Grand Canyon West - Visiting the Hualapai Tribe in AZ Part I

Grand Canyon West - Visiting the Hualapai Tribe in AZ Part I

The Hualapai Tribe in Northern Arizona were "given" by the government what they deemed to be uninhabitable land in the 1870's. That land turned out to be the majority of the Grand Canyon which extends through Arizona from almost the Nevada border through to the southeastern Utah border.

The Hualapai (People of the Tall Pines – Protectors of the Canyon) are a compilation of many smaller tribes which spoke a common language, Yuman based, whose language extends along the Colorado River from southeast Utah to Baja California. Their tribal members came from the Sandy Wash/Cholla Springs area which is now Wickieup, AZ, through the Silver Springs and Seligman areas, the Hualapai Mountains, Peacock Mountains, Music and Cerbat Mountains, Valentine, Hackberry, Truxton, and Kingman, AZ. The tribe of many is today about 2500. Roughly 1500 live in the community of Peach Springs, AZ and the rest are scattered – trying to keep a pulse on home.

The major form of income for the Hualapai People is Grand Canyon West. This is the only place in the world where you can stand 6,600 feet above the Grand Canyon floor on a glass floor looking straight down into the Canyon.

The Skywalk was a vision of David Jin, a Chinese investor, who wanted to find a way to help the Hualapai develop the tourist spot by providing a truly unique engineering wonder that would preserve the integrity of the wildlife and scenery of the western Canyon.

The Grand Canyon West is accessible from Las Vegas by driving one hour south to Dolan Springs then driving 50 miles east. It is accessible from Kingman, AZ by taking Stockton Hill Road north for one hour until you reach the turn off. It is also accessible from Peach Springs by either taking a rough inned road, the Buck-n-Doe, or by taking Route 66 to Antares Point, then Antares to Stockton Hill Road north.