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NorthofAda

Grand Canyon Skywalk divides tribe

Nearly finished attraction will provide income, but 'sacred ground' an issue

Reuters
Updated: 12:38 p.m. CT March 5, 2007

GRAND CANYON WEST, Ariz. - Plans to perch a walkway over the rim of the Grand Canyon are dividing the American Indian nation that owns the land, with backers calling it a fount for valuable jobs and opponents condemning it as a desecration of a sacred landscape.

A private developer from Las Vegas is building the $40 million dollar, horseshoe-shaped, walkway, dubbed the Skywalk, with the permission of the Hualapai tribe on ancestral lands abutting the southern rim of the canyon in Arizona.

The concrete and steel pathway is being paved with 90 tons of toughened glass. It will be cantilevered 70 feet out over the lip of the rim to offer steely-nerved visitors a dizzying glimpse of the Colorado River valley almost a mile beneath their feet.

Supporters say it will create hundreds of jobs for tribal members on the sprawling pine-covered reservation, home to some 2,000 people, where poverty is rife and unemployment stands at about 50 percent.

Dollar signs obstruct view?
But traditionalists say the construction violates the hallowed natural landscape of the canyon, which is central to the tribe's creation myths. According to tradition, the Hualapai's ancestors emerged from the plunging gorge; some elders believe their blood stained parts of it a deep red.

"The canyon is sacred ground and our ancestors' bones are buried there," said Dolores Honga, 71, who has performed ritual dances on the lonely, wind-swept rim for decades.

"You have to love the land ... and not see it with dollar signs in your eyes," she told Reuters.

But the Skywalk is near completion and set to be inaugurated by former astronaut and lunar voyager Buzz Aldrin on March 20.

Although the Hualapai Indian Reservation runs for more than 100 miles along the Grand Canyon, the tribe has so far failed to woo many of the 4 million paying visitors who trek there each year.

$25 a walk
Sheri Yellowhawk, who oversees the tribe's business arm, hopes that the Skywalk will lure up to 500,000 tourists in the first year alone, shelling out $25 a time to walk out over the yawning abyss.

The project will create 150 new jobs for local people over the next two years, she believes, and could parlay into a larger-scale development in years to come, including a 300-room hotel and restaurant at the site, about 100 miles east of Las Vegas.

"I don't see it as desecration ... I believe that it is a safe, unique means of seeing the canyon, and a catalyst for the future development of the nation," Yellowhawk told Reuters.

With less than a month until the inauguration, tribal chairman Charlie Vaughn said the dispute over the project has given him sleepless nights.

But faced with the need to fund projects including a court house, a day-care center for the elderly and a fire department, he stands firmly behind the venture.

"I felt the Skywalk was in the best interests of the tribe," he told Reuters as he stood at the construction site, with tour helicopters wheeling far below him in the gorge.

"But let's move back from the rim with future development and preserve the beauty of the canyon."

Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.

Ta'neeszahnii Techno

Skywalk sliding out over Grand Canyon

Stephanie Paterik
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 7, 2007 12:00 AM

The Hualapai Tribe began rolling its million-pound Skywalk over the edge of the Grand Canyon on Tuesday and plans to finish the job today.

When complete, the glass-bottom walkway will jut 70 feet beyond the Canyon's West Rim. Tourists who pay $74.95, strap booties over their shoes and walk across the U-shaped lookout will see the Canyon beneath their feet, an unprecedented view.

A VIP event is set for March 20 and the public grand opening March 28.


http://www.azcentral.com/business/ar...ywalk0307.html

WhoMe

Ta'neez,

When I was down there I was told that that the water was sacred and two rock formations on the canyon walls were part of their creation story. If these two rock formations ever fell, that would mark the end of the earth! They did not allow roads or mechanized vehicles (aside from tractors) down there.

The news of a skywalk is a complete opposite turn from what they had held to be sacred.


Hmmmmmm?

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"...Learn the new, but always hold true to what's yours."

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Singing Eagle

Pay $75 to scream my head off - to be traumatized for life - I don't think so!

WhoMe

Yeah I agree.

Why pay $75 when your significant other can do it for FREE!!!


*L

__________________
"...Learn the new, but always hold true to what's yours."

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Ta'neeszahnii Techno

Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin is supposed to be one of the first individuals to walk over the canyon after being one of the first human beings to set foot on the moon.

Ta'neeszahnii Techno

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin will take a small step into space in March when he takes the historic first walk on the new Grand Canyon Skywalk at Grand Canyon West, Arizona

http://arizona-travel.suite101.com/a...canyon_skywalk

superndngyrl

I want to walk over it, but $75?

do they even give an NDN discount?

Ta'neeszahnii Techno

Is this at Supai where the only way to get to the Havasupai village is either by foot, horse, or helicopter?

Or are you referring to the area where the Hualapai are opening up the Skywalk?

Singing Eagle

Well, I actually thought - geez if I wanted to scream my head off I can just go to a Keith Urban concert!

Ta'neeszahnii Techno

Interesting info at: http://www.grandcanyonskywalk.com/compare.html

Ta'neeszahnii Techno

As it was being built this year, some Hualapai elders said they began to question the wisdom of the project. The tribe considers the canyon sacred ground, and the construction cut into land scattered with Hualapai burial sites.

"You have to be real gentle with the land," said Hualapai spiritual leader Frank Mapatis. "It's a living being, and it can feel those things."

Environmentalists also have criticized the project for diminishing the canyon's majesty.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...kway07-ON.html

Annie Fawn

Think I'll just stay on solid ground thank you, unless a climbing harness comes with the booties.

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shorty

that would be totally awesome if it broke when they went to walk in it!!!! lol

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middle of the sky

why couldnt they have just strung a cable across the gorge or whatever and have people just go swinging thru? like thru the trees.... hope they built it strong enough cuz im not an engineer but it looks like itll fall....
plus...i guess i should read what the arguments are..by the natives round there..like is it generating money for schools...blah blah blah... whos profiting? ...yeah it seems kinda tacky..

Little Man's Ma

I think I would be there crying my eyes out waiting for my kids to come back off that thing.. I saw the video on msn.com .. scary stuff for us fraidy cats.............

trob226

Ditto. I can't even take the canyons of New York City from the upper floors, much less walk over the Grand Canyon and look down into it. I wonder how many people they will have to carry off because they fainted dead away?

WhoMe

Ta'nees,

Yeah, my bad. I was thinking of the Supai down in Havasupai.



Singin'E,

I forgot that Keith Urban does "it" for you~ *L

__________________
"...Learn the new, but always hold true to what's yours."

WhoMe's Dad (From Gathering of Nations website)

Josiah

http://www.azcentral.com/commphotos/azcentral/727/1/27/


Not sure what i think about this although they seem to want tourists they have several things already set up
The west side is totally remote and hard to get to but I guess the thinking is you will come from the Las Vegas side and make the trip

I was on the South rim for the first time in about 30 years back in 2003 boy what a change!!!!
And more of a change was the fact that your charged money to see 4 corners!!!

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CandaePrincess

It's actually going to cost $25 a person, not $75.

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