A unique and magical "nation within a nation". This short guide takes you to the iconic Monument Valley, the stunning Canyon de Chelly, and the Navajo Nation's capital Window Rock. There's also a short stop in the famous railroad and Route 66 town Gallup, a town which has strong links with the Nation, despite being just "over the border". Nature, culture and politics overlap in this stunning region.
This was filmed in 2019. The Covid pandemic has had a devastating impact on the Navajo Nation and one can only hope that the Dine will fight back from this terrible episode as they have done from even worse setbacks in the past. The Navajo Nation Museum at Window Rock should be visited to gain an insight into the struggle that lead to the Navajo clinging on to a part of their ancestral lands against the odds.
The landscape is awe-inspiring, even without the depth of knowledge and spiritual insight that the Navajo have for each canyon, plant and rock.
Excerpts from Blog - (Full article at www.travelobscurer.com)
The Canyon de Chelly (pronounced “Shay”) is is a jewel of the Navajo Nation, the largest tribal land in the USA, a country within a country. Ever since my first short visit almost twenty years ago I have felt an inexplicable pull to these arid lands that feel so distinct that it’s almost a surprise that one doesn’t have to pull out a passport at the border. Outsiders have always called them the Navajo but in reality they are Diné, “the People”. Their recent past is one of almost complete annihilation and their present is a struggle with poverty and cultural identity. The People have never had an easy life.
At 6 am the air was fresh and the forests of the Defiance Plateau were illuminated long before the punishing south western sun rose like a cannon ball over the tree-line. We began our descent at the White House Trail, the only trail within the Canyon that is permitted without a local Navajo guide. We knew we must show the respect of honoured guests. Not only is the Canyon of immense spiritual significance for the Navajo but it has also been farmed and inhabited for generations.
Although appearing to require an almost vertical descent, the trail loops back and forth through ravines and at no point did we feel an unnerving sense of vertigo. A short tunnel eventually leads out to a field and a traditional hogan constructed of wooden poles. From there we followed a flat path along a muddy track that contrasted sharply with the lack of moisture on the wind-blown plateau. A rickety bridge then took us across the gently flowing Chinle Wash towards the ruins. The trail is named after the White House, a group of ruined dwellings that lie partly on the valley floor and partly in a wide alcove in the streaked vertical cliff face. It is thought that around 50 Ancestral Puebloans occupied this site from around 1070. Given the harsh nature of life out on the plateau, this settlement, with its tillable soil and cooler air must have been close to paradise for its time.
Approaching the ruins we saw surprising signs of life. A couple were setting up their artisan jewellery on a makeshift stall so we walked over and introduced ourselves. They were residents of the Canyon, the renowned Navajo silversmith Andrew Henry and his wife Bessie, herself a highly skilled jeweller.
Serena’s eyes were drawn to the Storyteller bracelet, Andrew’s iconic piece. The images
on the bracelet depict a true story of traditional Diné life in Tse'yi (Canyon de Chelly). Carrying just enough dollars we were able to purchase this unique keepsake of a magical moment.
Two hours’ drive south east of the canyon, nestling up against the New Mexican border, lies Window Rock. This “blink and you miss it” community of under three thousand people is the unlikely capital of the Navajo Nation, housing the Navajo Nation Council Chamber and the Supreme Court. It’s a sleepy place, with most of the administrative offices housed in single storey buildings huddling in the shadow of the eponymous Window Rock, a red sandstone cliff that allows the Arizona sky to burn through a spectacular natural arch. Less prosaically, the direct translation from Navajo is “Rock with Hole Through It”, which captures the image exactly.
In the park underneath the Rock is a glistening statue of a crouching soldier clutching a transistor radio, a monument to the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II.
Before leaving the capital I wanted to pay a visit to the Navajo Nation museum. Housed in a modern block, with a traditional hogan in the grounds, the museum leaves you in no doubt as to the ordeals that befell the Navajo people as the Wild West swept over them.
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