The Indian Garden name assigned to a popular Grand Canyon campground has been changed out of respect for a Native American tribe that was displaced by the national park. The Havasupai Tribe and Grand Canyon National Park announced Monday that Indian Garden will be renamed Havasupai Gardens. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names gave unanimous approval this month to the request from the National Park Service on behalf of the tribe. Tribal officials say the name has had detrimental impacts on Havasupai families. The Havasupai reservation is known internationally for its towering blue-green waterfalls.
Community members in Bellingham Washington filled the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship’s pews Friday evening as Cindy Minkler, Oglala Sioux; J.P. Falcon Grady, Blackfeet; and Cynthia Wilson, Lummi, led a procession of concert-goers into the hall with a drum and song. The Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship hosted the concert to mark Native American Heritage Day, bringing three musicians and storytellers to the stage to recognize and celebrate the ways Native American people contribute to communities and care for our shared land and waterways. A collection of pieces was inspired by Minkler’s visit in the ’90s to the historic site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, where she saw monuments erected to General George Custer — the U.S. Army officer who famously lost — but noticed no monument for the victorious Lakota and Cheyenne people. Native American Heritage Day falls on Nov. 25, the day after Thanksgiving.
