Skywalk judgment threatens Hualapais

Battle Over Skywalk

$28.6 mil judgment could be devastating for Hualapais

By Dennis WagnerThe Hualapai Tribe of northern Arizona faces serious financial and political fallout from a $28.6 million judgment last week favoring a Las Vegas developer who built the Skywalk tourist attraction on reservation land overlooking the Grand Canyon.

Hualapai leaders said they are reviewing their options following the Feb. 11 decision by U.S. District Judge David Campbell.

Campbell’s ruling upheld an arbitration decision awarding David Jin, creator of the glass-bottomed Skywalk, millions of dollars in ticket revenue Jin said was owed to him under a 2003 contract with the tribe.

A lawyer for Jin warned that total damages may reach $277 million in the wake of the tribe’s move to take over the tourist attraction on the Grand Canyon’s West Rim.The crux of the conflict:In 2003, a tribally owned company, ‘Sa’ Nyu Wa Inc., signed a contract with Jin’s enterprise, Grand Canyon Skywalk Development LLC, for development of the overlook. Jin agreed to build the project for $30 million in return for half of the revenue.

The Skywalk, about 130 miles northwest of Flagstaff, opened to international media coverage in 2007 and reportedly attracts about 370,000 visitors annually. After the first year, court records say, the tribe stopped making payments to Jin’s company and refused to disclose financial documents.

In legal filings, Hualapai leaders and attorneys alleged that Jin’s company had failed to finish the project.

Skywalk Development, supported by testimony from former tribal officials, answered that a visitors center was not completed because the tribe failed to bring in power, sewage treatment and water systems, as required by contract.

That dispute went to arbitration. The tribe participated in negotiations until last year, when council members voted to condemn the Skywalk and take ownership of it. Hualapai attorneys argued in court that tribal sovereignty makes the Indian nation exempt from arbitration even though it was agreed to in the contract with Jin.

In a 27-page ruling, Judge Campbell described the tribe’s legal arguments as “odd,” “nonsensical” and “wholly unconvincing.” He concluded that the Hualapai Tribe “clearly waived its sovereign immunity.”Comment:  For more on the Skywalk, see Hualapai Tribe Seizes Skywalk and Skywalk Has Quadrupled Visitors.

Hualapai tribe seizes Skywalk

The latest on the Hualapai tribe's Skywalk, which I've covered over the years:

Indian tribe battles developer of spectacular walkway over 'sacred' Grand CanyonThe Arizona Indian tribe on whose ancestral land the Grand Canyon Skywalk was built is locked in a bitter feud with the developer who pumped at least $30 million into its construction.

The tiny Hualapai nation last month exercised its right of eminent domain to take over the management of the site and kick out the non-Indian developer.

It is a bold move that could serve as a test of the limits of the sovereign power of Native American tribes over non-members.

The dispute over the potentially lucrative Skywalk--which all agree could draw up to 3,000 visitors a day--pits the tribe's sovereign rights over a site it sees as its economic lifeblood against a developer's contractual right to manage the attraction for 25 years and share the profits.And:The dispute at the heart of the crisis appears to focus on specifications including who was supposed to provide infrastructure--power, water and sewer--for the project, with both sides accusing the other of acting in bad faith.

What is not in dispute is that a visitors' centre overlooking the Skywalk--a beautiful building on the edge of the canyon with floor-to-ceiling windows where a restaurant might have been--is nothing but a shell.

Construction on the centre stopped several years ago--the sides disagree as to why--and the building lies unfinished and vacant, with bales of insulation piled up and gathering dust on its bare concrete floor.

Visitors who drive to the site, often as a day trip from Las Vegas, must traverse a long windshield-busting stretch on a dirt road. Others fly in by helicopter or plane to the reservation's busy airport.

The Hualapai council members say the unfinished site is an embarrassment to the tribe, which approved the project despite some internal objections about building on land roughly 30 miles from a place central to the Hualapai creation story.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Skywalk Has Quadrupled Visitors and Skywalk Developer Sues Hualapai Tribe.

Below:  "Empty: What is not in dispute is that a visitors' centre overlooking the Skywalk--a beautiful building on the edge of the canyon with floor-to-ceiling windows where a restaurant might have been--is nothing but a shell."

