SAVE THE CONFLUENCE: SAFEGUARDING THE LITTLE COLORADO RIVER

The confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers in the Grand Canyon has been a place of deep cultural significance since time immemorial for 11 associated tribes (Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai, Kaibab Band of Paiute, Las Vegas Band of Paiute, Moapa Band of Paiute, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, The Pueblo of Zuni, Yavapai-Apache Nation, and Navajo Nation). Developers first began targeting the confluence in 2009 with plans to build a mega-resort called Grand Canyon Escalade that would have brought up to 10,000 visitors a day to this remote part of the canyon. The Save the Confluence coalition of local Navajo families stopped the Escalade development in 2017.

On the heels of that victory, however, new developers submitted applications to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build three hydroelectric dams on Navajo land just up the Little Colorado River Gorge from the confluence.

Join the Red Road to DC in a virtual event to discuss efforts to Save the Confluence.

Speakers

Delores Wilson-Aguirre:

Delores grew up with her extended family of mobile shepherds, high above the confluence of the Colorado River at Grand Canyon East Rim.  Her family moved there during the winter, named Tsah Tah, or “Among the Sagebrush.”  Currently, she lives in Tuba City, AZ, and recently retired from the Navajo Nation Judicial Branch.  Her family fought against relentless developers, who proposed a tram into the canyon, for five years to Save the Confluence.  And with the support of the world, on October 31 2017, the Navajo Nation Council voted down the Grand Canyon Escalade legislation.

Willie LongReed:

Willie is a retired High School Biology teacher from Tuba City, AZ. His home is an area west of Tuba City called Bodaway, on the east side of the Grand Canyon North Rim, where the Little Colorado and Colorado Rivers come together. His religious beliefs are based in Navajo Culture and Traditions and have provided mental and spiritual strength throughout his life and studies. He studied in Stanford University and got his Masters in Secondary Education. He returned home and has taught in the Tuba City Unified School District for 30 years. Three years after retirement, he became a school board member where he tried to be a listener and problem solver, rather than dictating to the teachers and staff. In 2007, an outside developer from Phoenix wanted 400 acres of land at the confluence of the Little Colorado and the Colorado rivers. They wanted to develop a tourist resort which would have destroyed a sacred site for the Bodaway Dine’. After a decade of resistance, the Save the Confluence families managed to keep the land. The Navajo Nation Council voted almost unanimously to reject the development. Today the families are tasked in keeping another developer from building a dam on the Little Colorado River.