The word Sinaqua is Spanish meaning Without Water referring to the name, Sierra Sin Agua, originally given to the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff by Spanish explorers.

The Sinaqua were stone stackers who occupied a large area in the northern areas of the Tonto National Forest which is located in the areas north of the Verde-Salt River system and south of the Little Colorado-Colorado River system and east of the Grand Canyon.

The Sinagua culture flourished between approximately 500 CE and 1425 CE and occupied a large area in what is now central Arizona near Flagstaff and the area south to the Salt River, near Sedona. This homeland including the Verde Valley, the area around San Francisco Mountain, and significant portions of the Mogollon Rim country.

There neighbors include the Anasazi to the northeast, Mogollon to the southeast, Hohokam to the southwest, the Prescott to west and the Cohonina to the northwest