Day 12 - Monument Valley to Canyon de Chelly
Highways today were US 163 south to Kayenta, County 591 to the Vendor's Village and back, east on US 160, south on Indian Route 59 to Many Farms, south on US 191 to Chinle and east on Indian Route 7 to Canyon de Chelly (pronounced "de Shay"). Before touring the Monument, we headed east on Indian Route 64 (North Rim Drive - Google Map) to Massacre Cave Overlook and back to the Thunderbird Lodge in the Monument. Google Map
Kayenta Vendor's Village
We visited the Kayenta Vendor's Village to pick up our trip dreamcatchers. Mine has red in it and Karen's has blue - to match our car colours. Of course. Karen also bought some turquoise earrings and other jewelry gifts for the girls.
Before leaving town, we crossed over Hwy 160 and stopped at Burger King for lunch.
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| Fort Wingate, N.M. 1942 (U.S. National Archives and Records) |
Navajo Code Talkers - Kayenta
Hidden inside the Kayenta Burger King is an in-depth exhibit on the famed WWII counterintelligence program. In 1986, the Kayenta Burger King opened. It was owned and operated by the son of a Navajo Code Talker, Richard Mike.
Mike decided to put the war memorabilia he had collected from his father on display in his new restaurant. "We have here in Kayenta more Code Talker memorabilia than the Pentagon does," Mike said in an interview. Burger King Navajo Code Talkers
Navajo is a unique tonal language, mutually unintelligible with even its closest linguistic relatives. The first Navajo Language Dictionary was not produced until 1943, making Navajo a particularly good language for speaking in code. The Marines recruited several young men (29 in the first class), pulling them out of reservation boarding school and working with them to build the eventual code. The original 29 Navajo Code Talkers were sworn in at Wingate, N.M. in 1942.
Navajo code talkers were recognized as skilled and accurate. The Navajo Code was never broken, and technically remained a state secret until the Vietnam War-era.
The Navajo code talkers received no recognition until 1968 when their operation was declassified. In 1982, the Code Talkers were given a Certificate of Recognition by US President Ronald Reagan, who also named August 14, 1982 as Navajo Code Talkers Day. In 2001, the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and all others were awarded Congressional Silver Medals.
Chester Nez, 93, the last of the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers, passed away on June 4, 2014 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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| Kayenta Hogan (Waymarking) |
Navajo Shadehouse Museum, Kayenta
Between the Burger King and Hampton Inn is the Navajo Shadehouse Museum - a self guided tour with open air exhibits explaining Navajo religious beliefs and customs.
The exhibit includes a mud-covered sweathouse and two traditional Navajo dwelling known as hogans. The center also features native craftspeople, ceremonial dances and storytelling.
Two walk-in hogans - traditional Navajo dwellings and ceremonial sites - reflect the importance of parental protection, in both the literal and spiritual sense.
Interesting to note is that hogans built with vertical, leaning, teepee shaped log walls that shed rain and withstand wind are "male," protecting inhabitants like a father. The round or palisaded hogans, made of horizontally stacked logs curving inward to form a domed roof are is considered "female" because it cares for those within like a mother.
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| Church Rock, Hwy 160 AZ |
Highway US 160 - Church Rock
U.S. Route 160 travels east/west across the Navajo Nation and Northeast Arizona. The vast majority runs through rural and sparsely populated sections.
Most of US 160 in Arizona is also known as the Navajo Trail. Once we headed east on hwy 160 we were in pretty barren land. Stuck in the middle of nowhere is Church Rock. It is located 7.5 miles east of Kayenta near the mouth of Church Rock Valley.
Thunderbird Lodge and Trading Post, Canyon de Chelly
We arrived mid afternoon and booked into the Navajo owned and operated Thunderbird Lodge, the only hotel actually located within Canyon De Chelly National Monument. The hotel also took care of our Sunset Tour reservation. The Lodge sits on the site of a trading post built in 1896, and its cafeteria-style restaurant is located in the trading post's original building. Adorning the walls of the dining room are excellent examples of Navajo Rugs and artwork available for purchase.
The Thunderbird Lodge Trading Post and rug room sells some of the regions finest Native American jewelry, crafts and Navajo rugs as well as mementos, clothing and other items.
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| Canyon de Chelly - Edward Curtis (1904) |
Canyon de Chelly, Arizona
Canyon de Chelly National Monument (pronounced "de Shay") was established on April 1, 1931 to preserve the archeological resources that span more than 4,000 years of human occupation.
