A popular campground in the Grand Canyon is getting a new name. Officials announced that Indian Gardens will now be called Havasupai Gardens. The Havasupai Gardens are located along the Bright Angel Trail, about 4.8 miles below the South Rim.
The name change was made at the request of the Havasupai tribe, who were forced out of the area by the National Park Service 100 years ago.
The U.S. Board of Geographic Names voted 19-0 to approve the name change earlier this month.
“The eviction of Havasupai residents from Ha’a Gyoh coupled with the offensive name, Indian Garden, has had detrimental and lasting impacts on the Havasupai families that lived there and their descendants,” said tribe Chairman Thomas Siyuja, Sr. “Every year, approximately 100,000 people visit the area while hiking the Bright Angel Trail, largely unaware of this history. The renaming of this sacred place to Havasupai Gardens will finally right that wrong.”
Officials have already started to replace the signage with the new name.
“The Grand Canyon National Park team was proud to work alongside the Havasupai Tribal Council in our joint effort to rename this culturally significant location at the Grand Canyon,” said park Superintendent Ed Keable. “The Havasupai people have actively occupied this area since time immemorial, before the land’s designation as a National Park and until the park forcibly removed them in 1926. This renaming is long overdue. It is a measure of respect for the undue hardship imposed by the park on the Havasupai people.”