A Scottsdale developer on Monday unveiled new proposed plans that include a restaurant and an amphitheater on the floor of the Grand Canyon, which tourists would access by riding a gondola tram down to the river.
Most days, the airspace over The Confluence remains pristine and quiet.
Here is audio of what Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly said to the people when he visited Grand Canyon East June 4, 2011. He spoke in Navajo about standing with the people who do not want development at the Confluence.
The Navajo tradition of sheepherding, once a dawn-to-dusk operation practiced by most families in the tribe, is in decline. Henry Lane, 98, is among the last to herd sheep in the traditional Navajo way.
A coalition of landholders and grazing permit owners on the western Navajo Nation are opposing an effort by the Navajo Nation to use a trio of individuals who gained favor with Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly to develop a tourism-based economy near the East Rim of the Grand Canyon.