Scottsdale's Native American Roots

Since Scottsdale was founded in the late 1800s, the city has treasured a close relationship with its Native American roots. Arizona is home to 22 Native American tribes, the largest of which are the Tohono O’odham Nation and Navajo Nation. Although each tribe is unique in terms of its traditions, all are proudly united by their heritage, which plays an influential role in Arizona’s past and current development. From shopping for art and artifacts, to visiting museums and nearby communities, Native American cultural activities flourish in Scottsdale, a community that celebrates and embraces its historic past.

BACKGROUND & ECONOMIC GROWTH

Two Native American tribes on Scottsdale’s eastern border, the Onk Akimel O’odham (Pima) and the Xalychidom Piipaash (Maricopa) comprise the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.

• Talking Stick Entertainment District: Past and present are woven together and put on display in the nations’ successful business ventures, including OdySea Aquarium, Octane Raceway, Butterfly Wonderland, Topgolf Scottsdale at Riverwalk, Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament and Talking Stick Resort, to name only a few.
• In 2011, the SRP-MIC partnered with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies to build a new baseball stadium for Cactus League Spring Training. Salt River Fields at Talking Stick is the first Major League Baseball spring training facility to be built on Native American land in the United States.

Just east of Scottsdale lies the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, a parcel of land that was the ancestral territory of the once nomadic Yavapai people, who hunted and gathered food in a vast area of Arizona's desert lowlands.

• Today, the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation is home to the We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort and the highly acclaimed We-Ko-Pa Golf Club. The resort incorporates traditional Yavapai patterns into the decor and the name, We-Ko-Pa, translates to “Four Peaks” in Yavapai, to complement the spectacular mountain scenery around the resort.
• Nearby, Fort McDowell Adventures features two Western-style event venues and a working stable, offering trail rides, cattle drives and wagon rides from fall through spring.

HOW TO EXPERIENCE NATIVE CULTURE

MUSEUMS & COLLECTIONS

• Heard Museum: Located in nearby Phoenix, it is one of the best places to experience the varied cultures and art of American Indians in the Southwest. The museum’s exhibit, “HOME: Native People in the Southwest,” is a must-see. This exhibition focuses on the importance of family, community, land and language in American Indian culture.
• Huhugam Ki: Museum: Just down the road from Salt River Fields, visitors can delve into the heritage of the ancient Hohokam Tribe through its collection of baskets, pottery, photos and articles which tell the story of the people who have inhabited the land. Museum-goers might even catch a demonstration of Pima basketry or Maricopa pottery in progress.
• S'edav Va'aki Museum (formerly Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park): Visitors can see Native American architecture firsthand by walking through a Hohokam Indian ruin. Explore reconstructed homes at the Hohokam Houses exhibit and view a recreation of the Hohokam canal system, the original groundwork for the Scottsdale area’s current canal system.
• Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West: Discover the history and cultural heritage of the American West at this Smithsonian Affiliate located just steps from Old Town Scottsdale. The museum’s galleries feature Native American pottery, Western fine art, historic cowboy gear, artifacts and rotating exhibitions that explore the diverse cultures and stories that shaped the region.
• Talking Stick Resort: The on-property Cultural Center showcases a 100-piece collection of pottery and distinguished artwork from the Pima and Maricopa tribes and is home to a permanent exhibition of historic photographs that dates back as far as 1880.

ART

• Native Art Market: This Native-owned marketplace features authentic handmade artwork by more than 400 Native American artisans, offering visitors a meaningful way to experience and support local Native heritage.
• Faust Gallery: Located in Old Town Scottsdale, this gallery showcases a wide spectrum of Indigenous artwork, from traditional pottery and jewelry to modern paintings, sculptures and weavings by Native American artists from across the Southwest.
• RC Gorman Navajo Gallery: Dedicated to the work of renowned Navajo artist R.C. Gorman, often referred to as the “Picasso of American Indian artists,” this gallery features his signature paintings, lithographs, bronze sculptures and ceramics inspired by Navajo culture and the landscapes of the American Southwest.
• John C. Hill Antique Indian Art Gallery: This Old Town gallery specializes in museum-quality Native American art and artifacts, including Hopi katsina dolls, Navajo weavings, Zuni and Navajo jewelry, baskets, pottery and folk art collected over more than four decades.
• JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn: Throughout the resort, visitors will discover monumental bronze sculptures by the late artist Dave McGary. Known for his exquisite attention to detail, McGary created his bronze sculptures of Native American figures with deep respect for cultural accuracy and an eye for the natural movement of feathers, leather and fabric. Available pieces are for sale on his website.

OUTDOOR EXPLORATION

• DETOURS: Visitors can take a guided journey with DETOURS, whose narrated excursions showcase some of Arizona’s most remarkable Indigenous and natural landscapes. Offerings include a day trip to the Navajo Nation, with stops at the picturesque Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend. On the Sedona Red Rocks tour, guests are invited to discover ancient Sinagua Tribe (A.D. 1250 – A.D. 1425) ruins at Montezuma Castle National Monument, one of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in North America.
• Scottsdale Adventure Tours: Guests can explore the Sonoran Desert and discover the rich Native American history of the region as expert guides share stories of Indigenous cultures, traditional plant uses and the landscape that sustained desert communities for generations.
• While hiking in Scottsdale, visitors should keep an eye out for metates or bowl-shaped depressions carved from rock where mesquite tree pods were ground for food by Native Americans. They’ll find them while exploring Cathedral Rock in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, at Pinnacle Peak Park, or on the aptly named Metate Trail in the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area.

INDIGENOUS FLAVORS

• The Frybread Lounge: Old Town Scottsdale’s first and only Indigenous-owned restaurant showcases Native American flavors through dishes such as a bison burger on frybread, tepary beans sweetened with mesquite, cactus fruit jam, sunflower tarte and a bison ribeye for two.
• FnB: Known for its veggie-forward, Arizona wine-centric menu, FnB highlights locally sourced produce and Indigenous ingredients, including grains and vegetables that have been used for centuries by the area’s Native American tribes.