How Ancient Peoples Lived at Grand Canyon

Welcome to Gand Canyon National Park. This exceptional landscape has been home to people for the last 12,000 years. Join me, Ranger Brian, for a Ranger Minute, as we consider the lives of the ancestral Puebloans, one of the many groups of people who have made the Grand Canyon their home. The ancestral puebloans were the first farmers to live in this area. They grew corn and beans and squash. Many visitors are amazed that people could survive here as farmers. Look at this landscape. Can you imagine being a farmer in a place so dry? But the people found everything here that they needed. Summer thunderstorms provided the rain to grow the crops. Native plants and animals provided additional food. Fibers from the yucca plant were woven into cords, rope and sandals. And stones were shaped into building materials, grindstones, axes and arrowheads. Tusayan Ruins is the remains of one of their homes. This is the remains of an ancestral Puebloan village that dates back 800 years. These stone walls are what remains of a home for 25 people. Each room was probably home to one family. Most life, most of the year, took place outdoors; in the fields, in the open plaza, on the rooftops Imagine children running and playing. Adults, men and women, talking and laughing as they do their daily chores: grinding corn, turning deerskin into clothing, or tending each individual plant out in the fields. When cold weather, winter weather, when it drove the people indoors, these small rooms must have been crowded and smoky. Winter was the time for telling stories. The ancestral Puebloans handed down stories from generation to generation, and these are still told, by their descendents, the Hopi, today. Listening to these stories, we find out things that archaeology can't tell us. We learn that not only was the Grand Canyon home, but it was also a sacred place. When we combine these narratives, with our archaeological research, the stories of the people here in the past come to life. At Grand Canyon National Park, we preserve and protect these stories, as well as scenic grandeur of the canyon. When you visit the park, take time to consider the lives of the people who made this special place their home.