Before seeing the Confluence, I had only seen the Grand Canyon once, despite being raised and having lived in the Navajo Nation for years. My experience on the Desert View rim of the canyon had a touristy feel to it. I felt like I did not experience my first Grand Canyon visit to the fullest extent, though I did feel amazed at how vast and awe-inspiring the canyon was.

  Editor's Note: This is Kayla Yazzie's guest essay about a trip to the Grand Canyon East Rim in western Navajo Nation in May. The trip was to the area high above the rim of the Little Colorado and Colorado River called the Confluence. Yazzie is a Grand Canyon...

The Grand Canyon Trust is offering a chance for Native youth to view the canyon from above this month.

The sacred site bill seeks to protect canyons, waterways of portions of Grand Canyon East rim on the Navajo Nation. The move comes amidst a developer’s plan to extract groundwater to generate electricity for cities.

Two members of Save the Confluence families are part of storytellers featured in a video celebration of the Little Colorado River.

Even though the gondola proposal is dead, developers continue to try to exploit the area. Everything from proposals to drill for water in a land already stricken by long-term drought, to bringing Jeeps loaded with tourists onto the land continue to be pitched. Families, just struggling to survive on the land, as they have for generations, live in shacks with leaky roofs, no electricity and  no water unless it is hauled in by truck. Above all, the very culture of the people is at stake.

A Phoenix dam developer pulled permits Monday on two proposed dam projects on the Little Colorado River on the Navajo Nation after the feds issued an ultimatum to update his proposal.

A federal agency put a Phoenix developer on notice: Update information about two proposed dams by Friday on Navajoland. Otherwise, permits will be cancelled.