"Some of the strongest concerns about the development plans have come from the Hopi Tribe. With the help of the National Park Service, the Hopi maintain, use and protect a Hopi Salt Trail leading to the Colorado. The Confluence is also the site of their Sipapuni, or place of emergence..."
By Anne Minard March 30, 2012
Photo above by NPS Photo by Erin Whittaker
In 1966 the Sierra Club exclaimed, "This time it's the Grand Canyon they want to flood," and asked, "Should we also flood the Sistine Chapel so tourists can get nearer the ceiling?" Perhaps the same can be said today when I comes to the development of this scenic & most sacred areas to the Hopi people?
Leonardo
The jubilant announcement of a Navajo Nation plan to develop the East Rim of the Grand Canyon for tourism is getting a chilly reception from tribal residents of the area, the Hopi tribe and Grand Canyon National Park.
The president signed a memorandum of understanding on February 17 with the Phoenix-based development group Confluence Partners, LLC, formerly Fulcrum, LLC. Early plans include a resort hotel, restaurant, a tramway leading to a gondola and an RV park.
The development will be set within sight of the place where the Little Colorado River flows into the Colorado River, a place known as the Confluence and considered sacred to the Hopi, the Navajo and other tribes.
“It’s beautiful,” Shelly said. “It’s beautiful if we can get it done. It’s going to bring money, and it’s going to bring visitors here. It’s going to be something to see, something to visit.”
But as word has gotten out about the proposed development, concerns have arisen from both Navajo and non-Navajo neighbors...
And Kuwanwisiwma said part of the sentiment at Hopi includes dismay at what he calls a “political irony” on the heels of vehement public protests by the Navajo and other tribes against snowmaking for a recreational ski area on sacred mountains near Flagstaff, Arizona.
“On one hand, the Navajo Nation is very visible in trying to protect the San Francisco Peaks, saying it’s sacred land,” he said. “On the other hand, they should consider this area very important.”
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