Supai, Arizona

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox settlement Supai (Template:Langx) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Coconino County, Arizona, United States, within the Grand Canyon.

As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 208.<ref name="Census 2010">Template:Cite web</ref> The capital of the Havasupai Indian Reservation, Supai is the only place in the United States where mail is still carried in and out by mules.<ref name="cbs">Template:Cite web</ref>

Supai has been referred to as "the most remote community" in the contiguous United States by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is accessible only by helicopter, on foot or by mule. Supai is Template:Convert from the nearest road and has no automobiles in the community.<ref name="cbs" />

History

In 1910 there was a flood of Supai which affected the town.<ref>Template:Cite news - Clipping of Newspapers.com.</ref>

In the 1960s Martin Goodfriend, a tourist, began to advocate for the Supai people, and a columnist of the Arizona Republic, Don Dedera, wrote articles about Goodfriend's findings.<ref name=12years>Template:Cite news - Clipping at Newspapers.com.</ref> Dedera stated that Goodfriend countered a view that Supai was a kind of "Shangri-la".<ref>Template:Cite news - Clipping from Newspapers.com.</ref>

Tourists and some residents were evacuated from Supai and surrounding area on August 17 and 18, 2008,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> due to flooding of Havasu Creek complicated by the failure of the earthen Redlands Dam (subsequent to the main flooding event<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>) after a night of heavy rainfall. Evacuees were taken to Peach Springs, Arizona.<ref name=bbc>Template:Cite web</ref> More heavy rains were expected and a flash flood warning was put into effect, necessitating the evacuation, according to the National Park Service.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The floods were significant enough to attract coverage from international media.<ref name=bbc /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Damage to the trails, bridges, and campground was severe enough for Havasupai to close visitor access to the village, campground, and falls until the spring of 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Further flooding in 2010 resulted in damage to repairs made previously and closures effective until May 2011.Template:Citation needed In July 2018, flash flooding forced the helicopter evacuation of 200 visitors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> All tourism was suspended from March 2020 until February 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Geography and climate

File:SupaiVillageFirstSignWigleeva.jpg

The Wigleeva rock formations watch over Supai

Located within the Grand Canyon, Supai is accessible only by foot, pack animal or helicopter. It is the only place in the United States where mules still carry the mail, most of which is food.<ref name="Smithsonian">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="USPS">Template:Cite web</ref>

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of Template:Convert, all land. It lies Template:Convert above sea level. Template:Clear

Climate

Supai has a cool desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWk) , with very hot summers coupled with mild nights, and relatively mild winters with nights cooling off to below freezing on many days.Template:Weather box

Demographics

As with many communities living on reservations, the census is often miscounted.<ref name="Brown-2022">Template:Cite web</ref> In the 2020 census, the population of Supai was counted as zero.<ref name="Brown-2022" /> In 2023, the Associated Press reported that "about 500 of the nearly 770" members of the Havasupai tribe live in the village.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Template:US Census population As of the census of 2010,<ref name="Census 2010" /> there were 208 people and 43 households. The racial makeup of the CDP was 96.6% Native American, 0.5% White, 0.5% Other, and 2.4% of mixed race. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.3% of the population.

There were 43 households, out of which 34.9% were married families living together, 32.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 14.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 18.6% were non-families. 16.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.84.

In the CDP the population was spread out, with 30.8% under the age of 16, 10.4% from 16 to 21, 54.8% from 21 to 65, and 4.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25.2 years. 48.6% of the population was male; 51.4% was female.

Government and infrastructure

File:SupaiMarket.jpg

Mule train in front of the convenience store and post office

Supai is located inside the Grand Canyon on tribal lands outside of national park jurisdiction and is governed by the tribe.<ref name="Smithsonian" />

There is a post office in Supai. Mules are used to ferry mail between Supai and the rest of the United States. Perishable goods are, as of 2016, stored in a walk-in freezer at the Peach Springs, Arizona, post office while they await being loaded onto mules.<ref>Template:Cite news - Clipping of first and of second page at Newspapers.com.</ref><ref name="USPS" /><ref name="Smithsonian" /> According to The Smithsonian, the Peach Springs post office is the only one in the country with a walk-in freezer.<ref name="Smithsonian" />

A contractor, who as of 2016 had held the contract with the post office for 25 years, picks up the mail and drives it an hour to the trailhead, where it's loaded onto mules for the journey down the canyon.<ref name="Smithsonian" /> Each mule carries up to 200 pounds of mail.<ref name="Smithsonian" />

Access

File:HualapaiHilltop.jpg

Parking at Hualapai Hilltop, the trailhead for the Template:Convert trail into Supai.

