By Save the Confluence
Today, Save the Confluence celebrates a historic achievement in the long effort to protect Tooh
Ahidiilíní—the Confluence of the Little Colorado River and the Colorado River.
With the passage of this Sacred Site legislation by the Navajo Nation Council, the Navajo Nation
has formally recognized Tooh Ahidiilíní, the Little Colorado River Gorge, and the surrounding
cultural landscape as a Sacred Site of the Navajo Nation and affirmed through Navajo law that
the Confluence is a place of profound cultural and spiritual significance, and its protection is a
responsibility that extends beyond any single generation. In particular, the legislation formally
recognizes the designated area as a cultural resource and Traditional Cultural Property entitled to
protection under the Navajo Nation Cultural Resources Protection Act.
For Save the Confluence, this moment is both a cause for celebration and an occasion for
gratitude
“This achievement truly belongs to all who spoke when speaking was difficult,” said Delores
Wilson Aguirre, Spokesperson for Save the Confluence. “It belongs to the veterans who stood for
the protection of this place. It belongs to grazing permittees and land users who refused to
accept that the lands they had tended for generations could simply be surrendered to industrial
development. It belongs to the young people who found their voices, the families who traveled
countless miles to meetings, the traditional practitioners who shared their knowledge, the
chapter officials who passed resolutions of support, and the many people who worked diligently
toward this day. Above all, it belongs to the generations who understood that Tooh Ahidiilíní was
sacred long before any law formally said so.”
A Victory More Than a Decade in the Making
As historic as this legislation is, it did not begin in the halls of government, but instead in the
Diné community.
More than a decade ago, families in Bodaway/Gap contended with the Grand Canyon Escalade
Project, a massive commercial development that contemplated a tramway descending into the
Grand Canyon near the Confluence, accompanied by hotels, restaurants, retail facilities, and
large-scale tourism infrastructure.
For those who knew the landscape intimately, the issues brought forth by the project extended
well beyond the merits of a particular economic development proposal. At its core was a more
consequential question: whether a place deeply woven into the history, identity, and cultural life
of the Diné people should be regarded primarily as an opportunity for commercial development.
And in 2017, after years of sustained advocacy, that question was ultimately answered as the
Navajo Nation Council rejected the Grand Canyon Escalade proposal. This in itself was an
extraordinary victory, but it was not the end. Other proposals followed, including pumped-
storage hydropower development in and around the Little Colorado River and greater Grand
Canyon landscape. The terminology changed, whether these proposals were characterized as
renewable energy, infrastructure or economic development, the vulnerability of these sacred
landscapes remained.
Yet, through these years of advocacy, Save the Confluence and the families at the heart of the
movement came to recognize a fundamental truth—that protecting Tooh Ahidiilíní could not
depend upon mobilizing anew each time another threat emerged and that meaningful protection
would ultimately require something more enduring.
As STC Steering Committee Chair Nelda Dugi reflected following the passage of the Sacred
Sites Legislation:
“For many years, our families were placed in the position of having to defend this sacred place
one proposal at a time. Today represents something different. Through our own laws and through
the voices of our own people, the Navajo Nation has said that Tooh Ahidiilíní is sacred and
worthy of protection. This is what our elders fought for, and it is something we can now carry
forward for our children and grandchildren.”
In this way, the movement that began in defense has now taken an historic step toward
permanence.
The People Who Made This Possible
Still, the enduring strength of this legislation lies in the persistence of the people and
communities who called for the protection of Tooh Ahidiilíní long before its formal designation.
In 2018, the Bodaway/Gap Chapter voted unanimously, 55–0, to direct its Chapter officials and
Council Delegate to take the necessary steps to secure Sacred Site designation for the
Confluence.
In the years that followed, that call grew into a broader expression of support across the Navajo
Nation. Resolutions supporting Sacred Site designation were adopted by the Cameron, Sawmill,
To’Nanees’Dizi, Tonalea, LeChee, Fort Defiance, Chinle, and Coppermine Chapters, with that
support ultimately extending to all five Navajo Nation Agency Councils—each of which adopted
resolutions supporting the designation.
These actions clearly demonstrated that the protection of the Confluence was never simply an
organizational campaign undertaken solely by Save the Confluence. It was, at its foundation, a
community-led movement that ultimately reflects not only the work of an organization, but the
collective determination of people who understood what was at stake and remained committed to
seeing Tooh Ahidiilíní protected.
What the Navajo Nation Has Now Affirmed
At its core, the Sacred Site legislation formally designates Tooh Ahidiilíní, the Little Colorado
River Gorge, and related cultural, religious, and spiritual sites within and adjacent to the
Bodaway/Gap Chapter as a Sacred Site of the Navajo Nation.
The legislation gives further substance to that designation by recognizing the landscape as both a
cultural resource and a Traditional Cultural Property entitled to protection under the Navajo
Nation Cultural Resources Protection Act. In doing so, it affirms the existing requirement that
sponsors of undertakings affecting the designated area obtain the approval of the Navajo Nation
Historic Preservation Officer before those undertakings are implemented or authorized.
