Post by blackcrowheart on Mar 16, 2006 10:20:14 GMT -5
The canyon of many spirits
The canyon of many spirits 15 March 2006
www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3603748a2180,00.html First occupied
by humans thousands of years ago, Canyon de Chelly is one of the longest
continuously inhabited landscapes in North America, Mary Kirk-Anderson
writes. Canyons are funny things. They sneak up on you – no
warning, no build- up, no distant view of craggy peaks slowly growing
from the horizon. Suddenly you are just there, at the edge, looking
down, sometimes way, way down. Nowhere is this truer than with the
great canyons in the south-west of the United States, particularly in
Arizona, the Canyon State. In a landscape that is often barely
undulating, these sudden chasms, sometimes like nothing so much as
inverted mountains, split open the desert to reveal a hidden world.
The Grand Canyon is, of course, the classic, but not too far away is
another canyon wonder, Canyon de Chelly. Although nowhere near as
wide, deep, or long as the Grand Canyon, Canyon de Chelly's sheer walls,
spectacular rock monoliths and fascinating connection with the native
communities who have called it home, create a sense of a living place
with more than simple geography to recommend it. De Chelly (pronounced
de Shay, from a corruption of tsegi, or rock canyon, the Navajo name for
the area) is in Arizona's north- eastern corner, in the Four Corners
region, and lies within the great lands of the Navajo Nation. In 1931 it
became a National Monument site and it is unique among National Park
Service units in that it remains home to the canyon community and the
NPS works in partnership with the Navajo Nation to manage the park
resources. It is essentially private land. With the exception of one
walking trail, the only way to enter the canyon is with a Navajo guide.
Made up of several gorges, the canyon is one of the longest continuously
inhabited landscapes in North America, first occupied by the ancestral
puebloans about 2000 years ago. Today, the steep walls preserve in
remarkable condition easily viewed ancient ruins and rock paintings from
as far back as the 12th century, tracing occupation of the canyon by the
ancient Anasazi people, the Hopi tribe and latterly the Navajo, who
arrived in the 1700s. The cultural history of the canyon includes its
share of tragedy. Perhaps the most infamous event, now remembered as the
Navajo "Long Walk", came in the 1800s as American settlers were
spreading relentlessly west and the US Army was called upon to help with
the "Indian Problem". In 1863, Colonel Kit Carson led a scorched-earth
campaign against the Navajo, destroying homes, livestock, and
agriculture within the canyon, and starving out the last of the
warriors. Thousands of Navajo were forced to walk the nearly 650km to
the dry, barren flatlands of eastern New Mexico where the
"experimental", supposedly self- sustaining Bosque Redondo Indian
Reservation was established at bleak Fort Sumner. The Navajo endured
four years of hunger and disease as drought, insects and the salty
waters of the Pecos River destroyed their agricultural efforts. Up to
3000 Navajo are thought to have died during this period. In 1868, the
army admitted that Bosque Redondo was a failure and the Navajo were
allowed to return to their homelands. Today, the Navajo Nation, covering
about 6.5 million hectares, is the largest of the Native American
reservations. More than 50 Navajo families still live and farm inside
the canyon itself, with land passed down through the female family line.
