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Grand Canyon Skywalkers

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Skywalking Indians explores the impoverished Hualapai Tribe's search for economic independence in the heritage tourism industry by sinking millions into the Skywalk: a gigantic glass walking bridge jutting out into the Grand Canyon--a kitschy tourist trap with peculiarly
indigenous overtones. Featuring tribal business leaders who advocated for the Skywalk, tribal elders who opposed it--and hosted by two
sincere and satirical anthropologists-- this pod explores the
issue most pertinent to Native American independence: when should
tradition be compromised to make a buck?
rawbird

26 responses // Grand Canyon Skywalkers

  • The line is:

    "All the Native American's we've spoken to are completely authentic in their concern that this remain traditional and the money goes back to the tribe."

    Listen before you critique.
    rawbird
  • Great piece... really interesting window into one scenario that i imagine occurs in many other "tourist" destinations around the world.

    yeah, i see no issue with having "completely authentic concern"

    bgross
  • You're totally right RawBird, I do "like this"!
    bstein
  • Don't get me wrong, I love the piece, especially those burning man glasses. Work it.

    I just found your editorializing of the experience a little difficult to digest. I think you did a good job of off setting that with a multiplicity of voices from the people. I would have loved to hear more from more tourists, though the one you got was amazing.
    sarahbelle
  • sarabell, my approach is in the tradition of the visionary journalists of Vanguard who go to places before the stories break and interpret what may occur. We expect a bit more engagement from our audiences than mere consumption and "digestion."

    But frankly, I am more concerned with your dangerous assumption that wherever Native Americans are so too is whiskey. The high rate of NA alcoholism isn't incredibly funny.
    rawbird
  • Interesting piece. I think you remained pretty unbiased, though there was certainly a skeptical tone throughout. I see no problem with pragmatism beating out tradition, but I do see the concern with trying to preserve a sense of cultural integrity and identity amidst progress. It's a balancing act that all cultures must endure. I thought it was interesting how the guy mentioned that it was the older tribal members who had a problem with the tourism, them having more to lose psychologically than the newer, progress-minded generations. Necessity is the mother of invention and I think overall this 'tourist trap' is a good thing.

    I thought the attraction itself was kinda freaky. I lived in Vegas and really didn't like going too far out into the dessert--something about no water or shelter for miles that gives me the creeps. But some people love it.
    kellij
  • Great Peace! It Leaves the question between good and Evil.
    be12345678
  • This is a great piece Adam and Bradley. Maybe a capsule will burst for the lucky few out there on the plexiglass rim of the canyon edge. You never know...


    Great editing/Interviews. Loving the hat!
    Emmhisattva
  • Hey Rawbird... the only reason Sarahbelle might be smelling the whiskey is because she hasn't brushed her teeth from last night.

    "Native Authenticity" has nothing to do with academia...

    It's whatever I choose. Everything I do, and everything I say is an "authentic" Native experience.
    Have another shot, and read about it in your textbooks next year.

    PS- Thanks for the ignorance, I forgot why I thought America retarded in the first place.

    -Ben-Alex-
    A Digital Chief

    TheDigitalChief
  • Hey there Chief!

    I think in a different context what Sarahbelle said makes sense. But in this context, given the precise quote, it's a bit off base. Though, given the somewhat cynical tone of the piece, I could see how if she wasn't listening to every word, how "authentic" registered the way it did for her. Given the tone of the piece mixed with way he used the word, the way he paused after saying the word, it did sound a bit off. It's a stretch, but I'm trying to help her out here.

    And what's with the America bashing? I work as an art docent at Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, OK (USA) and we have one of the most prominent native american collections there is. Interestingly, the idea of "authentic" comes up a lot, because modernist native artists in the seventies, were consistently rejected by the greater native community for creating art that wasn't "authentic" enough. But certain native modernists (mainly abstract artists and colorists) finally sold the idea that ANY art created by native american's is authentic native american art. So in this sense Sarahbelle is right: Authentic is a relative term.

    Rawbird, love your Vangaurd approach to journalism--makes me want to be a journalist. I guess I'll have to settle for fiction writer though.
    kellij
  • First of all, the whiskey reference was not directed towards the native people, but Adam, so please do not think I think the alcohol problem is a joke, it isn't.

    I did not mean to detract from this wonderful pod which shows a very compelling side of the story, I am sorry for anyone who took it out of context. I was just questioning the blanket statement of "authentic" and can see now on repeat viewing that perhaps it is a stretch to critique it.

    thanks for all your comments, this is clearly an interesting issue we have at hand, though I don't appreciate being called ignorant as the comment was meant to bring to light an ongoing question about the subject.
    sarahbelle
  • ...so a people with 50% unemployment spend 40 million to build a thingy that will help them collect (i hope way more than 40 million for their tribe) because they need to make money. This problem is true in Navajo and other tribes where they want the uranium and coal mining back because that has been the only way they have been able to support themselves. What would that 40 million do for these people if they invested in education and a business alliance within their community? Who are the non-tribe people who helped this project along? What was their part in it? Like the Italian mafia there is tribal corruption. Where is that part of this story? Was that part of why this got built? Who really gets to decide what happens with that money? The glass walk thingy is the least interesting part of this. The process/history/decision/journey of why choices like this happen in Native American society is a better story. I would have liked to hear more about that.


    can you squeeze all that into 4 minutes?

