Amerind Free Online Lecture – From the Long Walk to the Sky Walk: A Brief History of the Hualapai People with Jeffrey P. Shepherd, PhD

Amerind Free Online Lecture:

From the Long Walk to the Sky Walk: A Brief History of the Hualapai People with Jeffrey P. Shepherd, PhD

Saturday, November 6, 2021, 11:00 am – Arizona Time

Sponsored by Arizona G&T Cooperatives

Based on more than a decade of archival research, oral history interviews, and participant observation, this presentation summarizes some of the main turning points in Hualapai history.  Long overshadowed by well-known groups such as the Navajo, Hopi, and Apache, the Hualapai Nation has lived in northwest Arizona for thousands of years.  They survived near genocide in the 19th century, secured a million-acre reservation in 1883, adapted to the regional ranching economy, struggled with boarding schools, and suffered from disease in the early 20th century.  During the 1940s they won a path breaking court case against the Santa Fe Railway, sent tribal members to serve in World War Two, opposed federal termination policies in the 1950s, and became leaders in Native bilingual education during the 1980s.  By the early 21st century, they built the “Grand Canyon Skywalk” on the west end of the reservation, where they employ tribal members and entertain tourists from around the world.

Dr. Jeffrey P. Shepherd is Professor and Chair of the Department of History at the University of Texas at El Paso.  His first book, “We Are an Indian Nation: A History of the Hualapai People,” was published by the University of Arizona Press, in 2010.  His second book, “The Guadalupe Mountains National Park: An Environmental History of the Southwest Borderlands,” was published by the University of Massachusetts Press in 2019.  His research and teaching interests focus on Native People in the Southwest, historical memory, public history, and borderlands history.

This online program is free, but space is limited. To register visit: https://bit.ly/AmerindOnline110621