Many Navajo are involved in associated tourist activities, including
guiding and creating traditional craft for sale. A visit to this area
is not in any way a theme-park Indian experience. The canyon remains of
great spiritual significance to the Navajo. Tourist activities and
infrastructure are low key, and if you didn't already know about Canyon
de Chelly, you could be forgiven for passing through the straggly,
unattractive gateway town of Chinle not much the wiser. It is a
changeable day in early spring when I visit, with horizontal rain and
hail, then sunshine and a clear sky of unbelievable blue, all during a
four-hour jeep tour. It is the price for being here early in the season
– the benefit is a relative lack of people, although even at the
height of the season, visitor numbers do not rival those of more
well-known scenic attractions. The entrance to the canyon is a couple
of kilometres east of Chinle, where the walls begin to emerge from the
desert floor and quickly rise to more than 300m in places, following the
meandering Chinle Wash. Four-wheel-drive vehicles simply drive up the
wash into the canyon. My canyon guide, Ben, grew up in the canyon,
speaking only the Navajo language and "climbing rocks, and herding goats
and sheep" for fun. At the age of six he was taken from his family to a
boarding school where his Navajo tongue was banned, but now "the only
time I speak English is on these tours," he says. He teaches me the
Navajo greeting, "Ya' ah' tee," and talks about Dine', or "the people",
as the Navajo call themselves in their own language. It is a rough
ride in the jeep and the route wanders in and out of the wash, which,
after recent rain, is wider than usual. The labyrinthine canyon floor
widens, narrows and widens again as we drive alongside sheer walls and
overhangs, around monoliths and through tangled stands of vegetation.
DECORATIVE: The many Anasazi rock paintings date back to the 12th
century. The sheer walls of "de Chelly sandstone" are a reddish
colour, streaked with brown. Ben calls this "nature's hair" and it does
resemble a long, straight mane flowing down the walls. At the visitors'
centre, near the canyon entrance, a more scientific explanation suggests
that the "desert varnish" has its origins in a manganese-fixing bacteria
that lives on the canyon walls in areas where rainfall runs over the
rim. Tucked into ledges here and there beneath bulging walls are
remarkable stone structures built by the Anasazi. Other sites feature
rock paintings so well preserved that it is hard to believe they have
not been made sometime the previous week, let alone up to 700 years
earlier. But the tour is not just about scenery and ancient relics.
This is part of a living community, with wooden hogans (traditional
Navajo dwellings) and timber fences dotted through the canyon where
people are farming, and herds of Navajo-owned horses roaming the wash.
At several of the popular stopping points, Navajo craftspeople sell
jewellery and carvings. My tour ends at the spectacular ruins of the
14th-century White House, the destination of most half-day tours. This
is only about 10km in from the entrance, which leaves a lot of ground
uncovered because the canyon winds its way up about 50km into the Chuska
Mountains. Had I had time, I would have gone for the full-day
excursion to Spider Rock. These astonishing twin pinnacles are said by
the Navajo to be the home of the Spider Woman, who taught them the
weaving for which they are famous but who also steals misbehaving
children. As it is, I content myself with the superb view of this
formation from the Spider Rock overlook, the furthermost point on the
south rim drive. It is a fine memory to leave with. GETTING THERE
House of Travel has five-day packages from $3008 that put participants
within easy driving distance of numerous Native American sites in
Arizona and neighbouring New Mexico. The package includes return
economy-class airfares flying Qantas from Auckland to Los Angeles and
America West Airlines via Phoenix to Albuquerque, two nights
accommodation at Best Western Rio Grande Inn, Albuquerque, three nights
accommodation at Best Western Arizonian Inn, Holbrook, and five days
Hertz fully inclusive mid-size rental car. Holbrook is about two hours
drive from the Canyon de Chelly and closer to other attractions such as
the Petrified Forest National Park. Phone 0800 838-747. Canyon de
Chelly is about 115km north of the I40 Interstate between Albuquerque,
New Mexico, and Flagstaff, Arizona. AdvertisementAdvertisement
Accommodation at its gateway town, Chinle, is limited to three hotels
– Thunderbird Lodge, Best Western Canyon de Chelly and Holiday Inn
Canyon de Chelly – and two primitive campgrounds. Advance hotel
bookings are essential during summer. To enter the canyon, visitors
can opt for privately run jeep tours; group tours in open army-touring
vehicles; or, you can hire a Navajo guide as a driver for your own 4WD.
Horse and walking tours are also available. Expect to pay about
$US125 for a half-day private jeep tour for three people and a guide,
and about an additional $US30 an hour for a longer excursion. Two
excellent rim drives, north and south, offer a series of spectacular
overlooks. Mary Kirk-Anderson travelled to the United States and
Canyon de Chelly at her own expense.
