December 15, 2006

Tribe split over Skywalk

Visitors stand 4,000ft over Grand CanyonTourists will pay $25 to experience the Skywalk, which is being built at the western rim of the Grand Canyon. Sheri Yellowhawk, a former tribal councilwoman overseeing the project, said: "We have to do something, and this is something spectacular."

The experience would be "quiet and personal", she added. "We are not building a power plant or high-rise building, we are complementing the canyon and providing something new to the world." However, other members of the tribe, which believes its ancestors emerged from the earth of the Grand Canyon, are worried.

"We have disturbed the ground," said Dolores Honga, a 70-year-old tribal elder who regularly travels to the canyon edge to perform traditional dances. She said workers on the walkway, which is surrounded by sacred archaeological and burial sites, often complained to her about nightmares.

No comments: