Into Navajo Land

May 27, 2002

May 27 - We headed south towards Arizona and the Grand Canyon. Our route took us through the Navajo reservation. We stopped at the Navajo Tribal Park Visitor Center and soon found ourselves signing up for a Navajo guide led tour of Monument Valley. It was a bit pricey, but interesting and  it did allow us to see some unusual rock formations up close and visit a hogan that that we could not have seen without a Navajo guide.

Monument Valley is full of mesas, buttes, spires, and other interesting rock formations.

An interesting arch that, when viewed from a certain angle, has an opening shaped like an eye. It is called, "Sun's Eye".

"The Hogan" is a huge alcove in a rock cliff. It is rounded like an outdoor music shell and has a hole at the top open to the sky, like a smoke hole for a hogan. Hence it is called, "The Hogan". The acoustics inside it are excellent. Our guide played a guitar in the "Hogan"; the sound was very rich and resonant, sort of like singing in the shower.

We also visited a real hogan. The navajo ladies inside demonstrated the process of taking wool and making yarn. The woman on the right combed the wool to align the fibers and remove debris. Then the grandmother took the combed wool and starting spinning it into yarn. But, instead of a spinning wheel, she used  a simple spindle and worked the yarn by spinning the spindle with her right hand while controlling the tension with her left hand.

After the Navajo tour we headed on to Navajo National Monument to camp for the night. Despite its name, it has no connection with the Navajo Nation, except to be surrounded by it. We went there because: 1) it is on the way to Grand Canyon, and 2) it has a free campground. (I am not averse to camping for free.) We found it to be a very delightful place. The main feature of attraction is the Betatakin Ruins, which are the remains of a village of  pueblo-like dwellings in an alcove in the side of the Betatakin canyon wall. According to archeological studies, the village was populated by about 100 - 125 people from about 1250 A.D. to about 1300 A.D. The tribe that lived there is called the Anasazi, which is a Navajo name for "ancient other people".  The Hopi indian tribe, which has a reservation about 50 miles south, claim the Anasazi as their ancestors, since a drawing on one of the walls looks surprisingly like one of their ancient symbols.

A telephoto view of the Betatakin Ruin inside the alcove.

Next stop - Grand Canyon National Park.