National

Review: Hualapai Tribe markets the Grand Canyon

Monday, May 21, 2007

"A visitor to these stark and imposing lands of the Hualapai Indians on the western rim of the Grand Canyon knows what sensation is being promised at the journey’s climax. After driving for a half-hour over bone-jolting dirt roads some 120 miles from Las Vegas, you take a shuttle bus from the parking lot, not far from where helicopters are landing, and construction is proceeding. You deposit all cameras at a security desk, slip on yellow surgical booties and stride out onto a horseshoe-shaped walkway with transparent sides and walls that extends 70 feet into space, seemingly unsupported.

Below the floor’s five layers of glass (protected from scratches by the booties) can be seen the cracked, sharp-edged rock face of the canyon’s rim and a drop of thousands of feet to the chasm below. The promise is the dizzying thrill of vertigo.

To be frank, even the stunning view off the Hualapai ledge does not hold up to a comparison with the south or north rims, which are controlled by the National Park Service. The stone eagle, like the Skywalk itself, does not actually hover over the Grand Canyon but over a subsidiary tributary canyon. The distance straight down is also less than the 4,000 feet to the Colorado River mentioned in promotional material. And the vista itself, however grand, is less shockingly immense and overwhelming than those in the more famous areas of the park. Even the colors are less variegated.

What is being offered instead is another kind of lure, sensed in the personal appeal of one of the site’s hosts, Wilfred Whatoname, a former tribal policeman and environmental officer, who proudly affirms his tribal affiliation with the feathers in his hair. He poses for photos, generously offering help to visitors. “We’re in the realm of the eagle,” he says, facing the canyon, his arms outstretched to embrace the updraft.

His picture also appears on the side of every Hualapai shuttle bus. He is shown gazing out at the new Skywalk, while below him, a helicopter and a Hummer romp near a motorized raft on the Colorado River. The portrait, like the Skywalk itself, manages to invoke both a romantic image of the American Indian — preternaturally close to the land, its past and its powers — while promising the kind of activities that have been banned from the main part of the canyon by the Park Service."

Get the Story:
Great Space, Glass Floor-Through, Canyon Views (The New York Times 5/20)
pwnyt