Edward S. Curtis (1868–1952) left an enduring mark on the history of photography in his 20-volume life's work, The North American Indian. Between 1900 and 1930, Curtis traveled across the continent photographing more than seventy Native American tribes. Edward S. Curtis - Smithsonian
The monument, located entirely on the Navajo Nation, covers 83,840 acres and encompasses the floors and rims of the three major canyons: de Chelly, del Muerto, and Monument. Canyon de Chelly National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 25, 1970 as #70000066.
Throughout the history of Canyon de Chelly, paleo-Indians, ancient puebloans, Hopi and Navajo have lived here. Ancient Puebloans built stone villages under sheltered overhangs. The Hopi lived and farmed on the canyon floor, but all that remains of their time are petroglyphs chipped in the walls. The Navajo first occupied the canyon 600 years ago.
The Battle of Canyon de Chelly
The Battle of Canyon de Chelly was fought in 1864. It precipitated the Long Walk and was the final major military engagement between the Navajo and the Americans. The battle ended with the fall of the main Navajo settlements of Canyon de Chelly.
At the time of the American Civil War, the Navajo Nation was the largest in the Southwest. Colonel Kit Carson had been waging a campaign against the Navajos destroying homes, food and supplies. Brigadier General James H. Carleton ordered Carson into the Navajo stronghold in Canyon de Chelly.
Colonel Kit Carson sent troops through the canyon, killing 23 Indians, seizing 200 sheep, and destroying hogans, as well as peach orchards and other crops. The Navajo in Canyon de Chelly had already suffered attacks from Ute warriors. The raids by the Utes and soldiers had taken its toll on some of the Navajos. The destruction of the Navajo camps, crops and supplies came at a crucial time for the Navajo. Cold, hungry and tired, many realized they would not be killed by the soldiers if they came in peacefully. By the summer of 1864 Carson had accepted the largest Native American surrender in history. Nearly 8,000 people had surrendered and were soon moved to the Bosque Redondo reservation. The deadly journey became known as "The Long Walk of the Navajo".
The Long Walk of the Navajo
The "Long Walk" started in the beginning of spring 1864. Bands of Navajo led by the Army were relocated from their traditional lands in eastern Arizona Territory and western New Mexico Territory to Fort Sumner (in an area called the Bosque Redondo) in the Pecos River Valley. The march was very difficult and pushed many Navajos to their breaking point, including death.
They were never informed as to where they were going, why they were being relocated, and how long it would take to get there. The distance itself was cruel, but the fact that they did not receive any aid from the soldiers was devastating. Not every person was able to trek 400 miles. Many began the walk exhausted and malnourished, others were not properly clothed. Many died during the Long Walk and with the conditions at Fort Sumner being equally grim, many others perished there as well.
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| Navajo captives under guard at Fort Sumner, Bosque Redondo, New Mexico, circa 1864–1868. |
Finally, after four years of captivity, the first reservation "experiment" the U.S. government used to manage the Navajo population was deemed unsuccessful, and the Navajo were permitted to return to their land in Canyon de Chelly - the "Long Walk" home. This is one of the few instances where the U.S. government permitted a tribe to return to their home lands.
North Rim Drive - Indian Hwy 64
Before heading to our Sunset Tour, we drove the North Rim Drive. The North Rim Drive overlooks Canyon del Muerto. The North Rim is a little over 15 miles to the last overlook. It over overlooks several historically significant sites within the canyon. Ledge Ruins Overlook is closed due to safety problems. Google Map - North Rim Drive
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| Antelope House Ruins (Wikipedia) |
Antelope House Overlook - 8.5 Miles
The Antelope House ruin, below a vertical, 600 foot cliff, takes its name from the antelope paintings on a nearby cliff wall.
Beneath the ruins of Antelope House, archaeologists have found the remains of an earlier pit house dating from A.D. 693. Across the wash from Antelope House, an ancient tomb, known as the Tomb of the Weaver, was discovered by archaeologists in the 1920's.
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| Mummy Cave (American Southwest) |
Mummy Cave Overlook - 13.2 Miles
Mummy Cave is named for two mummies found in burial urns below the ruins. Archaeological evidence indicates that this giant amphitheater consisting of two caves was occupied from 300 A.D. to 1300 A.D.
Between the two caves are 80 rooms, a three story structure, and three kivas. Much of the original plasterwork is still intact and indicates that the buildings were colorfully decorated.
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| Massacre Cave (American Southwest) |
Massacre Cave Overlook - 13.2 Miles
Massacre Cave Overlook has short paths to two viewpoints - Massacre Cave and Yucca Cave. Massacre Cave was named after an 1805 Spanish military expedition killed more than 115 Navajos at this site.
Accounts of the massacre differ. One version says there were only women and children. The Spanish version says there were 90 warriors and 25 women and children. Also visible from this overlook is Yucca Cave, which was occupied about 1,000 years ago.
