- On the morning of May 30th we left Albuquerque once again and began a 4 hour trek to Round Rock, Arizona.
- Being on the road was, needless to say, boring.
- We arrived in Chinle, AZ right outside of Round Rock and went food shopping. I felt a little invasive at the food store. I'm sure all of the locals were wondering where we came from and why in the world we were there.
- Evelyn (one of the women I will talk about a little later) texted Ms. Bormann to let us know to delay a little more before arriving at Ruth Roesell's home in Round Rock. So, we decided to drive up to a scenic overlook of the Canyon de Chelly. It was beautiful, and made me so excited to hike the canyon two days later.
- When we reached Ruth's home we greeted her. (She is quite possibly the most adorable woman in the entire world) She welcomed us into her home and showed us the hogan we would be sleeping in for the next two nights. Imagine a small log cabin looking building (either octagonal or hexagonal- I forget) with a dirt floor and a wood stove in the center. We managed to fit all 16 of us in this little building for the night. It was quite a close sleeping experience.
- Before nightfall we met Evelyn. Evelyn is absolutely wonderful. This part of the trip wouldn't even have been possible.
- The next morning I awoke to the sound of Mr. Hodgeson knocking on the wall of the hogan. (This is excluding the few times I awoke- as well as everyone else- to the sound of harmonized snoring from the guys and a few moans too)
- After eating and cleaning up as much as we could, we all sat down in a large room and listened to Ruth tell us stories of meanings of different Navajo symbols. She also taught us some numbers to spice up our count off on the bus.
- In the Afternoon, we made our very own Indian Fry Bread. DELICIOUS
- Before dinner a bunch of us played soccer in the dirt lot that takes up a bunch of the land. Come to think of it, pretty much everything in Round Rock was dirt. I've never had so much dirt on my body until this experience.
- That night most of us spent the night in the hogan again. Jake and Christian played the guitar and sang to us. I must say that they are both extremely talented and have great improv skills.
Day 8: June 1st, 2011 - Canyon de Chelly
- We all woke up early, ate a very quick breakfast, and packed lunches for the long day to come.
- June 1st was the day we hiked Canyon de Chelly.
- For the first half of the day we drove around and looked out over the canyon from various scenic over views. We had our own person guide - Andrew Bia - who literally knows everything there is to know about the canyon and the Navajo people for that matter.
- We descended into the canyon. I asked andrew about a really cool looking yellow flower. It was a type of Arizona cactus!
- We hiked and hiked and hiked. We walked through sand, dirt, and even jumped over streams. Andrew pointed out ruins and ancient drawings. It was spectacular. The moment I knew this was about to be my favorite hike though was when Andrew sat down and instructed us all to take off our shoes. We walked miles in bare feet. We walked through streams and on damp sand. Ruth, Evelyn, and Polly (another woman from Round Rock who helped with the Fry bread) drove into the Canyon and brought us water and ICE POPS! (Sweetest people ever) They checked up on us a few more times. We saw wild horses and cattle. It was an amazing experience.
- Once out of the canyon we went to the local hotel. Never have I ever been so happy to see a shower. I had felt sooooooooo disgusting all day.
Day 9: June 2, 2011 - The Long Walk- Drive
- Today we drove 7 hours from Chinle to Fort Sumner (the site of the Bosque Redondo) .
- I couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like for the Native Americans to walk all of those miles in the winter without any proper clothing or foods they were accustomed to.
- We checked in our hotel and then head over to a family's home for dinner. There were local kids from the high school. We ate together and then were given foodstuffs that were given to the Navajos upon arrival at the Bosque Redondo. It went... interestingly. It really showed how much we take for granted now and how much it hurts to be displaced from your home. It was a great experience!
Fun Fact of the Day: Much of the reason why the Bosque Redondo Memorial in the museum in Fort Sumner is relatively new is because some Native Americans did not want to show what actually went on during the Long Walk. Some didn't even know what happened during it!
No comments:
Post a Comment