Havasupai building flood recovery around fellow tribe’s donation
With BC-CNS-Havasupai-Box
Photos: 1 | 2 (thumbnails, captions below)
By KELLY McGRATH
Cronkite News Service
PHOENIX (Thursday, Oct. 23) _ A $1 million donation will help the Havasupai clear flood debris from campgrounds, reopen trails and get tourists back to their Grand Canyon reservation and its picturesque waterfalls, the tribe’s chairman said Thursday.
At a news conference here, Don Watahomigie accepted the money from the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians, a California tribe.
“Today we say: We’re here, we hear your call and we’re ready to assist you,” said James C. Ramos, whose tribe operates a bingo hall and casino near Highland, 70 miles east of Los Angeles.
Ramos said his tribe could someday be in the same position as the Havasupai.
“If we’re able to help today, let do it,” he said.
On Aug. 17, a catastrophic flood forced hundreds of Havasupai Tribe members and tourists to evacuate. About a third of the tribe’s 650 members have yet to return.
Campers, who sightsee and swim at the Havasupai’s waterfalls, aren’t allowed on the reservation because of the damage.
“Everything in our village that gets revenue from tourism is at a standstill,” Watahomigie said.
He said the donation has allowed the tribe to launch an economic recovery plan aimed at making the reservation accessible, repairing infrastructure and providing shelter, food and financial assistance to tribal members.
“We’re just grateful that San Manuel was able to donate this enormous amount,” Watahomigie said.
The tribe also plans to install gauges 40 miles upstream to alert those in and around the village of Supai to possible floods. And it will repair two cemeteries damaged in the flood.
Joe A. Garcia, president of National Congress of American Indians, which held its annual convention in Phoenix this week, said it’s important for tribes to look out for each other.
“I think we need to do a lot more of this,” Garcia said. “We challenge all our brothers and sisters to provide the same kind of guidance and assurance to our other brothers in more need.”
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Web Links:
Havasupai Tribe: www.havasupaitribe.com
San Manuel Band: www.sanmanuel-nsn.gov
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PHOTOS:
Click thumbnails to see full-resolution images and download; caption information is in the file under File>File Info.
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-HAVASUPAI-FLOOD: Don Watahomigie, chairman of the Havasupai Tribe, speaks Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008, at a news conference in Phoenix. Watahomigie accepted a $1 million donation from the Los Angeles-area San Manuel Band of the Serrano Mission Indians to aid the Havasupai’s recovery from floods that devastated their reservation in the Grand Canyon. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Greg Lindsay)
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-HAVASUPAI-FLOOD: This photo provided by the Havasupai Tribe shows a 50-foot waterfall created by a catastrophic flood that hit the tribe’s reservation in August. On Wednesday, Havasupai leaders accepted a $1 million donation from the San Manuel Band of the Serrano Mission Indians in Southern California. (Courtesy of Havasupai Tribe/Patti Telalongva)