Renae Yellowhorse, of Save the Confluence, stands on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon at the site of the proposed 420-acre Grand Canyon Escalade. Scottsdale developers are planning what some estimate to be a billion-dollar project, with hotels, restaurants, shopping and the pièce de résistance: a tram to the canyon floor, where the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers meet./ Photo by Stephen Eginoire

Conflict at the confluence

Indian tribes fighting ‘Escalade’ development in Grand Canyon

by Steve Eginoire

In a narrow gorge deeply inset along the south rim of the Grand Canyon, the Little Colorado River finds its way to the main artery of the Southwest, the mighty Colorado River. It is a powerful connection of two desert waterways, and a place sacred to many. Those fortunate enough can see the waters of the Little Colorado flowing a rich, milky turquoise – an effect of dissolved limestone gushing from an upstream spring – and then blending into the deep jade currents of the Colorado. Those who have seen it from the rim are witness to one of the most dramatic and humbling viewpoints in the country, where the only sounds are wind rustling the sagebrush and the faint white rumble of rapids far below.

For Hopi and Navajo in the region, the area is a sacred place essential to their culture and history. It’s also the proposed site of an enormous development, Grand Canyon Escalade, which entails 420 acres of retail space, hotels, restaurants, parking lots and a European-style aerial tram. The tram would plummet some 3,200 vertical feet off the rim, spanning a distance of approximately 1.6 miles, to an elevated walkway and food pavilion located just above the Colorado River’s high water mark. The development would transport 10,000-plus wandering tourists daily to the confluence.

A view to the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers, from the proposed building site./ Photo by Stephen Eginoire

Based out of Scottsdale are the masterminds of the project, The Confluence Partners LLC. The plans for Grand Canyon Escalade were unveiled to members of the Navajo Nation in 2012 by R. Lamar Whitmer, managing partner, political consultant and driving force behind the development. Since then, the strategy for garnering support within the Navajo Nation – and ultimately the Navajo Council – has been the promise of economic prosperity for the impoverished surrounding communities where unemployment rates are painfully high. According to Whitmer, an estimated 2,000 jobs would be created on-site with another 1,500 off-site. The proposal also promises a road, infrastructure and at least 8 percent of gross revenues in exchange for the 420 acres of land. Despite these claims, opposition to the Escalade Project has been furious.

Compounding matters, the area in question lies on a part of the Navajo Nation heavily impacted by the recently lifted Bennett Freeze. Implemented in 1966, U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert Bennett halted any form of development on more than 1.5 million acres of disputed tribal land that was claimed by both the Navajo and the Hopi tribes. Bennett imposed the ban while ownership was being negotiated forcing many to abandon their homes and grazing lands. For those already impoverished residents who stayed, their properties fell into disrepair. There was no water or electricity, and even simple home improvements, such as tarping a leaking roof, were forbidden until 2006, when the ban was lifted.

In a recent article, Whitmer told the Navajo-Hopi Observer, “It’s about the people. The people of the Bennet Freeze area are suffering. They have 60-70 percent unemployment. You have people delaying this project when the need is so great. My main concern now is making sure we get it done on a timely basis so we don’t lose another year of payroll for these folks.”

The Confluence Partners maintain that Navajo and Hopi will have priority for on-site and off-site jobs once operations begin, but in an area with such high 4 unemployment, the question remains of how many individuals are qualified to fill those positions.

Navajo Renae Yellowhorse, a staunch opponent of the development, says that most construction contractors bring their own skilled workers. She adds, “At most, basic labor jobs would be available to the local communities.”

Yellowhorse is one of the voices of Save the Confluence, an opposition group composed of families that live in or have direct ties to the area in which the Escalade project is proposed. For these families and many others among the Navajo and Hopi tribes, the development is a travesty that would desecrate sacred spaces.

“It really breaks my heart,” Marie Peyketewa, a Navajo whose family has lived and grazed their sheep for generations near the canyon rim, says. “I have three children of my own, two boys and one girl. They say, ‘Mom, we want the place to be the way it is now, so our children, our grandchildren down the line can see it.’”

The landscape in which these two rivers merge plays an integral role in the creation stories and traditions of regional tribes. Aside from this immense value, the area is a place where they go to connect with their history and to pray.

Jason Nez, member of the Coalmine Community, considers himself a traditional Navajo. He explains the importance of preserving cultural resources such as the confluence. “This is one of the few spots sacred to Navajos that is within the reservation and in our control.” He says. “Our sacred mountains, our old homeland Dine Tah, and a lot of our other traditional cultural properties are off the reservation and are managed by state and federal agencies, and we have no real say-so.”

Standing on the very edge of the rim overlooking the confluence, the majestic void of the Grand Canyon offers Nez the chance to reflect. “When our ancestors were here, and became aware of our existence on this earth, at this very location, this is exactly how they saw it. There are very few places you can go and say, ‘This is how Jesus saw it, or this is how Buddha saw it.’ This, right here, is one of those places. We can give our offerings and say our prayers the same as our great ancestors did.”

Whitmer says the development will not intrude on any sacred sites, though he acknowledges the region is exceptional.

“We agree it’s special, we agree it’s sacred, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be shared,” he said. “We think it’s so special that if there’s a way for the average person to get to the bottom without much disruption that they should have that ability.”

For Nez, however, the disruption is significant, whether or not the development is approved.

“I am confident we can win this fight to protect our sacred land, but the cost is the battle itself.  The scars from this conflict will remain in our now divided community for generations,” he said.

Unfortunately, defending native lands from outside interests is an ongoing, constant battle. This isn’t the first time – nor will it be the last – that external profit makers have come to the reservation looking to extract dollars, while guaranteeing jobs and economic gain. One needn’t look far for examples.

“The irony of something like the Navajo Generating Station and Black Mesa Coal Mine is that communities were promised the moon on the front end, just like the confluence families are being promised the moon on the front end,” Program Director for the Grand Canyon Trust Roger Clark says. “But the reality is, the lion’s share of the profits go elsewhere, and the low-paying jobs, environmental impacts and externalities are borne by the people that live there.”

Best-case scenario, Escalade is never built and permanent protection is put in place for the Grand Canyon between the river and the rim in Marble Canyon, he says. “And there are community-based, culturally appropriate, sustainable economic development opportunities for that area of the western Navajo Nation.”

The Grand Canyon Escalade is currently pending approval from the Navajo Council. According to an Oct. 3 report in the Navajo Times, a memorandum of understanding between the tribe and Confluence Partners that was set to expire July 1 was extended through 2014. For more information, go to: grandcanyontrust.org or savetheconfluence.com.