Skywalk has quadrupled visitors

Majestic Views, Ancient Culture and a Profit Fight

By Marc LaceyBefore the Skywalk opened in 2007, 150,000 visitors in a good year would peer over the canyon edge on Hualapai land or raft down the tribe’s portion of the Colorado. Last year, the number had more than quadrupled, with many of the visitors paying as much as $73 to slip on booties and edge their way out onto the horseshoe-shaped walkway of glass.

Canyon-side commercialism now abounds on Hualapai land. Helicopter tours begin at $129. At the fully stocked gift shop, arrows cost $20 and full-length Indian headdresses $2,000. A 90-minute horseback ride along the canyon rim costs $75. Revenues are in the millions of dollars, although exactly how much money is in dispute.

In exchange for the $30 million that Mr. Jin, who is Chinese-born and based in Las Vegas, spent to build the Skywalk, he was to get a portion of the Skywalk profits over 25 years and a cut-rate price for the many tourists he brings to the site from all over Asia. He accuses the Hualapai of shortchanging him and has gone to court—both the tribal court in the tribal capital of Peach Springs, Ariz., and United States District Court in Phoenix—to press the matter.

The Hualapai accuse him of not fulfilling his end of the bargain by leaving ancillary parts of the project unfinished.

The sparring, fueled by public relations consultants and prominent lawyers enlisted by each side, has largely been out of view of canyon visitors. They throw their hands in the air and pretend to be falling from the Skywalk as official photographers snap official shots. They tour a faux Indian village and watch performances by Hualapai elders, including Robert Tree Cody, an adopted son of Iron Eyes Cody, the non-Indian who portrayed one as an actor and shed a tear to lament the destruction of the natural world in an iconic 1970s TV commercial.

There was sadness among some Hualapai traditionalists when construction began at the edge of the canyon, which has long carried spiritual significance to those who live there. But that debate is now past, and plans are on the drawing board for even more bricks and mortar, including a major resort and a clubhouse for a planned canyon-side golf course.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Skywalk Developer Sues Hualapai Tribe and Hualapai Tourism Center in Kingman.

Skywalk developer sues Hualapai tribe

Las Vegas developer of Grand Canyon Skywalk sues tribal council

Lawsuit alleges tribe plans to seize attraction through eminent domain

By Steve GreenThe Las Vegas company that developed the Grand Canyon Skywalk attraction is suing the Hualapai Indian tribe's governing council, charging it wrongly plans to seize the company's interest in the glass skywalk through eminent domain proceedings.

Grand Canyon Skywalk Development LLC filed suit Wednesday in Prescott, Ariz., and is seeking a preliminary injunction to block the alleged takeover plan.And:The Skywalk has generated some $5 million in cash flow during a recent nine-month period, yet Grand Canyon Skywalk Development hasn't been paid the management fee it's owed, the lawsuit says.

"Accounting irregularities, including embezzlement by an employee of a ticket-selling affiliate of SNW (a tribal business), and discrepancies between the number of tickets redeemed at the Skywalk and those reported sold by SNW and its affiliates, remain sources of conflict between the parties," a motion for an injunction against the "taking" says.Comment:  I don't recall reading about any of the business or financial arrangements behind the Skywalk. Interesting to read about them now, but why weren't they reported before?

It's like reporting on a proposed casino, theme park, or monument. Don't just tell us how wonderful it's going to be, show us the money.

For more on the subject, see Skywalk Doesn't Disappoint Visitors and Grand Canyon vs. Grand Canyon West.

Hualapai tourism center in Kingman

Hualapai Tribe promotes tourism, American Indian arts, crafts at Kingman visitor centerThe Hualapai Tribe now has a tourism center in Kingman.

Tribal members hosted officials from Kingman and Mohave County at the opening of the center last week.

The tribe created the center to sell tickets for its tourism ventures that include the Grand Canyon Skywalk, and to promote American Indian arts, crafts and jewelry.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Native Landmark at Grand Canyon and Hualapai Capital in Route 66 Guide.

Hualapai capital in Route 66 guide

Hualapai Tourism a part of interactive travel guide programThe capital of the Hualapai Nation, Peach Springs, Ariz., is located on the longest remaining portion of Historic Route 66 and has been featured in the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona’s new interactive travel guide the “Arizona Route 66 Passport.” The program encourages travelers to experience all the “Mother Road” has to offer. Visitors collect stamps from the Route 66 communities and attractions in order to learn about the area and receive rewards upon completion.

