CANYON DE CHELLY (Day 5 - part 4)

We then headed to the overlooks on the north rim. Our first stop was Massacre Cave Overlook.

In the winter of 1805, 90 Navajo warriors and 25 women and children (this is according to Spanish records; the Navajo say most of the men were out hunting) fled to this alcove on the cliff to escape a Spanish military expedition. They were all killed by shots fired from the rim. The Navajo call the alcove Adan Aho´ doo´ nilí (or Two Fell Off) referring to a woman who grappled with a soldier and tumbled to her death, dragging her enemy with her.

We followed the path to the lookout point and a view of the Yucca Cave ruins.


Presumable this is the ledge


Walking down to the lookout point


Utah Juniper...


... and Pinyon Pine.


A Red-tailed hawk soars overhead.


Yucca Cave with its cliff dwellings

The next stop was Mummy Cave Overlook. This cliff dwelling gets its name from the discovery of two well-preserved mummies during an archeological expedition in 1880. The Navajo name for this area is House Under The Rock. It was one of the largest ancestral Puebloan villages in the canyon and occupied for nearly 1000 years up until around 1300.


Does this make us more or less of a target?


The tower complex was built in the 1280's by people who migrated from Mesa Verde.


The valley floor. Note the trees still choking out the river.


Another hogan


Some grazing cows

It was 1/4 mile walk across the rim of the canyon to the Antelope House Ruin Outlook, so named for its running antelope illustrations. They are attributed to Dibe Yazhi (Little Sheep), a Navajo artist who lived here in the early 1800's.


The name Navajo comes from a Tewa-Peublo word meaning "Great Planted Fields." The Navajo call themselves Dine'é (or The People). By 1600, they were semi-nomadic farmers. A century later, they were renowned for their sheep, blankets and corn crops. Corn is very important in the culture... not only for food but it is also symbolic. For example, the stalk is seen as the main path whereas the leaves are other paths of knowledge.


The Navajo Fortress...

By 1750, the Navajo was primarily a farmer and herdsman. Yet he also had to remain a warrior, both against other Indian tribes as well as the encroaching Spanish settlements. Raids, back and forth, continued for over 100 years. This huge rock formation, marking the junctions of the two canyons, was one of their refuges during enemy attack. Stairways of movable, notched poles were positioned to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. It was used until the 1860's.


The path to the overlook


The overlook offered a great view down both canyons.


This should be a no-brainer, but welcome to people, rocks and high places.


The cliff dwellings were long deserted by the time the Navajo arrived in the canyon.


Building at Antelope House began around 700 AD and continued, on and off, for nearly 600 years. Most of the visible structures were built after 1050.


The site has an unusual circular.

We returned back to the campground and had dinner on the table by our tent... a can of chili, leftover peanut butter sandwiches, crackers, stale Oreos. It had finally cooled off to a nice temperature.

At 6:30 was a ranger talk at the amphitheater. So we walked down, sat with our feet up on the benches (because of all the ants), and enjoyed listening to William talk about the Navajo people and the importance of water in the canyon.

Kin is very important to the Navajos. When they introduce themselves to someone new, they always list their four primary clans, starting with their mother's clan, then father's clan, then both parents' maternal lineage. This help identify kinships, prevent interbreeding, and forms bonds so you always have someone to rely on.

Water created the canyon by carving down into the rock as the ice age melted. The top cap is the Chinle Layer of cemented stones. The majority of the canyon is de Chelly sandstone. It is very weak and porous, freezing and cracking. (There is no rock climbing allowed here because it is too dangerous). The base rock is shale (seen only at base of Spider Rock). This harder rock allows a water table under the sand that covers the valley floor.

The early canyon was filled with water and springs. With the arrival of water came game... and eventually the people who hunted them. These nomadic hunter-gatherers (the Archaic people) left notches in the rock where they sharpened their tools and chipped out petroglyphs. During their travels and trades, they discovered seeds and brought them back here to plant. Suddenly there was a reliable food source and they could be more sedentary. We refer to these people as the Basketmakers.

By now, the crops were fully established and the people relied heavily on corn. They were also becoming masters of architecture... they were the Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi). They lived in alcoves created by water and smoothed out by wind. This provided a good vantage point. There was also usually a spring in the back. Plus, they could maximize their crop space.

There was lots of trade and exchanging of ideas. Muerto Canyon leads to Mesa Verde; Canyon de Chelly points to Chaco; and the main canyon faces Navajo National Monument. Sure enough, the architecture also follows along those lines, with Mesa Verde-like towers down the one canyon, and Chaco T-shaped doors down the other.

In 1275, there was a huge drought and it is assumed the people left for this reason. Their descendants, the Hopi, continued to use the canyon seasonally. In 1700, Navajos migrating south decided to stop and live here. They took the knowledge of the crops from the pueblo people and the use of horses from the Spanish. They live in hogans (pronounced ho-GANS) and also raised sheep.

By the end of the program, the storm had started to blow in. The temperature dropped rapidly and we fought the wind and dust as we hurried back to the tent.