New Save the Confluence Video Makes Case Against Escalade

“We never had any input….We don’t want this,” Save the Confluence coalition member Delores Wilson-Aguirre declares in a new video against a proposed mega-resort on the rim and tramway into Grand Canyon.

Pushing aside local grazing permit holders

Scottsdale developer Lamar Whitmer and former Navajo President Albert Hale hope to push aside local grazing permit holders and other customary users so that “Grand Canyon Escalade” partners might profit from the development. The four-minute video offers compelling images of the sacred lands and personal testimony from Wilson-Aguirre and Renae Yellowhorse, whose families have used the area for generations.

Up to 10,000 tourists per day

Construction on the rim would destroy the area, used for prayers and religious ceremonies. The proposed gondola would carry up to 10,000 tourists a day down to the Confluence of the Little Colorado and Colorado rivers. “This place where the waters meet is connected to our prayers and connected to our Yeibichei songs,” explains Wilson-Aguirre in the video. “This is what we were taught and this is what we know.” The video concludes with a “special thanks” to Save the Confluence coalition members, including more than thirty grazing permit holders who oppose the Escalade development. Grand Canyon Trust is among those supporting the campaign to “Stop the Desecration.” Learn more about tribal opposition to the proposed Escalade development.