The canyon of many spirits 15 March 2006
www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3603748a2180,00.html First occupied
by humans thousands of years ago, Canyon de Chelly is one of the longest
continuously inhabited landscapes in North America, Mary Kirk-Anderson
writes. Canyons are funny things. They sneak up on you – no
warning, no build- up, no distant view of craggy peaks slowly growing
from the horizon. Suddenly you are just there, at the edge, looking
down, sometimes way, way down. Nowhere is this truer than with the
great canyons in the south-west of the United States, particularly in
Arizona, the Canyon State. In a landscape that is often barely
undulating, these sudden chasms, sometimes like nothing so much as
inverted mountains, split open the desert to reveal a hidden world.
The Grand Canyon is, of course, the classic, but not too far away is
another canyon wonder, Canyon de Chelly. Although nowhere near as
wide, deep, or long as the Grand Canyon, Canyon de Chelly's sheer walls,
spectacular rock monoliths and fascinating connection with the native
communities who have called it home, create a sense of a living place
with more than simple geography to recommend it. De Chelly (pronounced
de Shay, from a corruption of tsegi, or rock canyon, the Navajo name for
the area) is in Arizona's north- eastern corner, in the Four Corners
region, and lies within the great lands of the Navajo Nation. In 1931 it
became a National Monument site and it is unique among National Park
Service units in that it remains home to the canyon community and the
NPS works in partnership with the Navajo Nation to manage the park
resources. It is essentially private land. With the exception of one
walking trail, the only way to enter the canyon is with a Navajo guide.
Made up of several gorges, the canyon is one of the longest continuously
inhabited landscapes in North America, first occupied by the ancestral
puebloans about 2000 years ago. Today, the steep walls preserve in
remarkable condition easily viewed ancient ruins and rock paintings from
as far back as the 12th century, tracing occupation of the canyon by the
ancient Anasazi people, the Hopi tribe and latterly the Navajo, who
arrived in the 1700s. The cultural history of the canyon includes its
share of tragedy. Perhaps the most infamous event, now remembered as the
Navajo "Long Walk", came in the 1800s as American settlers were
spreading relentlessly west and the US Army was called upon to help with
the "Indian Problem". In 1863, Colonel Kit Carson led a scorched-earth
campaign against the Navajo, destroying homes, livestock, and
agriculture within the canyon, and starving out the last of the
warriors. Thousands of Navajo were forced to walk the nearly 650km to
the dry, barren flatlands of eastern New Mexico where the
"experimental", supposedly self- sustaining Bosque Redondo Indian
Reservation was established at bleak Fort Sumner. The Navajo endured
four years of hunger and disease as drought, insects and the salty
waters of the Pecos River destroyed their agricultural efforts. Up to
3000 Navajo are thought to have died during this period. In 1868, the
army admitted that Bosque Redondo was a failure and the Navajo were
allowed to return to their homelands. Today, the Navajo Nation, covering
about 6.5 million hectares, is the largest of the Native American
reservations. More than 50 Navajo families still live and farm inside
the canyon itself, with land passed down through the female family line.
Many Navajo are involved in associated tourist activities, including
guiding and creating traditional craft for sale. A visit to this area
is not in any way a theme-park Indian experience. The canyon remains of
great spiritual significance to the Navajo. Tourist activities and
infrastructure are low key, and if you didn't already know about Canyon
de Chelly, you could be forgiven for passing through the straggly,
unattractive gateway town of Chinle not much the wiser. It is a
changeable day in early spring when I visit, with horizontal rain and
hail, then sunshine and a clear sky of unbelievable blue, all during a
four-hour jeep tour. It is the price for being here early in the season
– the benefit is a relative lack of people, although even at the
height of the season, visitor numbers do not rival those of more
well-known scenic attractions. The entrance to the canyon is a couple
of kilometres east of Chinle, where the walls begin to emerge from the
desert floor and quickly rise to more than 300m in places, following the
meandering Chinle Wash. Four-wheel-drive vehicles simply drive up the
wash into the canyon. My canyon guide, Ben, grew up in the canyon,
speaking only the Navajo language and "climbing rocks, and herding goats
and sheep" for fun. At the age of six he was taken from his family to a
boarding school where his Navajo tongue was banned, but now "the only
time I speak English is on these tours," he says. He teaches me the
Navajo greeting, "Ya' ah' tee," and talks about Dine', or "the people",
as the Navajo call themselves in their own language. It is a rough
ride in the jeep and the route wanders in and out of the wash, which,
after recent rain, is wider than usual. The labyrinthine canyon floor
widens, narrows and widens again as we drive alongside sheer walls and
overhangs, around monoliths and through tangled stands of vegetation.
