History of Homol'ovi State Park

March 25, 2014 - NAZ Today's Kimberly Craft looks into the history of the Homol'ovi State Park. In Hopi, Homol'ovi translates to "place of the little hills." The Hopi settled the area in the 1300s and began cultivating cotton, beans, corn, and squash.

The ruins became a state park in 1986. At the Hopi request, the state eliminated the term ruins from the name in 2011. Park Manager Chad Meunier says that the term ruins signifies something dead to the Hopi. They do not think of these footprints of ancestral migrations as dead places.

The history of the park continues to live as people eagerly participate in preserving the culture. Carolyn Herdman is the camp host at Homol'ovi and says she feels the presence of ancestors.