Travel: Experiencing tribal culture during trip to the reservation

Friday, November 9, 2012  

"The Navajo Reservation covers more than 27,000 square miles, stretching across four states, yet most visitors to the Southwest simply drive through it. "The rez" is on the way to the Grand Canyon, on the way to Lake Powell, and on the way to Monument Valley. But if you decide, as we did, to stop at a few places on the rez, you'll remember forever the people, their stories, and the astounding canyons, mesas, and natural beauty.

Canyon de Chelly (pronounced d'SHAY) is three miles from Chinle, Ariz., and it's the center of the Navajo Nation in more ways than one. The steep sandstone walls of the canyons have been home to native peoples for more than 5,000 years. Throughout the canyons, ruins of cliff dwellings, grain storehouses, and petroglyph carvings of men, horses, and handprints are the visual remnants of ancient pueblo peoples. Today, 40 Navajo families maintain homes and traditional hogans (the eight-sided Navajo dwelling used for ceremonies) inside the canyons. These families consider themselves very fortunate to have land inside the sacred canyon, and the parcels are passed down through generations.

Visitors to Canyon de Chelly, which is a National Monument jointly administered by the National Park Service and the Navajo Nation, can drive along the road and stop at scenic overlooks at the top of the canyon, but visitors can go in only with a Navajo guide. Several Navajo companies offer Jeep tours. We went with Leander Staley, whose great-grandfather Chauncey Neboyia was a guide and translator who helped with the original excavation and restoration of the archaeological sites in the canyon. Today, Staley, his father, and uncle guide four-wheel-drive Jeeps along the canyon floor, sharing their history and family stories with visitors. They are also one of the families who maintain a homestead in the canyon."

Get the Story:
Get on 'the rez' (The Philadelphia Inquirer 11/9)