by Adelheid Fischer

It is late afternoon in mid-August. Another sweltering summer day is drawing to a close on the Grand Canyon’s South Rim. Brad Wallis has a pack slung across his back and a trekking pole in each hand. He is waiting for the sun to drop behind the massive cliffs of Coconino sandstone before setting out down Bright Angel Trail. Following close behind him are ASU environmental historian Paul Hirt and Yolonda Youngs, a doctoral student in geography.

Wallis is the executive director of the Grand Canyon Association (GCA). He’s guided visitors into the canyon before. But this is no ordinary excursion. No sooner do the hikers pick up his brisk pace than Wallis stops to point out several ochre-colored pictographs on the rock face above. They were painted by Puebloan people some 850 to 1,250 years ago. The very trail underfoot is also ancient, he says, if not older than the markings on the rock.

The GCA has teamed up with scholars at ASU. They bring such little-known nuggets of history to the attention of the more than 5 million people who visit the park each year. In summer 2007 the National Endowment for the Humanities funded their landmark collaboration with a $365,000 grant. Another $200,000 in monetary and in-kind contributions was committed by the GCA. The nonprofit organization supports research, education. and interpretation about the Grand Canyon.

The project should be completed in 2010. By that time, visitors will have an expansive array of interpretive materials at their fingertips. The resources will include an audio tour of the canyon’s South Rim, informational brochures, and public lectures. Armchair travelers who can’t afford the time or money to visit the park can immerse themselves in canyon history through an interactive web site and DVD. And educational kits known as Traveling Trunks will allow teachers, as well as volunteers, to bring the canyon to classrooms and community centers throughout the nation.

The goal of the project, however, is not just to provide a lot of gee whiz facts about the canyon’s long and colorful past. The grant falls under a special NEH initiative known as “We the People.” The program’s goal “is to help people think in deeper, more complex ways about American history and culture,” says Hirt. He coauthored the grant with Youngs and Linda Sargent-Wood, an ASU assistant professor of history.

“The idea is not just to interpret the historical significance of the Grand Canyon,” Hirt says. “We want to interpret it in a way that begins to shape our understanding of who we are and what it means to be an American.”

What better way to examine that identity than through the national parks? Hirt says that the act of setting aside spectacular landscapes for the enjoyment of present and future generations is a distinctly American invention. Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872.

The citizens of the United States own millions of acres of national parks and forests. They also have a say in their management. This shared commonwealth transforms places like the Grand Canyon into active arenas of participatory citizenship as well as milestones in landscape conservation.

But the national parks also have a shadowy legacy. For most visitors gazing out at its unfathomable expanse of rock and sky, the Grand Canyon comes as close to an ideal of pristine nature as any place on the planet. And yet, the canyon has been home ground to people for as long as 14,000 years. Hirt explains that no fewer than 12 Indian tribes claim some connection to the Grand Canyon. Five of these groups, such as the Havasupai, have extensive ties.

Consider Indian Garden as one example. Most visitors know the area s a shady respite on the grueling climb up the Bright Angel Trail. The site was actively farmed by the Havasupai until the 1920s when the federal government evicted the tribe from its centuries-old oasis.

“Those of us working on this project are very proud of the national parks and very glad that we have these protected landscapes,” Hirt says. “But you can’t simply ignore the fact that while a wonderful cultural accomplishment, the national parks also have this history of dispossession that has to be understood, accepted, talked about, and dealt with. We need to engage honestly in that history and not whitewash it or sweep it under the rug.”

The researchers are working to ensure that the presence of indigenous people is acknowledged and fairly represented. They will consult with tribal spokespeople on all content. Best of all, the interactive nature of web technology will allow canyon stakeholders to speak in their own voices.

The project web site uses what Hirt calls “multivocality,” or many different points of view. The researchers will solicit and post stories from a variety of interest groups, including the tribes, the National Park Service, and experts on the canyon’s history and ecology.

“Our website will have many voices,” Hirt says.

The ASU researchers hope to shed new light on past events. They also want to spotlight issues facing the canyon’s future.

For example, many interpretive materials focus on the Grand Canyon’s spectacular geology. Geologic time frames cover tens and hundreds of millions of years. This can suggest to visitors that the canyon is far removed in place and time from the more ordinary places in which people live and work. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Hirt says that one of the biggest management concerns of the National Park Service is the air pollution that often shrouds vistas in a filmy haze. The primary cause? Automobile exhaust that hitchhikes on prevailing winds from the congested roadways of Los Angeles.

“Environmental issues are among the greatest challenges that we face today,” Hirt says. “Great natural environments like the Grand Canyon provide a counter narrative of hope, a cultural mirror of the things we value. They are places to explore who we are as a nation and how we came to be this way.”

“There are an endless number of lessons we can draw about the relationship between nature and culture in American history,” he adds. “The Grand Canyon is an ideal teaching opportunity.”

This project is supported by ASU’s Institute for Humanities Research, the Grand Canyon Association, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information, contact Paul Hirt, Ph.D., History Department, 480.727.9084. Send email to Paul.Hirt@asu.edu