Keams Canyon, Arizona

Keams Canyon (Hopi: Pongsikya or Pongsikvi; Navajo:Lókʼaaʼdeeshjin) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. The population was 260 at the 2000 census.

Pongsikya is a narrow box canyon named after a plant of edible greens that survived along the seasonal stream that drains from Antelope Mesa and flows through the three mile long canyon. Here William Keam, and then his cousin Thomas Keam, operated a trading post during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. They served the Navajo Indians and opened the door to commercial trade for the Hopi Indians. The nearest trading post was some fifty miles away and Keam’s trading post was 13 miles east of the Hopi Indian’s settlements on First Mesa. With the opportunity for full year round trade nearby, the regional Indians quickly identified the canyon with the traders and the name Keams Canyon took hold.