    ;)
    twodee
  • http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=531046201272800...
    whats missing for me is the basejump footage from the edge of the skywalk...or at least one single mf shot standing on the platform looking down.....how dreadfully anticlimactic. i'm sure they didn't want you to bring yur camera onto their sacred monstrosity...thats what flipcam's are for.

    i could care less what indians or tourists have to say about this structure...I'm only interested in the money shot...which i did not see here.. also, the engineering specs...i'm curious how they built that thing and when exactly the risk assessment people estimate it will fall into the canyon - i hope and pray to the indian god[s] that someone catches that on camera...and actually uses a tripod...while standing on the platform.

    ethno-alcoholism is quite hilarious, actually...when you reeally think about it. right?

    othrwise, keep up all the hard* work :)

    re: 'authenticism' ,ignorant quarrel:
    Absolute truth is a very rare
    and dangerous commodity in the context of
    professional journalism -E.R. Murrow

    Everyone is a prisoner of
    His own experiences. No
    one can eliminate
    prejudices - just recognize
    them. -H.S. Thompson
    smorrisey
  • did I miss something? i was hoping for the money shot- you know, what it looks like when you get out there on the horseshoe and look down at your feet.
    stephenthomson
  • I'm not too fond of the idea bridges are being built up there, it's not the journey of connecting with nature, like whatthe canyon was mainly famous for, why would you want to see it when that's happening to it?
    steadward
  • Sarahbelle, here-here! I'm with ya. You get credit for getting a good debate going! I wouldn't apologize though if I were you.

    Twodee, excellent insight, loved your take, and quotes. I appreciate that you stated a humor to ethno-alcoholism. I love politically incorrect speech because it forces us to objectively question thinking-norms, to come at it with a fresh perspective and outside of the limited PC realm.
    kellij
  • I am a bit dismayed by the Sarabelle dogpile, but ecstatic that the debate has begun.

    We made no attempt to mask our bias on this journey. Attempts at objectivity and unbiased journalism are the real illusions here. What we did bring to Skywalk was an awareness open to the possibility (however unlikely) that this project was a democratic Native enterprise that was working to revive and stimulate an indigenous culture in danger of losing everyone on its tribal roster to Las Vegas in an attempt stay afloat in the middle of the Arizona desert in a ruthless capitalist economy.

    We grilled everyone mercilessly about where they money came from, where it was going and about who built this wondrous monstrosity and why.
    What we found was what Adam said - an authentic concern that this remains in the hands of the Hualapai.

    BTW, drinking whiskey with informants is a great way to get 'authentic' responses. I think I noted that on the release forms.

    BLG
    Goblinmerchant
  • kellij, I think you mean to give credit to Smorrisey for those insights and quotes.
    twodee
  • American Indians are often faced with economics vs. environment or tradition vs. environment. The salmon fishing in the Northwest, Hunting the last big cats in Florida, whales in Alaska etc. Indians remain at the bottom rung of economics in our society. I am shocked that people still think it is ok to promulgate stereotypes including the "noble savage" or "the drunk Indian". I have seen over the years of representing tribes and Indian people that environmentalists can be very strident and ignore the economic plight that Indian people and tribes have to deal with to preserve and survive.
    pacebp
  • Rawbird you were not in the "middle of nowhere" you were at the "center of the universe."
    pacebp
  • great point pacebp. Much of the content on CurrentTV is urban-centric or telling the classic third world poverty story from an urban-centric eye. The challenge is to get the voice of those outside the city limits telling their story in their words without concern for making it sound catchy/hip/groovy/rad/peachy/word/yaddda.

    vanguard= (the forefront of an action or movement)

    vanguard journalism?

    I don't know what that is.
    twodee
  • Guess what?
    I'm looking at all these insightful, polite, and well-spoken responses and I have to say...
    I'm impressed with this complex and thought provoking analysis of what I call, "Native American Poop."

    It would make a hell of a lot more sense if I hadn't just done three sake bombs on a Friday afternoon
    ...and i wasn't thinking about how cool it would be to really "dog pile" someone. Sounds kinda fun.

    Notes of defense:
    1) I do not hate the United States. I do hate many people IN the United States, and many of them happen to also be Indians. (see "Soldiers Reunite" on Youtube for more clarification)
    2) There is "tribal corruption" but it's hardly mafia worthy. Ask my friend the Councilman... He's still trying to figure out how to get Geico as his insurance provider... and thats supposed to be easy enough for a caveman. Go figure.
    3) I had nothing to do with the production, or construction of this story.
    After dating a full blooded Navajo/Hopi girl for three turbulent years... I would rather see Godzilla smashing up the Grand Canyon, then waste my valuable "Indian" time pondering the beauty of it.
    Unless there was a way we could film throwing people off of it... like the Tatooine skiff scene in Return of the Jedi. That would be dope.
    4) All that I have said above, I am not accountable for... because I am Native, and I am drunk.

    FINAL NOTE
    If you litter, I WILL NOT cry. Just making that clear.

    BeNAleXXX
    The Digital ChieF
    TheDigitalChief
  • I bet some of the money goes back, not all. No way all the money goes back. This sort of makes me angry because this is one of those situations where the outsiders come in and make things all better! right.
    deg334
  • What a great story!
    Crank_Design
  • this is very good. you had to go within a 1/2 mile of my music mt. rock ranch when you turned of the pavement on to that dirty dirt rd. ive lived out here in the middle of nowhere for a long time. about 20 miles by the way of the crow. 2002 or 2003 is when i heard about it.I knew it was coming sooner or later, they tried a casino years ago, didn't work. I didn't think this would work either, it did. Like you said they have the right and i'm all for that. ive known them for years thats who ive got fire wood from since 1985. there good people with a good idea and they will do it right. "Hay you torrist that come up here to see this wonder, slow down, watch for cattle and DON'T LITTER!!!!! Good job! I'll watch for more.
    arizonamike
  • stop selling the sacred herb while you're at it!
    BooksBrown

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