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Ruins, Canyon De Chelly
Earlier this month in OUR WORLD, we explored parts of the FOUR CORNERS area that we'd missed on earlier trips. We spent time in four states — Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico — and much of the time we were in a (sort-of) different country — the semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory of the Navajo Nation.
Canyon De Chelly is the only National Monument that isn't actually federally owned. All of the land belongs to the Navajo…it is jointly administered by the Tribe and the National Park Service. Ancient Pueblan people farmed in these canyons and Navajo families still do.
Right now though it's very dry and hot in the canyons and invasive cottonwoods and other species are drinking up a lot of what water there is. Farming can't be easy.
Because of traditions handed down through their mythology, Navajo people do not usually enter buildings of the ancients. The Standing Cow ruin (above) is an exception. The foundation of this ancient round building was excavated years ago and used to construct a stone hogan. One couple lived in it while they looked after their fields. Our guide told us that the woman lived there until she died. (I will do another post later with more pictures of the Canyon's pictographs and petroglyphs.)
The Canyon with invasive Cottonwoods along the creek bed
Here are two more links with information about the Canyon.
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