Nizhoni

It was an eventful weekend in beautiful Canyon de Chelly (Friday-Sunday, May 24-26) for the members of the 2013 Navajo Oral History project.

Nizhoni is the Navajo word for beautiful. That is an appropriate word for Canyon de Chelly. The canyon consists of two main sections: Canyon Del Muerto to the north, and Canyon de Chelly to the south. Both are part of the Canyon de Chelly National Monument that is part of the U.S. National Park Service. At the same time, the canyons serve as home to many Navajo families who have lived and farmed the land in and around the canyon for hundreds of years.

Our group is fortunate to have a great relationship with the Lettie and Flemen Nave family who have land at the junction of the two main canyons. The land has been in Lettie's family since before the days of Kit Carson and the U.S. Cavalry's incursion into the area.

The 2013 NOH participants started their weekend in the canyon by meeting the Naves at the Canyon's visitor's center and then went on an aggressive hike down Yei Trail on Friday morning. This is a very old trail with hand and footholds cut into the rock. In some places, a metal bar or cable has been affixed to the rock to aid climbers. 

(above photo by Nik Strand)

(above two photos by Skylar Ogren)

(The above photo is one of the blog editor's favorites, because it shows that he is actually wearing his knee brace while hiking in the canyon -- his wife will be pleased. photo by Whitney Harlos)

(above photo by Nik Strand)

The next five photos are neat canyon images by Madison Duncan:

Below are six more images of the canyon and the group by Brett Gustafson:

  

Students explored the shallow caves in the canyon wall at the Nave Camp.

(above photo by Whitney Harlos)

(above two photos by Darin Strohmenger)

On the canyon floor, it was a short hike to the Nave Camp and some snacks before hiking out to White House Ruins. There, the group viewed ancient Anasazi ruins and looked over the table of arts and crafts vendors in the area.

(above: White House Ruins, by Whitney Harlos)

Lunch at the Nave Camp was followed by an education program on the history of people who inhabited the canyon over the centuries, led by Flemen Nave. He showed stone artifacts he's collected on his many hikes through the canyon, including stone axe heads, knives, grinding stones and other tools.

(above photo by Elise Nelson)

Lettie Nave then gave a presentation on her life. She talked about her great-grandfather who was born two years after The Long Walk, when thousands of Navajos were forced by the U. S. Cavalry in 1864 to walk 450 miles from their ancestral homelands to Bosque Redondo, now known as Fort Sumner in New Mexico. Hundreds died along the way. Thousands more perished during the four years of forced relocation before the Treaty of 1868 allowed them to return to their land within the four sacred mountains.

Lettie also talked about her parents, and the challenge they endured when Lettie was born at Christmastime in the canyon following a snowstorm. She described her 11 siblings and how each prospered and how several have come back to live in the canyon with their families. 

 

(above photo by Elise Nelson)

(above: Lettie Nave, by Whitney Harlos)

A delicious dinner, prepared by Lettie, Flemen and their daughters: Becky and Kay, featured Navajo Tacos. The students helped by making frybread which served as taco shells to be filled with ground beef, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and cheese.

Following dinner, Lettie taught the group the Navajo Stick game. Two rounds of the game were fun and exciting. In both cases, a player staged an amazing come-from-behind victory: Tom Hays in the first game; Miranda Haskie in the second.

In the next two pictures, Skylar Ogren scored a neeznah' (10 points). He was very excited.

(above four photos by Robbie Christiano)

Tom Hays won the first game and received congratulations all-around and a Navajo bracelet as a prize.

Prof. Miranda Haskie won the second game.

Later in the evening, the group hung around the fire, played games and eventually went to their tents to get a good night's sleep before the next day's hikes and activities.

Here are photos of a group of students playing the Ninja Game. The blog editor doesn't understand the game, but the students sure seem to have fun with it.

(above three photos by Elise Nelson)

Several of the WSU students in the group decided to forego their tents and instead sleep on sleeping bags outside, under the stars, in a small box canyon just above the Nave Camp. They had a small camp fire and enjoyed each other's company and the beautiful nature of one of America's truly beautiful places: Canyon de Chelly National Monument, on the Navajo Nation.

 (above six photos by Darin Strohmenger)

Heading Into Canyon de Chelly

The 2013 Navajo Oral History project group is going to be off-the-grid for a couple days while we camp in Canyon de Chelly National Monument.

We'll be staying with Lettie and Flemen Nave, a family that lives in the canyon near the junction of Canyon de Chelly and Canyon Del Muerto. While there, we'll help make and enjoy traditional Navajo foods, hike to places that very few white people have ever seen, and learn about Navajo culture from Lettie and her family.

This is rustic camping with no electricity, water from jugs, an outhouse, etc. We won't have access to computers and cell service in the canyon is very spotty.

We'll be back to the Diné College campus on Sunday afternoon (May 26).

