One of the many interesting things about Navajo National Monument … It is about the place . Not about the people . Not directly anyway . The original settler / builders of the incomparable ruins that are here, where not Navajo . They were ancestral Puebloans of whom much is still being learned . (and its smack dab in the middle of the Navajo Homeland) . The name the Navajos used, originally, was Anasazi . Not a term of endearment …. basically ' my ancient enemy' . Today there is movement towards a history where Meso American culture spread north from Teotihuacan ( the great Mexican city ) thousands of years ago . Chaco Canyon , Mesa Verde , Hohokam and the ruins at Navajo National Monument are from a people a people that brought amazing technical and agricultural skills to the high desert .
The vibe is here . Its the cleanest , most poignantly clear monument on my trip . And its free . The park didn't ask for my Pass . They don't charge for their remarkably beautiful campground . And they have a great guided tour I am really looking forward to.
The trip to Betatakin , one of the three ruins at Navajo NM, was with a Navajo guide . Their is a gate you go through half way down , that for religious reasons , can only be done with guide . The Hopi believe that one of their clans built Betatakin and request it to be kept sacred . Anyway . The Navajo honor the traditions ( among them no food ! ) and have this thought to offer for todays world . We are all just visitors .
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| Bucci update |
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| looking down into the canyon where Betatakin is |
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