizona in the 1860s, large numbers of prospectors entered the area and hostilities between the Pai and the Anglos soon erupted. Warfare broke out with the Hualapai,who were soon defeated and forcibly relocated to La Paz, an internment camp on the Colorado River. They remained there for one terrible year, during which time many died from diseases, food shortages, and the arduous labor that they were forced to endure. In 1872 the Hualapai fled La Paz, returning to their homeland. However, during their absence Anglo ranchers and miners had colonized the habitable areas near springs and had introduced large herds of cattle elsewhere. To keep the Hualapai off of these lands, in 1883 Congress established a reservation for them on lands that one Bureau of Indian Affairs official called "the most valueless land on earth for agricultural purposes." Unable to make a living on the reservation, less than a dozen Hualapai actually lived there, with the remaining seeking jobs in nearby mines and towns.
Like the Hualapai, the Havasupai were impacted by the influx of settlers into their territory. As conflicts increased the U.S. Government offered them a 518-acre reservation in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Reluctant to give up their winter lands, the Havasupai nonetheless accepted in order to avoid the harsh internment that they witnessed for the Hualapai. Their reservation was established in 1880 in Cataract Canyon, the place of their traditional summer homes and under the watchful eye of Wii'gleva, the twin rock pillars that serve as their guardian spirits. The Havasupai believe that as long as these pillars stand the Havasupai people will be safe.
The Havasupai, however, found it difficult to adapt to year-round settlement in the canyon. The reservation was not large enough to support the population and the Havasupai found the canyon cold, dark and bleak during the winter. As a result, many Havasupai continued to winter on the plateau in small settlements hidden in remote areas of their former territory. Shortly after the Grand Canyon National Park was established in 1919, park rangers put an end to this practice and the Havasupai spent the next several decades fighting to have their plateau lands returned to them. In 1975, the U.S. Government returned 185,000 acres of canyon and rim territory to the tribe but restricted how the tribe could use that land. In particular, the tribe is not allowed to develop any tourist enterprises on that land.
Horses grazing beneath the twin rock pillars Wii'gleva, the guardian spirits of the Hualapai
Source - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Watchers2.JPG
Click on next page to continue.