Friday 7th September 2018
The first time we passed by Canyon De Chelly, many years ago, and looked over the rim, Â we both felt a very strong spiritual pull and we have wanted to return ever since. Today, we drove both the North and South rims and felt the same deep sense of awe and wonder at the beauty of it all.
Canyon De Chelly (pronounced Shay) National Monument is a vast park in northeastern Arizona, on Navajo tribal lands. Its prominent features include Spider Rock spire, about 800-feet tall, and towering sandstone cliffs surrounding a verdant canyon. It has been inhabited by several Native American peoples for millennia and is one of the longest continually inhabited landscapes in North America, with pueblo ruins built between 350 and 1300 A.D. – as well as a contemporary Navajo  community that still inhabits the canyon floor, farming and herding sheep during the summer months.  The White House Ruins and Mummy Cave are remains of ancient Pueblo villages.
Click on any image for a larger view and the caption. Photos with a date stamp were taken by the lovely Mr S.
I think this is an Eastern Collared Lizard but ours is not quite like the one I found in the id pages
Spider Rock, 800ft high
Spider Rock
The White House
One of the cliff dwellings visible only on zoom
The verdant bottom of the valley
Very effective view finder for the pueblos in the sides of the rocks
Beautiful rock formation
Looking down into the valley where the Navajo still live and farm
The only car parked -we had the place to ourselves and the silence was wonderful
Farming below
Handprints of the workers who made the path along the rim
Pueblo
Beautiful valley bottom
There were Navajo dancers at our lodging, Thunderbird Lodge on Navajo tribal land, Â in the evening – such a privilege to see. We were asked not to take photos so, of course, didn’t. Â Each member of the audience was presented with a little gift at the end, of a bag of cornmeal.
“Corn, the symbol of food, fertility, and life itself, is of major importance. “Corn is more than human; it is divine; it (is) connected with the highest ethical ideals.” Information found here.
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