Canyon de Chelly is located in northeastern Arizona, near the Utah border, and, in a strange turn of events, is an unlikely alliance between the federal government which manages the place as a national monument, and the Navajo people who own the land because it is located on the Navajo reservation. What that means in practical terms is that you must abide by the laws of the Navajo nation and you can't just strike on your own for a little hike. You have to hire a Navajo to go with you. Which we did, but we are generally strike out on our own types who don't normally feel the need to be escorted.
That's our guide TJ. He is demonstrating how to use an atlatl, it's used to throw an arrow long distances. He was pretty darn accurate with it, although based on the look on his face after he hit the target I'm not sure how often that occurs. See that arrow he's holding, he made that himself and it is a beautiful, well-made thing. I can admire it up close now because he sold it to me right after this little demonstration.
These were our views outside the open air jeep that we took down into the canyon. We were the first people down there in the morning but by the time he stopped to explain some pictographs there were several other jeeps all crowded around us.
There is no shortage of pictographs here. I've seen them many times in many places in the southwest and no one has ever explained why they are fat with skinny arms and legs.
At first our Navajo guide just rattled off what I assume is a well-rehearsed litany of stories about the dwelling and pictographs. But, after a while I got him to talk about his grandparents who lived in the Canyon when he was a boy. He opened up and told me several stories about them and how he used to roam the whole canyon and climb into the dwellings and find pottery. He said his grandmother had grown up in the canyon but his grandfather had not and did not like living so far away from a town. One night they had a heated argument and he left her, only to return in the morning because he couldn't find his way out of the canyon. When I asked if they were buried there, he stiffened up a bit and explained that they were buried near his current home so he could protect them. Um, ok protect them from what? Skinwalkers. Oh.
We had fun on our jeep tour and I thought our guide was knowledgeable and able to answer most of my questions, but I would have preferred to hike this canyon and I'm not sure if I would be comfortable having a stranger along no matter how in touch with their heritage he/she is.
White House Ruin
White house ruin is one of the most photographed cave dwellings in the southwest. As well it should be, it's particularly haunting. It's a 1,000 year old Puebloan dwelling named for a little known attempt to have the Pueblos run the government from Arizona around 1300 AD. There is a short trail, just 2.5 miles round trip, to the ruin and it's the only dwelling you can get up close to without hiring a jeep tour. Since we were already on the tour, and since they practically drive you up to the front door, we opted out of the hike.
There were plenty of guesses as to how people got into their homes
Did I mention it was pretty cold in the shade?
Cottonwood Campground
I liked Canyon de Chelly and I would come back. Even if you don't want to hire a Navajo guide, you can still drive the rim and see some spectacular scenes of the canyon floor and the dwellings. Unlike the Grand Canyon, there are vendors selling trinkets at every single pullout but they were all respectful and none were pushy which was great for me because I purchased a necklace of ghost berries, guaranteed to ward off skinwalkers.
No comments:
Post a Comment