A glass walkway that juts out of the Grand Canyon was unveiled Tuesday in Arizona with much fanfare by an American Indian tribe.

But not all Hualapai were pleased with the walkway, with some saying they think the U-shaped structure is defacing sacred ground.

Don Havatone of the Hualapai watches the Skywalk's rollout on March 7.
(Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press)

The Skywalk, a $30-million US glass-bottomed platform reinforced by steel, is suspended more than 1,200 metres above the canyon floor and extends out about 20 metres from the western rim of the canyon.

It is fastened to the canyon wall by a complicated system of steel cantilevers, but it appears to hang in the air above the canyon floor, giving visitors a commanding view. Its height above the canyon floor is more than twice the height of the world's tallest building.

About 1,000 invited guests, including former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, attended the opening ceremony on Tuesday. Aldrin, the second man on the moon, was among the first people to step onto the walkway.

Tribal leader Robert Bravo told CBC News the tribe hopes the walkway will increase tourism on its side of the canyon and give it a much-needed economic boost. The tribe controls the less-developed western end of the canyon.

"You know, ultimately, right now, what we're doing is for all of our children. This is for the future of our children," he said.

But Harley Smith, a tribe member, said he is opposed to the walkway because he thinks the land should not have been altered.

"We are the only tribe that has one of the seven wonders of the world on our land and we should respect it," he said.

600,000 visitors expected

The tourist attraction opens to the public on March 28.

The tribe hopes the skywalk will attract about 600,000 visitors a year. It said in a news release that access to the skywalk will cost $25 US per person, with only 120 people allowed on the walkway at a time.

An estimated one-third of the tribe's 2,200 members live in poverty.

"When we have so much poverty and so much unemployment, we have to do something," Sheri Yellowhawk, a former tribal councilwoman overseeing the project, told the Associated Press. "It sounded like a good idea."

The Skywalk, built by a Las Vegas developer, is about 190 kilometres east of Las Vegas. The Hualapai have a reservation in Arizona about 140 km west of Grand Canyon National Park.

With files from the Associated Press