Peach Springs is a unique location on Route 66 because it is engrained with Native American culture and acts as a gateway for many of the Hualapai Tourism’s products including the only one-day Grand Canyon whitewater rafting trip, Hualapai River Runners, and Hualapai Lodge. Peach Springs is also the starting point for off-road tours, hiking, fishing and hunting permitted by the tribe. Peach Springs is two hours from the Hualapai’s Grand Canyon West, home of the Grand Canyon Skywalk, which too is located on the reservation and included in the Passport.Comment:  For more on promoting Native tourism, see Four Corners on Geotourism Map and Chickasaw Tourism Center.

Skywalk doesn't disappoint visitors

Here's an update on the Grand Canyon Skywalk, which I've covered since it was an idea on the drawing board several years ago.

World falling for Grand Canyon Skywalk[I]f you'd totally bought into everything your intellect suggested, you might not be here at all. You'd have saved the $73 ($43.05 for the entrance fee, $29.95 for the Grand Canyon Skywalk adult ticket), you'd have avoided subjecting your vehicle to the 70-mile, 90-minute drive out from Kingman, Ariz., most of the last 12 miles on dusty-graveled or paved-but-potholed roads. Instead, you'd be back in Las Vegas winning big at the roulette table. (Or not.)And:In its fourth year, the Skywalk has become a regular attraction not just for Chinese, but for Germans, Italians, Americans from around the country. For someone visiting Las Vegas or Laughlin, Nev., it's closer than Grand Canyon National Park, and the view is nearly as spectacular, although somewhat limited in scope.

Nobody I talk to is disappointed in the experience, although I would warn not to come here with huge expectations. And I haven't even written about environmental implications, impacts to the tribal members--some of whom consider this place, Eagle Point, as sacred ground.

It's a $31 million gimmick, and judging by the crowds, at least from a financial standpoint, so far it appears to be a worthy gamble.Comment:  I wouldn't have guessed the Skywalk would be a success. A four-hour drive from Las Vegas...12 miles on dirt roads...$73 for a 15-minute experience...and no cameras. I don't think I'd go to Mt. Rushmore or the Eiffel Tower under those conditions. But clearly many people are eager, if not desperate, for a sight of the Grand Canyon.

A previous report said visitors were going away disappointed. Have things changed, or is this reporter merely putting a better spin on things? I don't know.

For an impressive video of the location, go to the official Grand Canyon Skywalk site. For more on the subject, see Skywalk Brings Honor to Hualapai? and Grand Canyon vs. Grand Canyon West.

Below:  "Connie Smith, with the Grand Canyon Skywalk in the background, wears a dress that tells the story of how her band of Hualapai Indians were forced off their land but later returned." (John Peel/Herald)

Grand Canyon vs. Grand Canyon West

As popularity of Skywalk grows, so does Grand Canyon rivalryClare Cornick and Pat Pascale boarded the SweetTours charter bus from the Marriott Grand Chateau time-share just after sunrise, bound for their first peek into the Grand Canyon.

The childhood friends from New Jersey, now living on opposite coasts, opened their free breakfast packs and settled in for the three-hour drive to Grand Canyon West, the isolated, internationally known home to the new glass Skywalk.

They picked it over Grand Canyon National Park because it was less than half the distance and put them back in Las Vegas before dark. The trip to the park would have meant three more hours on the road.

"I didn't want to mess with that," said Pascale, a retired educator.

Their rationale is marketing gold to the Native Americans behind Grand Canyon West and heresy to Canyon purists at the government-run park to the east, a fixture of family vacations and outdoor adventures for decades.

In the 14 months since the Skywalk opened and tripled visitor counts at 20-year-old Grand Canyon West, the rivalry and rhetoric between the "two" canyons has widened beyond the 250 miles that separate them.

Skywalk may hurt Indians

Grand Canyon's South Rim Area Residents, Businesses Blast Bogus Promotional Efforts By Skywalk; Say Misleading Marketing, Negative Publicity Could Hurt Long-Term Regional TourismOperational problems and visitors' disappointment with the much-hyped Skywalk 240 miles west of Grand Canyon National Park has sparked national criticism from visitors and media, and is raising concerns among the canyon's South Rim area residents and businesses that the new attraction is more of a curse than a blessing for the region.

