Kaibab-Paiute Reservation lands are on
Kanab Creek in northern Arizona adjacent to the Utah border
on the Arizona Strip. Spanning Coconino and Mohave counties,
the 120,413-acre reservation varies from rolling grasslands to mesas of the
Colorado Plateau, at elevations of 5,500 to 6,000 feet. For all
its remoteness, the people of Kaibab enjoy their location
because it offers a measure of solitude not possible in more
urban places. The Kaibab-Paiute are members of the Southern Paiute
Nation, which is located along the southern Great Basin and
San Juan-Colorado River drainage. Paiutes speak a Uto-Aztecan
language along with English.
The Kaibab-Reservation communities consist of five villages:
Kaibab, Steam Boat, Juniper Estates, Six-Mile and
Red hills. Today's communities continue to function along both
historic and modern lines. Traditional Kaibab-Paiute culture is
seen in language, celebration, community organization and
values.
Arizona Highway 389 crosses the reservation and is the main
route for tourist travel between Las Vegas, Nevada, and Lake
Powell. The Kaibab-Paiute economy is largely centered on
tourism and the livestock industry. A tourism complex containing
the Zion Natural History Association bookstore and snack bar
is located at Pipe Springs National Monument. More than
50,000 tourists annually visit the old Mormon Fort at Pipe
Springs. The complex provides the tribe with additional revenue.
Agricultural growth is expected as the tribe expands growing
operations from its present 140 acres. The current alfalfa
crop supplies feed for local livestock. Other land use includes
residential, gardening, hunting, gathering and recreation.
Additionally, numerous land and road-use leases provide
revenue for the tribe.
The area surrounding and including the Kaibab-Paiute
Reservation is blessed with a variety of geological, historical and
recreational attractions. The reservation is centrally located and
only hours away from the geological wonders of the North Rim
of the Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce Canyon national parks,
Cedar Breaks National Monument, Coral Pink Sand Dunes Utah
State Park, and many other amazing sites. Lake Powell, Glen Canyon
and Lake Mead National Recreation Areas are nearby. Kanab Creek
runs through the reservation on its way to Snake Gulch and the Colorado River in
the Grand Canyon. Historic Pipe Springs National Monument
and Steamboat Rock are on the reservation and the Kaibab
National Forest is nearby.