The San Francisco Mountains are located ten miles north of present-day Flagstaff, Arizona and include Humphreys Peak, the tallest in the state. Formed as a stratovolcano from 2.8 million to 200,000 years ago, erosion eventually carved the eastern side of the rim away, leaving a semi-circular ridge line of peaks that rise above the timberline. The range includes the San Francisco Volcanic Field, which covers about 1,800 square miles in northern Arizona.
The mountain peaks hold sacred significance for thirteen Indigenous nations in the Southwest, including the Diné (Navajo), Hualapai, Hopi, Southern Paiute, Havasupai, Yavapai, Zuni, Acoma, and several Apache tribes. The Diné regard the San Francisco peaks (Dookó’oslííd in Diné) as the western boundary of Dinetah, or Navajo homeland. For the Diné, the sacred peaks connect cosmology to the physical world and spiritual power to their people. In traditional Diné culture, the peaks were created by First Man and imbued with an inner spiritual form known as bii’istiin. Each of the sacred boundary mountains has an associated color full of history and significance, such as yellow for the San Francisco mountains.
The peaks not only occupy a central place in cosmological narratives, they also play a vital role in medicinal and ceremonial practices in daily life. The mountains’ spiritual nature requires that they can only be ascended in a respectful way that includes prayer and song. Healers visit the mountains to collect soil and materials for medicine bundles, and to renew spiritual powers. Diné spiritual leaders regularly invoke the powers of the mountains in ceremonies across Dinetah.
The spiritual significance that the San Francisco mountains have for the Diné and other Indigenous peoples collide with Euro-American approaches to the land. In the 1800s American settlers began grazing livestock on the mountains’ slopes, including the Mormon-run cattle company at Fort Moroni. In 1908, Theodore Roosevelt designated the peaks as National Forest land and, in 1920, a Flagstaff entrepreneur began building a road to the top of the peaks for tourists. In 1938, the Forest Service leased land to entrepreneurs who created a ski resort called the Arizona Snowbowl, which has been in operation ever since.
An ongoing controversy began in 2002 when the Snowbowl announced plans to expand the resort and create artificial snow using reclaimed wastewater. After years of pushback, a 2007 court of appeals ruled in favor of the Diné who sued the Forest Service over using reclaimed water. The court reversed their religious rights decision a year later. In 2012, an appeals court ruled in favor of the resort against the wishes of the Hopis, and artificial snowmaking commenced. In 2022, after years of snowmaking, a proposed 60 millionaire dollar expansion led to increased tribal resistance that is presently ongoing.
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