DECORATIVE: The many Anasazi rock paintings date back to the 12th
century. The sheer walls of "de Chelly sandstone" are a reddish
colour, streaked with brown. Ben calls this "nature's hair" and it does
resemble a long, straight mane flowing down the walls. At the visitors'
centre, near the canyon entrance, a more scientific explanation suggests
that the "desert varnish" has its origins in a manganese-fixing bacteria
that lives on the canyon walls in areas where rainfall runs over the
rim. Tucked into ledges here and there beneath bulging walls are
remarkable stone structures built by the Anasazi. Other sites feature
rock paintings so well preserved that it is hard to believe they have
not been made sometime the previous week, let alone up to 700 years
earlier. But the tour is not just about scenery and ancient relics.
This is part of a living community, with wooden hogans (traditional
Navajo dwellings) and timber fences dotted through the canyon where
people are farming, and herds of Navajo-owned horses roaming the wash.
At several of the popular stopping points, Navajo craftspeople sell
jewellery and carvings. My tour ends at the spectacular ruins of the
14th-century White House, the destination of most half-day tours. This
is only about 10km in from the entrance, which leaves a lot of ground
uncovered because the canyon winds its way up about 50km into the Chuska
Mountains. Had I had time, I would have gone for the full-day
excursion to Spider Rock. These astonishing twin pinnacles are said by
the Navajo to be the home of the Spider Woman, who taught them the
weaving for which they are famous but who also steals misbehaving
children. As it is, I content myself with the superb view of this
formation from the Spider Rock overlook, the furthermost point on the
south rim drive. It is a fine memory to leave with. GETTING THERE
House of Travel has five-day packages from $3008 that put participants
within easy driving distance of numerous Native American sites in
Arizona and neighbouring New Mexico. The package includes return
economy-class airfares flying Qantas from Auckland to Los Angeles and
America West Airlines via Phoenix to Albuquerque, two nights
accommodation at Best Western Rio Grande Inn, Albuquerque, three nights
accommodation at Best Western Arizonian Inn, Holbrook, and five days
Hertz fully inclusive mid-size rental car. Holbrook is about two hours
drive from the Canyon de Chelly and closer to other attractions such as
the Petrified Forest National Park. Phone 0800 838-747. Canyon de
Chelly is about 115km north of the I40 Interstate between Albuquerque,
New Mexico, and Flagstaff, Arizona. AdvertisementAdvertisement
Accommodation at its gateway town, Chinle, is limited to three hotels
– Thunderbird Lodge, Best Western Canyon de Chelly and Holiday Inn
Canyon de Chelly – and two primitive campgrounds. Advance hotel
bookings are essential during summer. To enter the canyon, visitors
can opt for privately run jeep tours; group tours in open army-touring
vehicles; or, you can hire a Navajo guide as a driver for your own 4WD.
Horse and walking tours are also available. Expect to pay about
$US125 for a half-day private jeep tour for three people and a guide,
and about an additional $US30 an hour for a longer excursion. Two
excellent rim drives, north and south, offer a series of spectacular
overlooks. Mary Kirk-Anderson travelled to the United States and
Canyon de Chelly at her own expense.