Encounter the People

Havasupai Cradleboards

Cradleboards by
Maude Jones
& Cora Rogers
Photo by Ophelia
Watahomigie-Corliss

The Havasupai have used cradleboards to care and protect their children until their first steps, roughly one year of age. An old Havasupai story tells of a young woman coming down the switchbacks of the canyon trail with her child and cradleboard in hand. As she proceeded on her way, several donkeys came running down the trail and knocked the cradleboard out of her hands. Running to the cradleboard, she found her baby snug and still safely bound within. The arched headboard that sits atop the cradleboard and the interlaced bindings that secured the child to the board had protected the baby from hitting the ground (Hirst Ex).

Havasupai cradleboards are traditionally made with Arrow Weed and Cat Claw root. Cradleboards are still used today as protection for the child when falling, and to keep tradition. Customs such as always carrying the cradleboard and never placing it on the ground continue to be observed. Children can be kept in their cradleboards until they learn to walk (Tilousi). Havasupai artists also create miniature, non-utilitarian cradleboards. Artists display their finished works for sale at the tourist office or lodge in Supai Village.

Please visit the Havasupai Tribe Web site for contact information,   the tourist office at 928-448-2121 or email at or the Lodge at 928-448-2111 or email at . 

Additional Information

Websites:

Havasupai Tribe Web site ( http://www.havasupai-nsn.gov )

Readings:

• Hirst, Stephen. "I am the Grand Canyon: The Story of the Havasupai People: The Exhibit". Kolb Studio in Grand Canyon National Park, Aug 2007-Oct 2007.

Interviews:

• Tilousi, Rex. Interview June 4, 2011. In Havasupai village during Pai gathering