Posted on 12/04/2014 1:08:12 PM PST by SJackson
EAST RIM OF THE GRAND CANYON, Ariz. — Renae Yellowhorse stood at the edge of the Grand Canyon, 26 bumpy miles across the Painted Desert from the nearest paved road, not a glint of civilization in sight. Ms. Yellowhorse, 52, who has lived her whole life on this Navajo land, cast an arm over the gulf sweeping out to the horizon, pointing to where the Colorado River and the Little Colorado meet in a dazzling burst of deep blue 3,000 feet below.
“This is where the tram would go,” she said. “This is the heart of our Mother Earth. This is a sacred area. It is going to be true destruction.”
Ms. Yellowhorse was referring to the proposed $1 billion Grand Canyon Escalade development, a complex of restaurants, boutique hotels, stores and a trailer park clustered around a gondola that would whisk visitors down to a restaurant, an Indian cultural center and an elevated river walk on a part of the canyon floor that is Navajo land, just outside the park boundary. The proposed development, on 420 acres of rabbitbrush and grass with stunning views of the canyon, is the latest — and perhaps the most ambitious — in a long and contentious history of attempts by developers to build near a national landmark that draws 4.5 million people a year.
But the Escalade is hardly the only challenge facing Grand Canyon National Park these days. Indeed, this symbol of the national park system seems almost under siege.
A group of Italian developers is planning three million square feet of retail construction, plus 2,200 homes, in Tusayan, a newly incorporated village with a population of just 587 at the entrance to the park, posing what park officials describe as a major threat to the water supply for the Colorado River.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
One of my favorite places. I think it's a fine idea. IMO the more people who visit and experience these places, the more support for parks and the environment. Not everyone will or can hike down, I think the impact of a lift of some sort is easily manageable. As to a gondola 25 miles away ruining the pristine South Rim, give me a break, tell them to turn around for a "pristine" view. Given the fact that it's built up, I think a lift in the central corridor would be fine. But then I was OK with the quotations from Psalms too
Predictable. You just knew the local Indians would come out boo-hooing about how the land is “sacred” and no development can be done unless it’s a casino/hotel complex dedicated to Waukon Tonka.
Depends which ones you talk to.
Navajo Supporters of Grand Canyon Escalade Speak
http://grandcanyonescalade.com/navajo-supporters-of-grand-canyon-escalade-speak/
Q: Is Grand Canyon Escalade in Grand Canyon National Park?
A: No, Grand Canyon Escalade is not within the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park. It is wholly within the boundaries and jurisdiction of the Navajo Reservation. The property lies within what was once the Bennett Freeze area, land that was part of a dispute between the Hopi and Navajo. In 1966, then Secretary of the Interior Bennett forcibly removed Navajo ranchers and residents and prohibited new buildings or the construction of roads, power lines, water lines or sanitation facilities. The Navajo brought suit against the US Government and the property was made exclusively Navajo in 1979. The Bennett Freeze moratorium was lifted in 2009.
Some maybe, but it’s the Navajo doing the construction.
“We don’t want to see the site desecrated,” she said. “We don’t want the tram out there. We don’t want people out here.”
The article mistakenly names a Renae Yellowhorse as the “she” referenced in that quote.
Shouldn’t he name be Mrs. NIMBY, that’s Nimby as in Not In By Back Yard?
For an ‘Indigenous Person’, she sure sounds like an Urban enviro-commie.
If her tribe actually owns the land under discussion, then she is speaking as a property owner. If not MS Nimby is just another “Protected Class” mouthpiece with an agenda.
These 21st century “Indians” just kill me with their made up wild west names. Yellow Horse, Eagle Feather, Mangy Dog and such. How squaw, you takum shiny beads to ridum magic sky canoe to gift shop to spend much wampum? Should all us of European descent wear big hats and shoes with giant buckles? These poor indians are nearly as pathetic as all the Negro “slaves” still running around.
They do. And the tribe voted against her desires. Close vote, but still a vote and her side lost.
Paleface greenbacks makes great wampum.
The bitch about no jobs on the reservation, and the bitch about any development that might actually create some.
I'd be fascinated to know more about that! Care to share any more on it?
They do, though it’s an internal dispute. I think this is a good idea, but I suppose most of it shouldn’t be my concern. As a nation, many of us bitch about development, I give you energy. Jobs, not so much.
Lots of us Europeans bear old time “made up” names too. I’d differ with your last sentence. Yes, I’m familiar with the federal aid to the many tribes. But this article is addressing economic development, a good thing.
Probably not a good idea, though I don’t know what “site” you’re talking about. There are numerous sites in the park and the region which you won’t be encouraged to go to, and certainly won’t find out about from park personel.
Tusayan has no water - we stayed there a few years ago, and followed the tons of water trucks working their way into town......the hotel showers (at the time, and probably still) had automatic shutoffs after just a few moments.
Didn’t know that, though not surprised. Water is an issue
Indeed. They are as bad as the Muslim with all the "holy city this and hold city that".
In the meantime, THIS is how they treat the white man's history in their care.
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