The Navajo Nation and Page

The city of Page sits on a mesa that, until nineteen fifty-eight, was part of the Navajo Nation. Understanding that history changes how you see the place. When the Bureau of Reclamation decided to build Glen Canyon Dam in the mid-nineteen fifties, they needed land for a construction camp and permanent townsite on the canyon's rim.

The only suitable land was Navajo territory. In nineteen fifty-eight, Congress passed legislation formalizing an exchange of Navajo land, including what would become Page and the shoreline of the future reservoir, for a similar amount of land near Aneth, Utah. Navajo leaders accepted the exchange under significant federal pressure, but many in the community considered the deal deeply unfair.

Critics judged the replacement land far less valuable. Navajo families who had lived, farmed, and grazed livestock on the land that became Page were displaced. Critics say they had little say in the outcome and received little compensation.

The construction workforce that flooded into the new camp was mostly non-Native, and Navajo workers who applied for dam construction jobs were often placed in lower-wage roles. The relationship between Page and the Navajo Nation has grown more complex over the decades. Today roughly forty percent of Page's residents are Navajo, and the Navajo Nation holds jurisdiction over significant surrounding land.

The slot canyon tours, guided by Navajo operators, represent a rare case where the nation has reclaimed economic power from the very landscape whose transformation displaced its people.