Importantly, the legislation also establishes a clear statement of Navajo Nation policy concerning
future development within this culturally significant landscape. It affirms the Navajo Nation’s opposition to commercial or industrial development of the Confluence and the Little Colorado
River Gorge when such development is unwanted by local grazing permittees and land users or
when such development would impair the cultural and spiritual qualities of Tooh Ahidiilíní.
The legislation also looks toward the long-term stewardship of the area by encouraging the
evaluation of Tooh Ahidiilíní for inclusion in the Navajo Nation Register of Cultural Properties
and calling for continued coordination between the Navajo Nation Heritage and Historic
Preservation Department and the National Park Service regarding the cooperative management
and protection of the Confluence.
Equally significant is the care taken to preserve existing rights, agreements, and jurisdictional
relationships regarding the area, as the legislation does not alter existing water rights or any
present or future water-rights settlements and adjudications nor does it modify the terms or
conditions of the 2006 Navajo-Hopi Intergovernmental Compact.
Taken together, these provisions do more than confer a formal designation. They represent an
exercise of Navajo Nation sovereignty through which the tribe has given legal expression to the
cultural and spiritual significance of Tooh Ahidiilíní and established a clear policy for its
protection.
Sacred Long Before the Law
As historic as this action is, its significance should be understood with an important distinction:
the Navajo Nation Council did not make Tooh Ahidiilíní sacred, but rather formally recognized a
sacredness that long preceded the legislation itself.
The legislation acknowledges the profound importance of Tooh Ahidiilíní within Diné
ceremonial life while also recognizing the longstanding cultural and historical relationships of
the Diné, Hopi, Zuni, Southern Paiute, White Mountain Apache, and Cibecue Apache peoples to
this broader landscape.
It further records the particular significance of the Confluence to the Blessing Way and
associated ceremonies, including the history of offerings made there for the protection of Diné
servicemembers during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
These relationships were not created by legislation, but instead arise from generations of
ceremonial history, knowledge, responsibility, and connection to place. What the legislation
accomplishes is to honor those relationships by giving them formal recognition through Navajo
Nation law and gives legal expression to an enduring cultural truth.
Between Development and Sovereignty,
The protection of Tooh Ahidiilíní should not be understood as a rejection of economic
development. Navajo communities need employment, housing, infrastructure, education,
healthcare, water, and sustainable economic opportunities. These needs are indeed genuine and
pressing and need not be antithetical to cultural preservation.
As a sovereign Nation, the Navajo tribe possesses the authority to determine not only how and
where development should occur, but also the values and responsibilities that should guide those
determinations. Sovereignty is not measured solely by the ability to authorize development but also by the ability to recognize that certain places possess cultural, spiritual, and
intergenerational values that should not be exchanged for short-term economic gain.
As STC spokesperson Delores Wilson Aguirre reflected on the Council’s action:
“This victory does not mean that we oppose progress or opportunity for our people. It means
that progress must have wisdom behind it. There are places where development can occur and
there are places that carry responsibilities greater than ourselves. Tooh Ahidiilíní is one of those
places. Once a sacred landscape is lost, no amount of money can bring it back. The protection of
Tooh Ahidiilíní, represents neither a rejection of progress nor a retreat from the future, but
rather, it reflects a deliberate choice about the kind of future the Nation wishes to build.”
For Those Who Did Not Live to See This Day
Additionally, for Save the Confluence, the passage of this legislation is both a celebration and an
occasion for remembrance. It provides an opportunity to acknowledge those who carried this
work forward when success was uncertain and whose persistence helped make this moment
possible.
As Delores Wilson Aguirre reflected:
“I think today about the elders, veterans, families, and community members who carried this
struggle when the outcome was uncertain. Some of them are no longer here to celebrate with us.
We owe them our gratitude. They protected this place for us, and with this legislation we have
taken an important step toward making sure our grandchildren will not have to fight the same
battle all over again. Their example reminds us that lasting change rarely belongs to a single
moment or a single generation. It is built gradually through persistence, sacrifice, and the
willingness of people to continue working toward an outcome they may never personally live to
see. This victory belongs to them as well.”
Gratitude to Those Who Carried the Legislation Forward
Save the Confluence extends its sincere appreciation to the members of the Navajo Nation
Council who supported the Sacred Site designation and recognized the importance of protecting
Tooh Ahidiilíní for generations to come.
STC likewise expresses its gratitude to the Chapter governments, Agency Councils, grazing
officials, land users, traditional practitioners, cultural preservation professionals, advocates, and
community members whose resolutions, testimony, guidance, and sustained advocacy
established the foundation upon which this legislation was built.
Special recognition is also due to those who carried the measure through the Navajo Nation
legislative process and worked to bring before the Council a request that communities had
advanced for many years. Their willingness to translate a longstanding community mandate into
formal legislative action was essential to bringing this effort to fruition.
Lastly, the passage of this legislation demonstrates what can be achieved when community
advocacy, cultural responsibility, and governmental action converge around a common purpose.
It is a reminder that the institutions of government are at their strongest when they give
meaningful expression to the voices of the people and exercise sovereignty not only for the needs
of the present, but with responsibility for the generations to come.
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