Canyon de Chelly!
Jun. 13th, 2010 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wispfoxThis morning, there was a jeep tour run by the Thunderbird Lodge, where I stayed. (note: lodging near Canyon de Chelly is _EXPENSIVE_; Thunderbird Lodge was cheapest at $100. I could have stayed in a campground tonight, but shower needed badly)
Very nifty tour, our guide/the driver of the jeep was a Navajo (Diné) man, who told us all sorts of things. The rhythm of his speech was a bit difficult to follow, though. Wonder how difficult it was for the four visitors from Germany!
Then, due to the fact that I was annoyed by being entirely controlled by the tour guide's schedule, and by the limitations on where we could get out, I did a horseback tour this afternoon. It was only myself and my guide, so once he realized that I was interested and polite, he told me interesting things. Such as, according to him, petroglyphs and pictographs basically mean "I was here, and now we are leaving". This does not combine well with what the native at Puye Cliffs told me, but different groups have different stories (at Puye, they tended to indicate which clan lived in which dwelling area). He also described the Navajo side of the tensions with the Hopi tribe (in effect, they are apparently the ones who told the Americans where to find them, after having been given shelter. According to him, the Hopi were originally slaves taken by the Spanish up into this area, who were left behind when the Pueblos revolted and drove the Spanish out). He told me a story told to him by his Zuni grandmother about how humans have no colors and therefore we dress ourselves and adorn ourselves and our surroundings, since the other creatures would not share their colors. I tell it very poorly. Also, his Zuni grandmother was taken during the Long Walk because she was there as a new bride for a Navajo man. And she tells stories about that experience. Oh! And he mentioned that Anasazi simply means "Gone" ("gone and let them stay gone and be respectful of what they left behind", in a longer giving the meaning as well as the context kind of way. Seems that it is often used for one's dead loved ones, as well. Basically, by not letting them be gone and naming them and such, you keep drawing them back from where they are going. So he, for example, does not talk about his parents much, and will say that they are gone - some variation on anasazi - if people are asking about them and not letting go of it), not "ancestors of my enemy". Having Navajo as his first language, and only learning English at 24, his translation may be more accurate. He suspects that the reason for the misinterpretation is simply due to not understanding Navajo very well on the part of the translators. *shrug* So now I'm confused! :)
So, if you are going to stay near Canyon de Chelly, do stay at Thunderbird Lodge. If camping is a good option, stay at a nearby campground, and take the Lodge's jeep tour. If you either know how to ride a horse or are willing to put up with the discomfort inherent in riding one when you _don't_ know how (my butt hurts! Also, I think the stirrups were too low down, as once I decided to barely touch them in order to have my knees much more bent, I was _much_ more comfortable), then definitely do a horseback tour.
Now, I am back in Gallup for a couple of days, tomorrow to do errands, and the next day to go to Ganado and the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site. Later that day or the next day, on to the Hopi reservation, which is in the Navajo Nation. Which really means they are a country within a country within a country, I think.
Pictures, but they are not all there yet. Will update when this is resolved. Very spotty internets!
Very nifty tour, our guide/the driver of the jeep was a Navajo (Diné) man, who told us all sorts of things. The rhythm of his speech was a bit difficult to follow, though. Wonder how difficult it was for the four visitors from Germany!
Then, due to the fact that I was annoyed by being entirely controlled by the tour guide's schedule, and by the limitations on where we could get out, I did a horseback tour this afternoon. It was only myself and my guide, so once he realized that I was interested and polite, he told me interesting things. Such as, according to him, petroglyphs and pictographs basically mean "I was here, and now we are leaving". This does not combine well with what the native at Puye Cliffs told me, but different groups have different stories (at Puye, they tended to indicate which clan lived in which dwelling area). He also described the Navajo side of the tensions with the Hopi tribe (in effect, they are apparently the ones who told the Americans where to find them, after having been given shelter. According to him, the Hopi were originally slaves taken by the Spanish up into this area, who were left behind when the Pueblos revolted and drove the Spanish out). He told me a story told to him by his Zuni grandmother about how humans have no colors and therefore we dress ourselves and adorn ourselves and our surroundings, since the other creatures would not share their colors. I tell it very poorly. Also, his Zuni grandmother was taken during the Long Walk because she was there as a new bride for a Navajo man. And she tells stories about that experience. Oh! And he mentioned that Anasazi simply means "Gone" ("gone and let them stay gone and be respectful of what they left behind", in a longer giving the meaning as well as the context kind of way. Seems that it is often used for one's dead loved ones, as well. Basically, by not letting them be gone and naming them and such, you keep drawing them back from where they are going. So he, for example, does not talk about his parents much, and will say that they are gone - some variation on anasazi - if people are asking about them and not letting go of it), not "ancestors of my enemy". Having Navajo as his first language, and only learning English at 24, his translation may be more accurate. He suspects that the reason for the misinterpretation is simply due to not understanding Navajo very well on the part of the translators. *shrug* So now I'm confused! :)
So, if you are going to stay near Canyon de Chelly, do stay at Thunderbird Lodge. If camping is a good option, stay at a nearby campground, and take the Lodge's jeep tour. If you either know how to ride a horse or are willing to put up with the discomfort inherent in riding one when you _don't_ know how (my butt hurts! Also, I think the stirrups were too low down, as once I decided to barely touch them in order to have my knees much more bent, I was _much_ more comfortable), then definitely do a horseback tour.
Now, I am back in Gallup for a couple of days, tomorrow to do errands, and the next day to go to Ganado and the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site. Later that day or the next day, on to the Hopi reservation, which is in the Navajo Nation. Which really means they are a country within a country within a country, I think.
Pictures, but they are not all there yet. Will update when this is resolved. Very spotty internets!