Supai can be reached by hiking Template:Convert, descending Template:Convert in elevation from Hualapai Hilltop through the Hualapai Canyon.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Helicopters also fly from Hualapai Hilltop into Supai.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Hualapai Hilltop, the trailhead for Havasupai Trail, is located about Template:Convert from the community of Peach Springs, along paved BIA Road 18.

Education

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Havasupai Elementary School

There is one K–8 school in Supai, Havasupai Elementary School, run by the Bureau of Indian Education. Additionally, by 1970 there was a Head Start program in Supai.<ref>Template:Cite news - Clipping from Newspapers.com.</ref>

Supai lacks a high school.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1988, Havasupai ES was K-8, and residents went to boarding schools after the 8th grade. The most common boarding school, that year, was Sherman Indian High School in Riverside, California.<ref>Template:Cite news - Clipping (Detail view 1 and Detail view 2) at Newspapers.com.</ref> In 1967, most older students (past the second grade, the upper grade at Havasupai ES at the time) attended school in Fort Apache or Phoenix.<ref>Template:Cite news = Clipping at Newspapers.com.</ref> In that time period some students went to boarding schools in California.<ref name=12years/> Some other students stayed with host families and attended school district-operated public schools.<ref>Template:Cite news - Clipping at Newspapers.com.</ref> Prior to its closure, the Phoenix Indian School was the closest Native American boarding high school to Supai.<ref>Template:Cite news - Clipping from Newspapers.com.</ref>

According to Coconino County's parcel viewer, Supai is in the "Unorganized School District #00".<ref>Template:Cite web - Permalink to map with school district boundary Template:Webarchive</ref> According to Arizona law, an unorganized school district is one that does not have a high school.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The 2010 U.S. Census school district map for Coconino County shows Supai as in "School District Not Defined".<ref>Template:Cite web - Text list</ref> Areas not in school districts are under the jurisdiction of the respective County Superintendent of Schools.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Culture

Reggae music is popular in the Supai community; according to Afropop, the residents feel "a kinship with the Rastafarian faith".<ref name="Hille-1982">Template:Cite news - Clipping of first and of second page at Newspapers.com.</ref><ref name="Smith-2018">Template:Cite web</ref> According Cannabis Culture, Bob Marley had wanted to visit but died before he could make the trip.<ref name="Emery-2008">Template:Cite news</ref> Tyrone Downie and Cedelia Booker learned of the popularity of the music after Chris Blackwell encountered several Supai residents in a Las Vegas record store buying reggae and helicoptered into Supai in 1982 with a grand piano and played a concert.<ref name="Hille-1982" /><ref name="Trepper-1984">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Emery-2008" />

In 1984 an Arizona reggae band, Shagnatty, gave a concert; a photojournalist accompanying the band reported residents told her the music had been popular in the community for as long as 25 years, when visitors from California had introduced it.<ref name="Smith-2018" /><ref name="Trepper-1984" /> She describes community members joining the band on stage and toasting in Supai.<ref name="Trepper-1984" />

Tourism

Tourism is economically important.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> When COVID-19 shut down area tourism, the tribe estimated a 60-day closure of tourism to Supai would result in a 15% loss to the tribe's annual revenues.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

As of 2014 approximately 20,000 people visit each year, most to see and hike around Havasu Falls and other nearby waterfalls.<ref name="USPS" /><ref name=":0" /> There is a campground and Havasupai Lodge in Supai on tribal grounds, and a National Park Service campground and Phantom Ranch outside of Supai on national park grounds.