The Navajo Nation Council has taken a major step toward protecting one of its most precious water resources.
A unanimously passed measure formally acknowledges the Confluence — where the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers meet — as a sacred site under tribal law.
Doing so formally documents what Navajos already know — the spiritual and natural significance of where these two life-giving rivers converge in northern Arizona's high desert.
Tooh Ahidiilíní — the Diné phrase for the Confluence — is not only special to Navajos, but this landscape is also part of the ancestral homelands for Hopis, Zunis, Southern Paiutes, and Apaches. The effort behind turning it into an officially recognized sacred site has been decades in the making.
"This legislation is long overdue," said Delegate Curtis Yanito, the bill's sponsor, in an August special session. "It's time for us to protect this area that's been protected by the local people of the Colorado River."
Cataloging information from the Confluence may also be used to potentially deter future commercial development by industries like hydropower — while the Trump administration is eyeing energy projects on tribal lands.
"When that comes forward, we can show what impairment of those resources look like," said Erik Stansfield, senior anthropologist with the Navajo Nation Heritage and Historic Preservation Department.
During his recent testimony before Navajo delegates, Stansfield likened the Confluence to where they're all sitting — the council chambers in Window Rock, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
"Like the murals in this room, changing that would be an impairment to the sort of historical and cultural importance of this place," added Stansfield. "It's very much the same with the plants and animals, water quality, and offerings that have been made at [the Confluence]."
"We detail that out, and that helps us kind of defend this area," he added.
The Confluence is now subject to the Navajo Nation Cultural Resources Protection Act.
Coverage of tribal natural resources is supported in part by Catena Foundation
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
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