Last Morning in the Canyon

On Sunday, May 26, the 2013 Navajo Oral History project participants woke up early, had another great camp breakfast made by Flemen and Lettie Nave and their daughters, Becky and Kay. The group reluctantly broke camp and prepared to hike out of Canyon de Chelly.

Breakfast consisted of Spam, egg, cheese and potato burritos.

Before leaving, Lettie Nave gathered the group into a circle and taught everyone how to introduce themselves in Navajo and how to ask another his or her name. She also led a little circle dance, singing in the Navajo language and then posed with the the whole group for a portrait in front of Dog Rock.

The Winona students all gave Lettie a hug as they prepared to hike away from the Nave Camp and out of the Canyon. In the Navajo language, there is no equivalent to the word "goodbye." Most Navajos believe the sentiment in that word is too final. Instead, they say "hagonee'" which doesn't translate perfectly to English, but is something like "be well until we meet again."

Some wiped tears from their eyes as they left and expressed wishes to stay longer or to return soon.

The back window of one of our rented vans.

(above photo by Darin Strohmenger)

Back on the Diné College campus, the water level of Tsaile Lake surely dropped as everyone took long hot showers and then napped or relaxed. In the evening, many students relaxed by the fire at the center of the dorm building and got back to work on their documentary journalism projects, preparing for more interviews this week.

Laura Humes on her laptop in her dorm room.

Tom Hays, reviewing video in his bed.

Skylar Ogren, Darin Strohmenger and Brett Gustafson

Adam Maciejczak and Shiloh Gulbranson

Cara Mannino

Danielle Wieczorek

Madison Duncan

Jolene Kuisle and Elise Nelson share a light moment.

Laura Humes and Cara Mannino

Nik Strand

Danielle Wieczorek and Brett Gustafson

Whitney Harlos and Robbie Christiano

Fire

Canyon de Chelly - Day Two

The second day of the Navajo Oral History project group's visit to Canyon de Chelly was just as eventful as the first.

The morning started with a delicious breakfast of blue corn pancakes, sausage, frybread, and fruit.

The group headed out early on a hike to Bad Canyon, a small box canyon that features small ruins and some amazing rock art panels that include both pictographs (images painted or stained onto a wall) and petroglyphs (images pecked into the surface of a rock wall).

(above five photos by Nik Strand)

(above three photos by Whitney Harlos)

(above photo by Elise Nelson)

(above five photos by Darin Strohmenger)

Then the group did a longer hike around the base of Dog Rock, a large rock formation that sits at the junction of Canyon Del Muerto and Canyon de Chelly, and that looks like a reclining dog when viewed at the correct angle, from the Nave Camp.

(above photo by Nik Strand)

Shiloh Gulbranson puts her hand in a petroglyph of a bear paw on the wall below Dog Rock. (photo by Adam Maciejczak)

(above photo by Skylar Ogren)

After lunch and some time to rest, the group rode in trucks to Antelope House ruins in Canyon Del Muerto. Here is where some of the most well-preserved pictographs exist. Protected from the elements by a rock cliff-shelf, the pictographs have not eroded much in all the years since they were painted. Archaeologists estimated some of the pictographs at the Antelope House site were drawn as early as 900 A.D. Other images were added in the 1500s and 1600s when Navajos began living in and around the canyon.

(above photo by Darin Strohmenger)

(above two photos by Nik Strand)

(above photo by Elise Nelson)

While at Antelope House Ruins, the NOH 2013 group ran into Travis Terry, a well-known Native American flute player, who has produced several CDs of his music, inspired by Canyon de Chelly. He stopped to talk with the group and played an informal mini-concert.  

(above four photos by Brett Gustafson)

(above photo by Whitney Harlos)

Supper consisted of a hearty beef and vegetable stew with camp-made tortillas.

(above photo by Whitney Harlos)

Many of the students played a rowdy game of Ultimate Football in the evening before turning in for the night. Others hung around the camp fire and played silly camp games such as Queen Anne and Whoop Johnny.