Here, Grand Canyon is an audio tour of Grand Canyon National Park, drawn from the stories of key places in the park, as told by people who are from the land the park occupies.

Our goal in creating this is to offer visitors first-hand interpretation from the perspective of the people who have an ancestral relationship to this place, bringing them out of the realm of history books.

By telling place-based stories, the speakers will recall historical details and recover memories of the people and the natural life of the land that helped to shape this place, and equally, to speak about their present day lives in and near the Grand Canyon.

Predominantly, we will record members of all eleven tribes that call Grand Canyon home. We will have the chance to hear about their current lives here, on the Colorado Plateau, and their current relationship to the Grand Canyon.

We will hear stories about how the land and the water were cared for, what traditional pathways were walked, and what their daily lives were like before the arrival of European settlers. Additionally, we will hear stories of how they integrated these new arrivals into their lives, and how their lives were transformed.

In the process we will also hear the stories behind traditional place names, as the park continues its work of updating the maps to more accurately reflect the names that were traditionally used.

Additionally, we hope to speak with descendants of the European settlers and their families who made their homes here.

The audio tour will be sound rich, drawing from the natural sounds of the land, as well as making use of local music, both traditional and modern.

The story map can live online on the Grand Canyon National Park website, in a listening station in the Visitor Center, and can be downloaded into a visitor’s own phone for listening while driving or hiking through the park.

The final tour will meet all ADA accessibility requirements.

In this pilot, we are offering two stops on the trail, created from interviews previously recorded by Ryan Christensen.

The Desert View stop will be an opportunity to listen to Ed Kabotie, grandson of the Hopi artist Fred Kabotie, who created much of the art that adorns the walls of the Watchtower. Ed has been involved in the work of conservation of his grandfather’s murals, and in speaking about that, he provides some of the history of the mural painting at Desert View. In the process, he gives the perspective of two different generations of Hopi artists who worked on the building, and expresses what it means to him to be able to continue his family’s relationship to Desert View, and the Grand Canyon. He also discusses the stark realities of modern life for indigenous peoples living on the Colorado Plateau today.

The Bright Angel Trail stop will be a narration that can be listened to while preparing to hike Bright Angel Trail. James Uqualla, Havasupai, talks about the meaning of the canyon to him and to his people, and explains to visitors, both live and virtual, what it means to hike into the Canyon, and what to consider, before, during and after doing so.

Our hope is that this audio tour will become an introductory piece for visitors – a first piece of media that all visitors – in real life and virtual – will listen to, to hear first from the people who are from here, about what is here and how to relate to this place.