Lifeways of the Little Colorado River
From its headwaters in the mountains to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, the Little Colorado River has sustained plants, animals, and humans since the beginning of time.
Fish spawn in its warm waters, migratory birds stop by for a drink, medicinal plants grow along its banks. The Little Colorado River is a 330-mile lifeline for the desert dwellers who depend on it.
For millennia, Native people have taken care of the river, and the river has taken care of them. It remains an important place of livelihood, pilgrimage, and physical and spiritual nourishment to this day.
Here, White Mountain Apache, Zuni, Navajo, Hopi, and Hualapai people share their personal and cultural ties to the Little Colorado River. It’s a place of emergence, a conduit for prayers, sustenance for livestock, and so much more.
Come along to experience the lifeways of the Little Colorado River.
There are many ways to know the Little Colorado River—you can touch its waters, sing its songs, paint its stories.
For Native peoples, traditional knowledge systems encompass language, ceremonies, farming techniques, medicines, art, and more. Here, Tewa/Hopi artist Ed Kabotie draws his connection to the Little Colorado River.
Confluence
by Ed Kabotie, 2021
The union of the blue waters of the Little Colorado and the red waters of the “great” Colorado symbolizes and personifies the miraculous, life-giving union of feminine and masculine energies. Near the confluence of these great waters, along the shores of the Little Colorado, is the original womb kiva from which the human race emerged into this world. Among certain Indigenous cosmologies, the waters surrounding the confluence are the most sacred places on Earth
Midnight Challenge
by Ed Kabotie, 2021
The Warrior Brothers live on opposite sides of the Little Colorado River. Their salt magic is recognizable throughout the Grand Canyon. In “Midnight Challenge,” the brothers are engaged in their favorite pastime, “shinny” (Indian hockey) at Desert View, Grand Canyon National Park.
In recent years I’ve had the profound privilege of working with The Conservation Associates on murals that my grandfather, Fred Kabotie, painted at the Desert View Watchtower in 1932. The Warrior Brothers’ presence at Desert View is evidenced by the fact that most of my work was focused on scrubbing salt stains off the interior walls of the tower.
Snowmelt, runoff, and spring water from White Mountain Apache, Zuni, Navajo, and Hopi come together as one in the Little Colorado River. After the confluence with the mainstem Colorado River, the waters continue through the Grand Canyon to downstream tribes like the Havasupai, Hualapai, Southern Paiute, and others.
“All of these waterways are connected. It starts from the mountains, and everywhere it connects is another life, another new river, until it reaches the ocean. The connections of the river have no end.” – Octavius Seowtewa, a Zuni cultural advisor.
So wherever you are, jump into the current to experience life along the Little Colorado River with Bennett Wakayuta, Bernadette Adley-SantaMaria, Delores Wilson-Aguirre, Franklin Martin, Dr. Herman Cody, Jim Enote, Dr. Karletta Chief, Lyle Balenquah, Octavius Seowtewa, Radmilla Cody, and Ramon Riley.
