Postcard from Window Rock - First Glimpse of the Navajo Nation

Hello from Farmington, New Mexico. Its been a few days since my last blog, and as you might guess, I have been without any Internet connection. Just to catch up, I left Yuma as planned on Sat morning. Made it to Winslow, AZ that night and froze my you-know-what off as temperatures dropped down to 20 degrees (I am now sleeping in my van...much better than a tent). But I managed to photograph the little known "Little Painted Desert" at sunset.

Sunday morning I made a bee-line to Wal-Mart to get a few more things to help me keep warm, and it has really helped as I continue to sleep in temps in the mid 20's, but much more comfortably. Sunday I finally made it to Canyon de Chelly and spent two days at this amazing place. Today, I drove to Farmington in northern New Mexico to take care of some pressing business. I am glad for this little side trip as I drove here through some beautiful places along Navajo Nation back roads. Tomorrow I head back west to Monument Valley, then southern Utah. There are lots of great photos to follow.

On Sunday, I had to make a detour from my planned route to Canyon de Chelly because of a road closure. I wound up taking a back road through the Navajo nation on the New Mexico border up the town of Window Rock. This city is the capital city of the Navajo Nation, a huge stretch of land that stretches eastward from Flagstaff in to New Mexico, and up into Utah. Even here in Farmington, I am on the edge of the Navajo Nation.

And when you are in the Navajo Nation, the vast majority of the faces you see are Navajo. They are a large tribe, to say the least. But on this trip, especially in the last three days, I have learned much of their culture. More on that in a future blog.

Window Rock, as you can see from the picture, is technically an arch, but it is very sacred to the Navajo people. If you look closely, you can see two birds and their shadows as they fly by the opening. Window Rock (the arch) sits in a lovely park on the edge of the tribal governmental offices, which are more extensive than you might imagine. They have their own government with elected officials from all over the tribal Nation. They have their own police and fire departments. Interestingly, they have just opened their very first casino in Gallup New Mexico only a few months ago. They were very late to that party.

The second photo shows a recently completed statue honoring the legendary Navajo Codetalkers that played an important role in the Second World War in the Pacific Theater. If you don't know the story, Navajo soldiers were used as radiomen talking in their native language. The Japanese could not break their language or code. In fact, this entire park below Window Rock honors the Navajo soldiers that fought in WWII for their native America. Their patriotism and relationship with the United States is very strong, even today.

I am so glad I had this chance to visit their capital.

It may be a few days before the next blog as I head back into the wilderness.