Analysis of the spatial organization of Northeastern Arizona and the Navajo-Hopi land dispute affords the geographer ample opportunity to investigate the concepts of: cultural confrontation; spatial competition; the politics of enclaves and exclaves; the herding vs the farming economy; cross-cultural perceptions of boundaries and territories; the intrusion of a first world culture; and the survival of a fourth world culture. Historically, Anglo-Saxon policy has been one of forcing the American Indian to assimilate to the European ethic of land cultivation. Traditionally, the Navajo and the Hopi have had very different perceptions of territory, for the Navajo have been herders living in dispersed settlements, while the Hopi have been more sedentary living in nucleated villages. Failing to distinguish between the two cultures, the Federal government has imposed Anglo law upon differing Indian belief systems, resulting in perpetual conflict between the two tribes and a general distrust of the Federal government. Although this dispute will be settled via the 1974 Public Law 93-531 (final settlement of the conflicting rights and interests of the Hopi and Navajo tribes), the difficulties inherent in this dispute should be further analyzed to promote an understanding of the problems of cultural and spatial confrontation encountered in land settlement and acquisition. (JC)