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Yavapai of Fort McDowell - Arizona (U.S.)

Native American

image by Donald Healy, 1 February 2008

The band
The flag
New flag

See also:

The Band

map image by Peter Orenski based on input from Don Healy

Yavapai of Fort McDowell - Arizona

Located just north of Phoenix, Arizona, is the Fort McDowell Reservation, home to three different Tribes: the Apache, the Mojave, and the Yavapai (REAI, 1). The Yavapai, known as the "People of the Sun" (DAI, 455), originally inhabited an area of central Arizona stretching eastward from the Colorado River and north of the Gila River (ENAT, 256). The Yavapai also have two smaller reservations: the Yavapai-Prescott Reservation (REAI, 3) and the Camp Verde Reservation, both to the north (REAI, 1).

The Flag

Although Apache and Mojave people share the reservation with them, only the Yavapai of Fort McDowell have a flag. That flag is light blue and bears the tribal seal in the center. Only one is known, stored at the local veterans' hall. It is made of silk, beautifully embroidered, and obviously intended for use in parades or ceremonies. Unlike many Native Nations engaging in the gaming industry, the Yavapai do not fly their tribal flag outside their casino.

The seal on the flag, however, is quite visible throughout the reservation - such as on the sides of the reservation's police cars. The seal depicts the Arizona landscape in shades of blue and green, with the Rio Verde River shown in blue crossing the land. Rising out of the mountains in the background are five rays of the sun in yellow. The foreground is dominated by a Saguaro cactus on the right and four arrowheads at the base of the seal. These arrowheads, possibly evoking the sacred number four, appear in white, blue, gold, and red.

The entire landscape is backdrop to a head of a bald eagle in natural colors, a bird sacred to many Native peoples (and the national symbol of the United States).

A gold band surrounds the seal, separated from the landscape of the seal by a wavy black line and from the light blue background of the flag by a narrow black ring. On the gold band appears "FORT McDOWELL YAVAPAI RESERVATION" across the top and "ARIZONA" below, all in black.

[Thanks to NAVA member Harry Oswald for his photograph of the flag of the Fort McDowell Yavapai.]

© Donald Healy 2008
information provided by Peter Orenski, 1 February 2008

New Flag

image located by Valentin Poposki, 18 August 2019

The flag of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation has been changed, after the seal was changed with the word "NATION", instead of "RESERVATION". Here is a photo of the new flag and the new seal.
Valentin Poposki, 18 August 2019