Day #6: June 17th - Canyon de Chelly

We woke up at 5:30 and had a breakfast of muffins and grapes.  I loved having that full kitchen!








We left Moab by 7:40 and had lunch at A & W Root Beer in Chinle, Arizona.  Mom said that was the first time she'd had root beer.  Good grief!

We met Francine, our local Navajo guide at the Canyon de Chelly Visitor Center for our canyon tour at 1:00 PM.


The flags were at half staff in memory of two Navajo code talkers who had passed away.

We learned that the Anasazi were the first native Americans to live in the canyons.

Their drawings and homes are still in the canyons.

The Hopi came next and planted the cottonwood trees.  The Navajos arrived around 1700s.

Because of all the soil erosion, the Navajos asked the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) for help.  They planted Russian Olive trees and Tamarisk (Salt Cedar) which turned out to be more of a problem because it deposits salt in the area harming other vegetation.

I also enjoyed seeing the Deadly Nightshade and Sacred Datura plants again.  Francine said the Datura is sometimes called the ER plant because it is hallucinogenic and is often abused and can be deadly.  And the Deadly Nightshade?  Well, it can be deadly.

Black streaks on the walls are manganese and iron oxide.  Manganese contains mercury which may have poisoned early settlers in the canyon.

Francine said the real name for Canyon de Chelly is Tseyi (pronounced say-ee) which means rock canyon, but the Spanish couldn't pronounce it and it ended up being called de Chelly.

Navajo is also Spanish for spear or something sharp.

Francine showed us where Kit Carson massacred the Navajo people in the canyon.

The last time we were in Canyon de Chelly with our kids, it was freezing cold and there was a lot of water in the river.  We'd visited the canyon in early spring, but it was a completely different experience this time.  It was hot and the river was dried out. It made for a very, very bumpy and dusty ride.

We met Cara who was selling her beautiful beaded necklaces.  We did, of course buy one for our little KC.

I was surprised to learn that the Navajo language had not been written down until the 1970's.  Francine despaired that the language is now being lost since young people are not learning how to speak it.  Another reason for the decline of the language is because of the use of Navajo code talkers during WW II.  The U.S. government prohibited the use of the Navajo language in public because the code was classified information for a long time.  Navajo children were also taken away from the reservation to be educated on the outside.  Parents were only allowed to visit them once a year.  Because of all this, the language and traditions of the Navajos are being lost.

We had a Navajo type dinner at the Best Western's Junction Restaurant since Francine recommended it highly.

It was truly an interesting and informative day.