Navajo Nation Law & Order Committee public meeting on Escalade

The bill to get the Navajo Nation to approve and fork over $65 million to help build the Grand Canyon Escalade gets its first public airing at a casino.

The Grand Canyon Escalade — opposed by tens of thousands of people worldwide — would take 420 acres of land away from Navajos on the western side of the Navajo Nation to build a resort and gondola tram down into Grand Canyon National Park at the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers.

The proposed development is opposed by the federal government, conservationists and more than 18 American Indian tribes, who say there are many sacred spaces that would be desecrated. The Hopi Tribe says that its land agreement with the Navajos would be violated if the proposal goes through.

Council Delegate Ben Bennett, who is not from the area, but rather from eastern Navajo, is the sponsor of the bill.

Tribal elected officials originally planned for the first hearing in Mexican Hat, Utah, but decided it should be moved to the casino after fearing public turnout would overwhelm the tiny welcome center in Monument Valley.