We spent two days in the Navajo Reservation in Round Rock, Arizona with our wonderful and generous host Ruth Roessel. Ruth is very important to the Navajo community, and was gracious enough to host 13 complaining teenagers for two night. We all slept in a hogan, which is a traditional and ceremonial Navajo home. There is no heating, air conditioning, running water, or beds in the hogan, so we all snuggled close in sleeping bags. After squeezing together in a hogan for two nights (and sharing the same bathroom), we all feel a lot closer. It was an amazing experience to learn the history of the Navajo people from Ruth, and she even taught us how to make Indian Fry Bread and to count in Din-e (the traditional Navajo language). Ruth and her assistant Evelyn were so warm and enthusiastic about sharing their culture that we were all sad to say goodbye to her (and her adorable dog Jet).
The next day we took a quick drive to Chinle, Arizona where we hiked the Canyon de Chelly. First, our Navajo guide Andrew took us to a few lookout points so we could see the canyon from above and take pictures. Andrew had grown up in the Canyon de Chelly, and is a descendant of the Long Walk. He spent his summers roaming the canyon herding sheep with his family. I couldn't tell how enormous the canyon was until I saw a few black and white shapes that, upon further scrutiny with binoculars, turned out to be people herding sheep! After that we began our descent into the canyon, there were signs everywhere warning us to bring lots of water, and that it was a very long hike. I didn't even notice the time passing because every sight was more amazing than the last. We saw ancient petroglyphs on the canyon walls, wild horses and cattle, towering rocks, and ruins of ancient dwellings. For a few miles we followed behind Andrew in a river bed, and splashed around barefoot. It's amazing how close to the wild animals you could get in the Canyon de Chelly; the wild horses would let you come right up to them and take pictures! It was a big change from the skittish wild animals of New Jersey. While I didn't notice the time passing, I did notice how much water I was drinking. It was so hot and sunny, I was very thankful for the four or five water bottles I had. We ended our hike after about five hours, and although all of us were extremely tired we agreed that it had been one of the best, if not the very best, parts of our trip.
The next morning, after lots of rest, we began our seven hour bus ride to retrace the Long Walk that the Navajo were forced to make to the Bosque Redondo in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Sitting on a bus for seven hours was pretty painful, so I can't even imagine how horrible it was for the Navajo to walk the 300+ miles to an unfamiliar land. Once we arrived, we went to a cattle ranch and had a cookout dinner with some students from the high school in Fort Sumner. It was so fun to meet kids from out here and I can't wait to hang out with them again tomorrow!
Overall it has been an amazing 4 days, full of new friends, amazing sights, and amazing memories.
Will blog again soon!
-Sophie
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