Day 5 - Peter MacDonald Sr. & Baje Whitethorne Sr.

It's starting to sound like a broken record: Another great day on the Navajo Nation for the members of the 2013 Navajo Oral History project.

Thursday, May 23, saw the class break into two groups and travelling to two different cities to conduct interviews with Navajo elders for their documentary journalism projects.

One group headed to Flagstaff, Arizona, for a second interview with renowned Navajo artist Baje Whitethorne Sr.

Another group went to the western edge of the Navajo Nation, to Tuba City, Arizona, and interviewed Peter MacDonald, a Navajo Code Talker during World War II, and current president of the Navajo Code Talker Association.

(above photo by Darin Strohmenger)

Debb Teller, a Diné College student, skillfully interviewed Peter MacDonald while Tom Hays shot video, Jolene Kuisle took still photographs and Shiloh Gulbranson transcribed the interview. Assisting the interview team were Whitney Harlos, Adam Maciejczak and Darin Strohmenger.

(above photo by Darin Strohmenger)

Peter brought out the Congressional Silver Medal he received in 2001. These were awarded to all Navajo Code Talkers who served during World War II. The Original 29 Code Talkers -- the ones who helped create the code, and used it in battle -- earned Congressional Gold Medals.

(above photo by Darin Strohmenger)

WSU Student Whitney Harlos sketched a drawing of Peter MacDonald while she listened and observed during the interview.

In an interview that lasted nearly two hours, the students became bonded with Peter MacDonald and listened intently as he explained the role of the code talkers during the war, the training code talkers went through, and the value of a Navajo upbringing to the men who would be required to memorize more than 600 terms in a double-code. He also talked about his childhood, his family and traditional Navajo culture and values.

Following the interview, the students enjoyed a lunch with Peter and lots more conversation and laughter.

Before they left his home, the team that is assigned to produce a documentary film about Peter's life had their picture taken with him. Pictured (left to right) are: Tom Hays, Shiloh Gulbranson, Peter MacDonald, Debb Teller and Jolene Kuisle.

Other Navajo Oral History project participants present also had their photo taken with Peter. It's not everyday a person gets to spend time with-- and have their photo taken with-- a true American hero.

(above Adam Maciejczak poses with Peter MacDonald, photo by Shiloh Gulbranson)

For those that don't know, the Navajo Code Talkers were young, bi-lingual Navajo men in the 1940s who enlisted in the U.S. Marines, and used their native language in a code throughout the South Pacific during World War II. The Navajo Code was the only code in the history of the United States that was never broken by the enemy. The Code Talkers and their ability to quickly and accurately transmit and receive information between the front lines and the command centers surely saved thousands of lives and shortened the war.

Code Talkers were deployed in each of the six Marine divisions active throughout the South Pacific and were active in battles on Iwo Jima, Saipan, Tinian, Kwajalein Atoll, Guam, Roi-Namur, Bougainville, Guadalcanal, Pelilieu and other sites.

As the visit with Peter MacDonald ended, everyone shared hugs, and made plans to meet again next week for a second interview.

On the way back to the Diné College campus, the home base for the Navajo Oral History project, the group stopped at the small Navajo Code Talker Museum in Kayenta, Arizona.

(photo by Darin Strohmenger)

(above three photos by Whitney Harlos)

It's important to note that Peter MacDonald, in his role as president of the Navajo Code Talker Association, is actively promoting a fundraising project to build the National Navajo Code Talker Museum and Veteran's Center in Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of the Navajo Nation. Information about the project (and an opportunity to donate to help make the project become a reality) is available at the organization's web site: http://www.navajocodetalkers.org.

The Baje Whitethorne group had a bit farther drive, and returned to campus later in the evening. While in Flagstaff with Baje, they interviewed him a second time, and then watched him paint for a bit. 

 (above four photos by Skylar Ogren)

 

Lionel Harvey listening while Baje Whitethorne Sr. is interviewed.


 
 (above three photos by Elise Nelson)

The photos above and below include Nik Strand doing photography work and having some fun with Baje's grandson, Cash.

(above four photos by Cara Mannino)

(above photo by Nik Strand)

(above photo by Nik Strand)

The group also stopped by the new Twin Arrows Casino, which was having its grand opening the next day, to see large murals painted by Baje Whitethorne Sr. in collaboration with a number of other prominent Navajo artists. As expected, there were severe limitations on what they could photograph.

(above photo by Skylar Ogren)

Here are some samples of the large murals in the Twin Arrows Casino, featuring work by Baje Whitethorne Sr.

(above four photos by Brett Gustafson)

Back on the Diné College campus in Tsaile, Arizona, Nik Strand and a few other students experimented with night photography and light writing.

Editor's Note:
Something weird is happening with fonts today. I'm not sure why some text is one font, and some another, and sizes of text varies. After trying to correct it for more than 30 minutes, I gave up, deciding it was close enough, and readable.