Walnut Canyon National Monument

The Sinagua Indians: People Without Water

Cliff dwellings sheltered by overhanging cliffs were home to Walnut Canyon’s only permanent inhabitants more than 800 years ago. Inside the canyon and throughout the pine forests on its rims, these people made their living by dry farming, hunting deer and small game, gathering an assortment of useful plants, and trading. The people are today known as Sinagua Indians– Spanish for "without water" – a tribute to their ability to turn a relatively dry region into a homeland.

These people were not the first to encounter Walnut Canyon and its abundance of plants and animals. Artifacts show that Indian history began with Archaic peoples, who traveled throughout the Southwest, probably occupied the canyon seasonally. These nomads were long gone by the time their Sinagua successors appeared in the rugged volcanic terrain northeast of present-day Flagstaff more than 1,400 years ago. Perhaps these newcomers migrated from elsewhere, or perhaps they broke away from a local group and developed a distinct way of life. Like earlier inhabitants, they were probably attracted by the region’s abundant plants and animals. But they also engaged in dry farming.

Dry Farming

They built one-room pithouses near their fields, where they employed dry farming techniques to grow corn and other crops. Archeologists once thought that debris from the eruption of nearby Sunset Crater sometime between 1040 and 1100 made the land more fertile, attracting many more people to the San Francisco volcanic field and bringing change to Sinagua life. Recent findings discredit this theory. Among the more likely influences were increased rainfall, new water-conserving farming practices, trade, and a general population increase in the Southwest. This period after the eruption, when Sinagua culture flourished, is marked by a change in architecture from the pithouse style. The large, above-ground villages at Wupatki and Elden Pueblo and Walnut Canyon’s cliff dwellings, built between 1125 and 1250, date from this period. The canyon builders took advantage of natural recesses in the limestone walls where flowing water eroded the softer rock layers, creating shallow caves.

These were also the years of the Sinagua culture’s greatest geographical extent. Settlements ranged from the eastern slopes of the San Francisco Peaks northeast to the Little Colorado River and south to the Verde River valley. Trade items found in Sinagua dwellings include turquoise from the Santa Fe area, seashell ornaments from the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California, and macaw feathers from Mexico. These goods may have been acquired by intermediaries who arranged trade between other groups of people.

Cliff Dwellings

The cliff dwellings were occupied for little more than 100 years. Why these people left is not clear. By 1250 they moved to new villages a few miles southeast along Anderson Mesa. It is generally believed that they were eventually assimilated into Hopi culture. The Hopi today call their ancestors the Hisatsinom ("people of long ago"). Their tradition suggests that these early migrations were part of a religious quest to have all clans come together.

Sinagua homes remained largely undisturbed until the 19th century. In the 1880s the railroad brought souvenir hunters to the ancient dwellings. Theft and destruction prompted local efforts to preserve the canyon and soon drew national support. In 1915 Walnut Canyon  National Monument was established. Hundreds of years have passed since Sinagua voices and laughter could be heard. Today, as you explore the trails, imagine the canyon alive with people carrying food and water, greeting one another, and building their cliffside homes.

Indian History

600 – Sinagua people arrive in San Francisco volcanic region northeast of Flagstaff.

1040 – Sunset Crater is created in several volcanic eruptions; Sinagua life begins to change.

1100 – Start of cliff dwelling construction in Walnut Canyon.

1250 – Sinagua depart Flagstaff area for new villages to the south.

1400 – Sinagua probably assimilated into Hopi culture.

1583 – Antonio De Espejo open Spanish exploration of northern Arizona.

1880s – Walnut Canyon becomes a popular destination for souvenir hunters.

1915 – Walnut Canyon National Monument proclaimed.