The Effects of Glen Canyon Dam on the Sacred Navajo Land

Jennifer JenkinBarry Goldwater High School

2009

Why was Glen Canyon Dam built? The dam was built in 1956 to build a hydro-electric plant to increase electricity, and provide irrigation water to support a growing population in the arid southwest.

However, when construction began in 1956 the land was still part of the Navajo Reservation

January 29th, 1957 the Navajo Nation signed a Resolution with the US Government, exchanging the

land (Glen Canyon

Dam, Lake Powell, and Page, Arizona)for more grazing area in Utah.

What about Rainbow Bridge? Rainbow Bridge had been sacred to the Navajo,

Hopi, and other tribes in the area for centuries. For centuries the Native Americans lived in the

area. They had cultural stories about the area, and ancestors buried there.

The surrounding area had been home to these people when the US government was trying to send them to internment camps at Fort Sumner in 1864.

Why give up this sacred land? The Navajo did not just exchange this precious

land with out consideration.

The area they gained had been a disputed area where clashes with nearby ranchers had taken place.

Also, Rainbow Bridge had been protected from any future flooding as a National Monument since 1910.

Rainbow Bridge, 1913

Why is it so sacred? Not only had the area been a safe haven in the 1860s, but

it also was a part of the Navajo history.

The Navajo believe that the bridge represents Rainbow Man and Rainbow Woman.

Rainbow Man and Rainbow

Woman bring clean, fresh

Water to the Navajo people.

Rainbow Bridge became the

pilgrimage site for the

reservation

What about tourists?After World War II,

the population of the

Southwest began to

sky rocket, as a result,

they began to tour the

area.

One prominent vacation spot was Rainbow Lodge, near what would become Glen Canyon Dam. From there the bridge was a few miles of difficult hiking.

Senator Barry Goldwater was a pert owner of the lodge and as such, became one of the main antagonists of tourism in the area

Tourists on Rainbow Bridge, 1925

The Navajo were weary of tourist because they most likely would not respect the sanctity of the land. The tourists were thought to pass under the bridge (disrespecting Rainbow Man and Woman),and also, they were thought to be the cause of water pollution in the area.

People like Senator Goldwater and the Environmentalists agreed with this assessment.

On the other hand, in 1960, Senator Frank Moss petitioned the government to remove the National Park title (and with it the protection) to flood the area. He claimed it would enhance the monument not destroy it.

The monument is flooded Rainbow Bridge, 1983

Results - TourismRainbow Bridge has been flooded, and is

slowly being eroded.

The National Park Service requests that visitors refrain from passing under the bridge, and

leaving trash or other

pollutants in the area.

However, many of these

guidelines are broken

daily.

Results – Navajo People The consequential flooding of the sacred area caused

legal action amongst the Navajo Nation.

In 1980 the case of Badoni v Higginson crossed the US Supreme Court.The Court upheld the decision that the

flooding of the site was perfectly legal, and did not legally impact the Navajo.

The Navajo gave up all rights to the land when they exchanged it in 1957.

The American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 did not protect the sight because they had already give up their claim.

Rainbow Bridge: A Comparison 1913 1983

Citations1. “Badoni v. Higginson”. 1980. Atlaw.

http://www.atlaw.org/v1/cases/439193.2. Conservation Report. 86th Congress, Second Session, Report 12, March

18, 1960. Arizona Historical Foundation. Goldwater Senate Collection – Legislative. Box 12, Rainbow Bridge and Trail. 1959-1960.

3. Farmer, Jared. Glen Canyon Dammed: Inventing lake Powell and the Canyon Country. University of Arizona Press. 1999.

4. Goldwater, Barry. Letter to Cliff Carroll (9/9/58). Arizona Historical Foundation. Goldwater Senate Collection – Legislative. Box 11, Rainbow Bridge and Trail. 1958.

5. “Minority Views of Senator Thomas Kuchel, on the Upper Colorado River Storage Project”. Arizona Historical Foundation (AHF). Microfilm. MF15 Box 004_REEL006_0001_1.pdf pg. 458-466.

6. Nabokov, Peter. Where the Lightning Strikes: The lives of American Indian Sacred Places. Viking: New York, 2006.

7. “Navajo Resolution of Jan. 29, 1957”. AHF Goldwater Collection, Legislative, 85st Congress. Box 11. Folder: Glen Canyon Dam 1957-1958.