Native American tribes in the Southwest have deep cultural ties to the land and the landscape, but that relationship is being tested by a wave of energy development on and around some reservations. As oil, gas and coal extraction spread across the western United States, the Navajo and the Southern Ute tribes are faced with financial opportunities that sometime conflict with traditional values.

There’s tension over tribal values, the environment and economic growth on the Navajo Nation. Many members favor a proposed $3.5 billion Desert Rock coal-fired power plant on the grounds that it will create jobs and deposit significant lease, royalty and other payments into tribal coffers. Navajo President Joe Shirley claims the power plant, and the accompanying coal mine on the reservation will add 400-500 jobs for 50 years. And "this is going to be the cleanest power plant in the world."

PHOTOS: Native Resources

Lucinda Yellowman Bennalley, President of the Nenahnezad Chapter on the reservation, sees no conflict between power generation and generations of respect for the land. "This is where there is an abundance of natural resources and it is our responsibility to be stewards."

But there is strong opposition to the planned plant. Members of Dine Citizens Against Ruining our Environment (CARE) are concerned about the health and environmental impact of an expansion of coal mining on the reservation and of another coal-fired power plant in the neighborhood. Navajo community activist Dalian Long says “there are spiritual components that we consider part of our environment. (Navajo) fundamental laws mandate us to be good stewards and good caretakers of the environment, and that’s what allows us to continue our resistance” to Desert Rock.

The Southern Ute tribe hasn’t encountered the same level of resistance to energy development. The tribe has interests in more than 1,000 oil and gas wells around the country and the homeland is rich in natural resources as well: the reservation is perched atop a significant coalbed methane deposit in the San Juan Basin.

By becoming a major player in the energy business and by using its natural resource wealth to expand into real estate development, the once-poor tribe is now worth an estimated $4 billion. The Executive Director of the Southern Ute Growth Fund, which manages some of the tribal wealth, says getting rich from the land is a form of freedom. "Financial sovereignty basically gives us the opportunity to steer our own destiny." Bruce Valdez sees no conflict between drilling and traditional values. "It’s going to be developed anyway," he says.