"Imagine standing on a glass walkway jutting 70 feet out from the rim of the Grand Canyon with the Colorado River 4,000 feet below. Although the "pucker factor" is high, 1.8 million visitors have paid $25 to take in this view since it opened in 2007.

The Grand Canyon Skywalk was built by Las Vegas developer David Jin on Haulapai Indian land in the hope it would provide jobs and college scholarships for tribal members. Both are sorely needed in Indian country, where the poverty rate is twice the national average and per capita incomes are 70 percent below average.

Despite the attraction's success, Jin and the Haulapai tribe are fighting over its future, and the battle could kill the goose that lays golden eggs. At stake are $10 million in profits held in escrow, the distribution of future profits expected to be large, and who will pay to complete the visitor center. The tribe got the upper hand in the fight when it seized the property, exercising its power of eminent domain."

Get the Story:
Terry L. Anderson: A legal chasm on reservations (The Las Vegas Review-Journal 4/12)

Related Stories:
Non-Indian developer appeals ruling in Hualapai Tribe case (3/29)
Developer continues to oppose Hualapai Tribe's jurisdiction (3/23)
Judge backs Hualapai court jurisdiction in Skywalk dispute (3/20)
Chairwoman of Hualapai Tribe seeks to resolve Skywalk fight (03/08)