Hualapai

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Hualapai

Ta'thamiche, a Hualapai
Total population
1,353 (2000)
Regions with significant populations
Hualapai Indian Reservation
Languages
Hualapai, English
Religion
Indigenous, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Yavapai, Havasupai

The Hualapai (also spelled Walapai) are a tribe of Native Americans who live in the mountains of northwestern Arizona, United States. The name is derived from "hwal," the Yuman word for pine, "Hualapai" meaning "people of the tall pine". Their traditional territory is a 100 mile (160 km) stretch along the pine-clad southern side of the Grand Canyon with the tribal capital located at Peach Springs.

The Reservation

The community is governed by the Hualapai Tribal Council which includes a chairperson, vice-chairperson, and seven other council members. Law enforcement is provided by the Hualapai Nation Tribal Police Department which came into existence in 2002. The department consists of a Chief Of Police, Deputy Chief, Criminal Invesigator and 11 sworn, Arizona state certified Patrol Officers. Fire protection is provided by the BIA and the local volunteer fire department. Alcoholism and obesity are major problems among many Native American people, so there are community-wide anti-drug and anti-alcohol efforts.

Average temperature and precipitation

Economy

The tribal economy is based on tourism, river-rafting, cattle-ranching, hunting expeditions, and timber-cutting, as well as crafting of traditional and modern folk arts.^{[citation needed]} Business matters are guided by the Hualapai Enterprise Board, a committee of independent, business-minded tribal members and non-members. Complete banking services are provided by Arizona's major financial institutions in Kingman.

Full-time employment is provided mostly through government programs.

Current growth

There has been rapid economic, social, and governmental progress.

• More than 200 new homes have been built recently.
• About 14 miles (23 kilometers) of town curbed.
• An improved community water and sewer system provides infrastructure for future growth.
• 300 streetlights were installed in 1999.

Taxes

State Taxes

The State of Arizona does not tax Indian lands and Indian-owned property on reservations. Incomes of Indians residing on reservations are not taxed by the state if they are wholly derived from reservation sources. Indian people of Arizona are also exempt from state and local sales taxes on consumer goods purchased on the reservation, unless such taxes are imposed by the tribal government. However, the state of Arizona collects taxes from reservation residents on sales of gasoline, electricity, natural gas, and telephone service.

Federal Taxes

The Federal Government does not exempt individual Indians from income taxes or other federal taxes.

History and culture

A Hualapai winter camp, photographed by Edward Curtis, 1907.

Major traditional ceremonies

"Maturity" and "Mourning"

Modern festivals

The annual Sobriety Festival is in June.

Afterlife

The souls of the dead are believed to go northwestward to a beautiful land where plentiful harvest grow. This land is seen only by their spirits.

Traditional dress

Full suits of deerskin and rabbit skin robes.

Traditional language

Yuman

Traditional housing

Conical houses formed from cedar boughs using the single slope form called a Wikiup.

Reservation Created

By executive order in 1883

Hualapai War

This war was caused by an increase in traffic through the area on the Fort Mojave-Prescott Toll Road which elevated tensions and produced armed conflicts between the Hualapai and the European American. The war broke out in May 1865 when the Hualapai leader Anasa was killed by a man named Hundertinark in the area of Camp Willow Grove and in March 1866 a man named Clower was killed by the Hualapai. The Hualapai cut off the route from Prescott, Arizona to the Colorado River ports. It was not until W. H. Hardy negotiated a peace agreement at Beale Springs that the raids and the fighting subsided. However, the agreement lasted only nine months when it was broken after Chief Wabyuma was killed during a dispute with the Walker party over the treaty. After the chief's death, raids by the Hualapai Indians began in full force, raiding mining camps and settlers. The cavalry from Fort Mojave responded, with the help of the Mohave Indians, by attacking Hualapai rancherias and razing them. The Hualapai began to surrender as whooping cough and dysentery weakened their ranks; they were led by Chief Leve Leve of the Yavapai peoples. The warrior Sherum (who was known for his tenacity as a warrior) later surrendered, thus ending the Hualapai Wars in 1870. It is estimated that one-third of the Hualapai people were killed during this war either by the conflict or disease.

See also

• Grand Canyon Skywalk
• Bat Cave mine
• Kiowa Gordon - actor in New Moon (movie)

Sources

• Intertribal Council of Arizona (Hualapai)
• Hualapai Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Arizona United States Census Bureau
• Hualapai Tribe
• The Havasupai and the Hualapai
• Camp Beale's Springs - Mohave Museum
• Thrapp, Dan L. (1967). The Conquest of Apacheria. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. LCCC 67-15588. 

Further reading

• Billingsley, G.H. et al. (1999). Breccia-pipe and geologic map of the southwestern part of the Hualapai Indian Reservation and vicinity, Arizona [Miscellaneous Investigations Series; Map I-2554]. Reston, VA: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Category:Hualapai

• Grand Canyon Skywalk news
• Tips for Traveling to Grand Canyon West