About Native American Indians in Sedona and the Verde Valley, Arizona
The First Indians By Robert DeMayo There have been people living in the Verde Valley for thousands of years, but until relatively recently they remained hunter/gatherers. These early nomadic people harvested the various plants when in season, and thought the area to be the best shopping market around. Agave, Manzanita, Scrub Oak, and Pinon Pine all provided food if you knew how to process it. Through trial and error they learned various uses, and through oral tradition they passed it down.
They learned that by digging up the roots of certain Yucca you could make soap, and by weaving strands of Bear Grass together they made baskets so tightly woven that they would hold water —later heated stones could be dropped in to boil water. Snakeweed could be made into a poultice to be put on rattlesnake bits. In the old days elders truly carried the tribes wealth in the form of memories.
One staple food that grows all over the area is the Prickly Pear Cactus. By throwing a few on a fire you burn off the needles and can eat the whole thing—tastes a bit like a soggy French Fry but it’ll keep you alive. The small fruit that grows on the Prickly Pear was priceless for flavoring to the early Indians. Visitors to Sedona can try Prickly Pear Margaritas (and Prickly Pear Cactus Fries) at the Cowboy Club in Upper Sedona.
By examining artifacts they left behind—arrowheads and eating implements—it is known that they relied on meat, as well as plants. As the ice age came to an end, and the climate warmed up, the mega fauna—giant ground sloths, mastodons, camels, horses, etc.—became extinct (horses were later reintroduced by the Spaniards). The ancient hunters were then forced to hunt the smaller animals like deer and rabbits. Using a throwing device called an atlatl, and simple traps, they became quite efficient.
The story of the inhabitants who have lived in this area is preserved at Red Cliffs, about fifteen miles northwest of Sedona. The first people to come through the Verde Valley would have been following the seasons, and the game. They took shelter in the caves, and left their mark on the walls in the form of paintings (pictographs). They also created lightly incised geometric patterns called petroglyphs. Later arrivals contributed to the designs at Red Cliffs, right up to the pioneer homesteaders.