Shake and Bake Sunset Tour - Canyon de Chelly National Monument
Access to the floor of Canyon de Chelly is restricted. You must be accompanied by an authorized guide. The shake-and-bake tours are in rugged military-type trucks. We figured the 4 hour, 24 mile sunset tour might be a bit cooler and we hoped the "shake" part wasn't too bone jerking. The tour makes frequent photograph stops at the ruins, Navajo farms, and rock art.
The tour gave us a new perspective from the valley floor of the cliff dwellings we viewed from the North Rim Drive this afternoon. To it were added more dwellings and petroglyphs that are not visible from the Rim Drives.
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| White House Ruin (2008) |
White House Ruin
The White House, below a sheer 600 foot desert varnish cliff on the south side of Canyon de Chelly, is one of the most famous ancient dwellings in the Monument.
It is a two-level dwelling with one part on the valley floor and the other in an alcove 50 up the cliff. The White House was occupied between 1060 A.D. and 1275 A.D. It is named for the white plaster used to coat the long back wall in the upper dwelling.
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| Spider Rock (Wikipedia) |
Spider Rock
The park's distinctive geologic feature, Spider Rock, is a sandstone spire that rises 750 feet from the canyon floor. At one time it was connected to the ridge between Canyon de Chelly and Monument Canyon.
The erosion process worked at different rates along the ridge, leaving Spider Rock behind. According to traditional Navajo beliefs, the taller of the two spires is the home of Spider Grandmother.
Spider Grandmother
Spider Grandmother (Hopi Kokyangwuti, Navajo Na'ashjé'ii Asdzáá) is an important figure in the mythology, oral traditions and folklore of many Native American cultures, especially in the Southwestern United States.
When she is called upon, she will help people in many ways, such as giving advice or providing medicinal cures. "Spider Grandmother" is seen as a leader, a wise individual who represents good things - a constant helper and protector of humans. She spent time on the the rock aptly named Spider Rock.
Canyon de Chelly Pictographs and Petroglyphs
Canyon de Chelly National Monument preserves the distinct architecture, artifacts, and rock imagery of the Archaic people (2500-200 B.C.), the Basketmakers (200 B.C.-A.D. 750), the Pueblo (750-1300), the Hopi (1300-1600s), the Navajo (1700-present), and the Spanish interactions with these peoples. Their history is documented by hundreds of images etched and painted on the canyon walls.
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| Kokopelli Cave Petroglyphs (Wikipedia) |
Kokopelli Cave Petroglyphs
The petroglyph panel from Kokopelli Cave shows several hand prints, a snake, as well as two human-like Kokopelli - one playing the flute while lying on its back.
Kokopelli is a fertility deity, usually depicted as a humpbacked flute player (often with feathers or antenna-like protrusions on his head). Like most fertility deities, Kokopelli presides over both childbirth and agriculture. He is also a trickster god and represents the spirit of music.
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| The Spaniards (Wikipedia) |
The Spaniards
This procession of riders astride horses is believed be a Navajo rendering of Spaniards. Painted directly onto the rock face in the Canyon de Chelly, both animals and their riders appear in silhouette.
Specific details—the cloaks and hats (some white, some colored with red), the rifles and cross—suggest the painter observed this party of travelers with keen eyes. This procession is thought to represent the punitive expedition led by Antonio Narbona against Navajos in 1805.
 Post Note - Day Twelve:
Today took a very long time. It was just so informative, I had trouble moving along. We've travelled this route before so it was really an eye-opener to find out some things about the area we have missed. Who knew there was a Navajo Code Talkers display in the Burger King in Kayenta and a Hogan Display in the parking lot? We have never stayed in the Hampton Inn right next door so just by fate - we missed it. We've seen other Code Talkers Exhibits in our travels, but doing in depth research about the Navajo Code Talkers was quite amazing.
Once we arrived in Canyon de Chelly, I dug out our old pictures from 2011. We had some excellent ones from the South Rim White House Overlook but nothing from the North Rim. What we couldn't do (without going on a tour) is get close to the various ruins and petroglyphs.
I'm not sure, in reality, if we would take the "shake and bake" tour. Probably not. I don't like to be jerked around. Memories of Universal Studios and Alaska come to mind! Since a virtual tour is "free", I was tempted today to rent our very own "private" tour of the Valley - but the "shake and bake" sounded a little more exciting (and virtually I wouldn't get jerked senseless).
The last time we were in Canyon de Chelly, it was so hot we could hardly breathe. We watched as hikers wove their way down to the White House Ruins and almost "perished" in sympathy for them.
Tomorrow we head back to Bluff to continue with the Utah portion of the Trail of the Ancients.
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