In May 1971, lawyers from Diné be’iiná Náhiiłna be Agha’diit’ahii (DNA Legal Services) organized elders, medicine men, and other members from various Northern Arizona tribes to protest a proposed expansion of the Grand Canyon National Park boundaries onto Navajo and Havasupai lands. By October 1971, this hastily organized coalition became more cohesive and began efforts to protect other Indigenous lands across Northern Arizona. The first large scale effort of this coalition was an attempt to halt a proposed Aspen-style ski village from being built below the Arizona Snow Bowl at the base of the San Francisco Peaks. This effort brought about a lawsuit in 1973 that, coupled with increasing public opposition, stymied the efforts of the developer, and brought a halt to the Snow Bowl Village plan. The efforts of DNA attorneys and tribal members also created a blueprint that would be followed throughout the 1970s and beyond (sometimes successfully, often not) at Rainbow Bridge National Monument, and again at the Grand Canyon and the San Francisco Peaks.

 

William C. Holly is a post-doctoral student at the University of Idaho.  He is a historian of the American West, 20th Century U.S. History, Cultural History, and Indigenous History.  His research focuses on sacred sites in the American Southwest, specifically Northern Arizona’s San Francisco Peaks, and conflict over these sites especially in regards to tourism activities.  His research manuscript entitled “The Mountain is Part of Us: Tourism and American Indian Sacred Land in Northern Arizona” is under contract to be published by the University of New Mexico Press in their Histories of the North American West Series. His post-doctoral project examines conflicts surrounding the Peaks during the period 1969-1984, and the rise of Indigenous legal actions aimed at stopping expansion of tourist activities at these sites.  William received a PhD in history from Arizona State University in 2023.