September 27, 2009

Hopi to reopen Twin Arrows

Hopi Tribe hopes to reopen restored I-40 rest stop

By Hillary DavisNorman Honanie, a Hopi council representative and land team member, said the tribe’s ambitions for the site include reopening the curio shop and diner. The store would showcase and sell authentic Native art, and traditional dancers would hold performances in the open area outside the small stucco building that still bears a faded mural declaring Twin Arrows the “Best ‘Little’ Stop on I-40.”

Even sooner than that–by next summer, Honanie estimates–Twin Arrows could be home to a monthly “Indian Market,” which would allow Native vendors to sell arts, crafts and other wares.

Twin Arrows would have a Hopi focus but also welcome other nearby tribes, such as the Navajo, Zuni, Hualapai or Havasupai. Just north of the site, Navajos are in early talks about their own major commercial endeavor: a $200 million, 150-room, 1,100-slot machine casino, spa and hotel complex.

Honanie said the casino and the Twin Arrows post would complement each other, bringing customers to one venue, who then might venture across the road. He pointed out that Twin Arrows is already known as a point of interest.
Comment:  For more on the subject, see Twin Arrows Refurbished.

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