"In my 35 years I have yet to hear one person who hiked in Grand Canyon National Park, witnessed the unsurpassed view of the Canyon and the Colorado River, come away disappointed. Because they have misled people about the location of Skywalk, bad word of mouth won't just hurt the Hualapais, it will hurt all of us in northern Arizona," Vail said.

Skywalk's view is "gorgeous"

A breathtaking new view of Grand Canyon

Pass this test of nerves and be rewarded with a spectacular vistaThe cliff descended several hundred feet before it hit a narrow boulder-strewn shelf. Then it was straight down again, past a rainbow of strata, a few more chiseled ledges and into a dark crevice at the bottom.

This must be what Wile E. Coyote sees, I thought, just before gravity takes hold and he plummets into a little cartoon poof.

Far to the left, I could see ripples in the Colorado River. To the right was the triangular dip in the canyon wall that looks like the outstretched wings of a bird and gives this place its name: Eagle Point.

It was gorgeous.

Skywalk rips off tourists

Tired tribe takes grandeur out of canyon Skywalk"First they rob you with the $50 bus ride," said Patrick, "and then the platform itself is so, well, it was not at all what they said it was or what the brochure drawings show."

Patrick said the platform is not suspended "4,000 feet above the Colorado River" as the brochure and website claim. Security agents at the platform take all cameras and return them when tourists are back inside an adjoining building.

"The river is way off in the distance," he said. "And the cliff comes out at an angle so most of the time the rocks are just 300 or 400 feet beneath you. ... We're going to ask for some of our money back."

Skywalk officially opens

Unparalleled views impress tourists at Skywalk public debutThousands of people trekked to this neglected corner of the Grand Canyon on Wednesday to see if the long-awaited Skywalk lived up to the hype.

It was the first day the public could buy a $75 tour package and walk along the glass-bottomed bridge for an unprecedented view of the world's best-known abyss. Only media and VIPs got a sneak peek last week.

The consensus of dozens of visitors who stepped off the glass platform, most wide-eyed, smiling and somewhat unnerved, was that it was hard to access, pricey, not quite ready for prime time and, yet, an unparalleled experience of a lifetime.Comment:  When they pave the road, open the visitors' center, and lower the price to $10, then I'll consider going on the Skywalk.

Skywalk won't last

Tourist Skywalk not so grandFor those of us who look at the skywalk and see a huge eyesore, perhaps we need not wait long for nature to take its course.

Delores Honta, a Hualapai tribal member, believes the walkway's lifespan is only 15 to 20 years. "Our ground is very dry. It will not stay together. You're drilling holes and letting hot and cold air into it," she told National Geographic News.

In the same article, Mark Johnson of Las Vegas-based MRJ Architects, designer of the walkway, said that the rock wall, not the walkway's design, is the wild card that could determine the Skywalk's life span.

"At that height, the wall is made of 350 million-year-old limestone--porous material that is highly prone to erosion," the article said.

Millions of years of erosion, of course, is what have created the unspoiled beauty of the Grand Canyon.Comment:  One good thing about the Skywalk is its lack of permanence. If it doesn't do well or people deem it an eyesore, the Hualapai can remove it.

Of course, Mother Nature may strike first. This has all the makings of a classic tragedy. Indians dare to improve on God's handiwork...Skywalk collapses and falls...Indians are poorer but wiser.

Skywalk vs. Snowbowl

A hypocritical stance by tribesQuestion: What makes an ugly steel/glass structure over the Grand Canyon a thing of beauty for Native Americans and man-made snow from recycled water at Snowbowl a desecration of natural land?

Answer: One will make lots of money for the tribe and the other doesn't belong to them.

The Skywalk is an eyesore in one of Earth's most beautiful places. Snow from the sky and man-made snow look the same.Comment:  This letter writer presumes that all Native people do and should think alike. That's his first mistake.

Natives don't hold that every inch of Nature is equally sacred. The San Francisco Peaks are a specific sacred site.

Some tribes may hold the Grand Canyon sacred, but it's more likely to be the bottom (where they supposedly emerged from) than the rim. And if the Hualapai don't consider the rim sacred, that's their right.

Of course, the Hualapai tribe seems to be split on the Skywalk. Which would indicate that some Hualapai consider the canyon rim sacred and some don't. Indians that disagree with each other: what a concept.