The Sinagua are the best known regional group of a tradition anthropologists refer to as the Western Anasazi. The Sinagua occupied an area between Flagstaff and Phoenix, Arizona between 500 and 1300 AD. They led a simple life based on corn farming and subsistence hunting and gathering at the periphery of the three major Southwest cultures.

After volcanic activity improved soil conditions around 1000 AD, the Sinagua began to thrive by assimilating various elements from the major cultural groups. From the Hohokam they acquired village life and the use of ball courts; from the Anasazi they adopted cliff dwellings and water conservation practices; from the Mogollon they adopted pottery styles.

By the late 1450s, the same natural and social stresses that destroyed the other cultures of the region engulfed the Sinagua as well. By 1400, they had completely disappeared.