The Political Ecology of the Grand Canyon

Since 800 CE— long before the creation of the National Park Service (NPS) in 1905 — the Havasupai Tribe has depended on the natural resources and diverse ecosystem of the Grand Canyon. A deeper examination of how the national park came to fruition however demonstrates an often negated and harrowing history of land theft, forced assimilation via reservation systems, and genocide. Political ecology is a way of considering how power dynamics, resource management, and society intersect. In the United States, this approach exposes the ways that anti-Indigenous legislation originating in the Department of the Interior has functioned both as a driver of ecosystem degradation and structural barricades to Native American self-determination. In order to achieve a just and sustainable future for all, it is necessary to dismantle hegemonic discourses regarding Indigenous communities.