By Dennis Wagner | The Arizona Republic
The Hualapai Tribe of northern Arizona faces serious financial and political fallout from a $28.6 million judgment last week favoring a Las Vegas developer who built the Skywalk tourist attraction on reservation land overlooking the Grand Canyon.
Hualapai leaders said they are reviewing their options following the Feb. 11 decision by U.S. District Judge David Campbell.
Campbell’s ruling upheld an arbitration decision awarding David Jin, creator of the glass-bottomed Skywalk, millions of dollars in ticket revenue Jin said was owed to him under a 2003 contract with the tribe.
A lawyer for Jin warned that total damages may reach $277 million in the wake of the tribe’s move to take over the tourist attraction on the Grand Canyon’s West Rim.
Attorney Mark Tratos said the developer will immediately seek $10million in a trust account controlled by the Hualapai Tribe’s corporate entity, while also going after continuing proceeds from the Skywalk business. “We’re entitled to take every dime out of there until the judgment is paid,” Tratos said.
Meanwhile, experts on economic development in Indian country said the Tribal Council’s move to take ownership of the Skywalk away from Jin through eminent domain could hurt Indian reservations across the United States if investors evaluating deals on tribal land fear being wiped out by condemnation.
