Today was an interesting day checking out this area. We started the day by driving along the North Rim of this National Monument stopping to walk to several overlooks. At almost every stop there were Native Navajos selling their art. But one young man was playing his flute. We realized after talking with him that he was the person playing his flute last night at sunset and this morning at sunrise in our campground. He explained all of the symbols on
the folk art and talked about his heritage. Of course we bought his CD, plus a necklace that his girlfriend had made. It is from the juniper tree berries. We have seen many natives collecting them along the road. Their necklaces and earrings are really beautiful and it is very hard not to keep buying.
We decided not to take a hiking tour but to take a jeep tour instead and what a wonderful decision that was. We hired Howard who owns the campground we are staying at. We were in the Canyon for 4 hours! We saw more cliff dwellings than I could count and many petroglyphs, but the best part was listening to Howard talk. He was born here and remembers the Canyon as a very different place growing up and playing in it. His family owns land in the Canyon and he took us there. On the cliff were the remains of a 7 story dwelling that was destroyed when the overhang collapsed when he grandfather was 18 years old. He also wove into his stories the history of his people going back to the Athabaskans going back to the First Nation People of Canada. He said that the language is very similar and having just returned from a trip to Alaska where they joined a gathering of First Nation People, he also found similarities in both their language and beliefs. It was a good day.
So many wonderful pictures that it is hard to decide which ones to send!
They built their dwellings not only on the cliffs but also in the canyon.
Our guide Howard at his ancestral land. The second picture shows the remains of the rock walls used in the terracing gardening. Most of the gardening area is now covered by the collapse.
This is the view that Howard woke up to every morning as a kid - not bad!
We asked Howard about water because we noticed that everyone has to haul water, there is no water in the Canyon and none on the South Rim where our campground is. Howard said that he remembers water in the Canyon but then 'they wanted a fishing lake' and built a dam which diverted the water from the Canyon. Hmm, I wonder who 'they' are???
This Canyon and the surrounding area is rich in Native American history, a really worthwhile adventure. It is very different from Mesa Verde, much larger in area and with more dwellings, but you also feel like you are on a reservation. The town of Chenle that borders the Monument is not a prosperous one and you have to wonder what people do for jobs. Howard said that very few of their youth leave the reservation.
Tomorrow we will drive through the Hopi Reservation on our way to an overnight at Tuba City, also in the Hopi Reservation. We need a campground with electricity and hot showers. The we head to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for 4 nights camping in the Park.
We are very hot by day but cool at night. The Casita has served us well with no electricity. The fridge is running off propane and doing just fine.
We probably will have no internet at the Grand Canyon so we won't be in touch again for several days.
We hope that you are all well and enjoying the local apples!
j/k
From the bottom of the canyon to the top
Sunset at Spider Rock Campground
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