Havasupai Tribe in Arizona marks a spiritual homecoming: `We are still the Grand Canyon’

By Felicia Fonseca THE ASSOCIATED PRESS GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. (AP)-Carletta Tilousi hit the trail as the sun rose, the light revealing a grouping of cottonwood and ash trees deep in the Grand Canyon. Birds soared above and reptiles scampered across the rocks as the canyon walls grew taller and taller behind her. This was home, yet she rarely had been there over the years. “I can’t believe how far I’ve come, it’s amazing,” she said about halfway through the 4.5-mile hike over steep, rocky terrain. “I can’t believe my ancestors used to do this all the time.” The journey was both emotional and celebratory. She remembered the words of her uncle, the late Rex Tilousi, who told stories of Havasupai people being forced out of what’s now Grand…

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