Site in Grand Canyon National Park changes name found ‘offensive’

The Grand Canyon National Park has announced that it will change the name of a site in the park after calls to make the switch came out calling the originally naming “offensive.”

The park’s former “Indian Garden,” which was found along the Bright Angel Trail, will now be known as “Havasupai Gardens.”

Ed Keable, a superintendent for the park said, “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.”

“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,” he said.

The name change comes during November, which is National Native American Heritage Month.

Each year, around 100,000 visitors come to the area to hike the Bright Angel Trail.

Thomas Siyuja, Sr., a tribe chairman said the former name was “offensive,” and said “renaming of this sacred place to Havasupai Gardens will finally right that wrong.”