Frequently Asked Questions

What does the name Tuzigoot mean?

Tuzigoot is the anglicization of an Apache phrase that's usually translated as "crooked water." In Apache, the name is Tú Digiz, and it was given to this site in 1934 by Ben Lewis, an Apache man who worked on the excavation of the pueblo. It's pronounced "TOO-see-woot."

Who lived here and who built these dwellings?

Archeologists call the people who lived at Tuzigoot, Montezuma Castle, and Montezuma Well the Sinagua. The Hopi people call them the Hisatsinom, or "ancient ones." These people were relatives of the Ancestral Puebloans. You will most often see them referred to as the Sinagua at the national park sites in the Verde Valley.

Other peoples that lived in the area at the time these dwellings were occupied were the Hohokam, Yavapai, and Apache. Many indigenous people still maintain a strong connection with this place today and the park service collaborates with several associated tribes for a variety of projects and events. The dwellings here are remembered and honored, not forgotten and abandoned. These sites remain places where people come to connect with their heritage.

Where does the name Sinagua come from?

The name "Sinagua" comes from the two Spanish words "sin" and "agua", and means "without water." This refers to the name given to the San Francisco Peaks by the Spanish in the late 1500s, the Sierra Sin Agua, or "mountains without water." The first people called the Sinagua by archeologists were those that lived and farmed in the Flagstaff area (Northern Sinagua), but when archeologists began studying the culture that lived here in the Verde Valley, they learned that the people here were also members of a very similar culture (Southern Sinagua). We do not know what these people called themselves.

How many rooms are at Tuzigoot?

There are 97 ground level rooms at Tuzigoot, plus several upper-story rooms, for a total of about 110.

How many people lived at Tuzigoot?

The latest estimate is that about 250 people lived here at any given time.

When was Tuzigoot built?

The earliest datable rooms at Tuzigoot were built around 1000 years ago.

Are there other towns like Tuzigoot in the Verde Valley?

Yes. At least 50 large pueblos have been discovered in the Verde Valley. There are over 400 known dwellings in the Verde Valley.

How did they get into the rooms?

Ground floor rooms had hatchways through the roofs and were entered using ladders. The upper rooms probably had doorways through the side.

Why did they leave?

People moved out of this pueblo in the mid-1400s, and we're not entirely sure why. There is some evidence of climate change around that time which may have impaced agriculture, and other theories that have been suggested are drought, disease, warfare, or politics. Some descendants of the Sinagua say that it was just time to move on to a new home.

Where did they go?

There is evidence to indicate that many of them migrated to the northeast to join the Hopi, while others moved to the south and integrated into other settlements there.