2002-03 . . . Episode 2 - Touring the Arizona Indian Lands

Navajoland covers about 27,000 sq. ft. and is surrounded by four
sacred mountains. It is primarily in Northern Arizona and extends into New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. The Hopi Reservation is actually in the middle of the Navajo Reservation. We stayed at Cameron, along the west side and half way up on the Reservation. We did daily truck-travelling from there. Our first outing was to Tuba City and on the way, we stopped at Dinosaur Tracks area . It wasn't your typical tourist place and our guide wandered us through the site pointing out some of the dinosaur tracks, fossilized poopy and explained some of the geological history. We travelled to Tuba City via a wanna be back road (barely a dirt trail) and almost got stuck in the sand but we did end up on top of the mesa and got an incredible panoramic view of the whole area. A lot of red soil and stratified rock. The whole area was once underwater and you visualize this when you can get such an expansive view.

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Our next expedition took us south of Flagstaff (via Hwy 89A). We travelled through Ponderosa Pine forests, incredible winding roads,
came down from 7000 feet (Flagstaff) through the Red Rock Canyon to 2000 feet and back up again.

Sedona is your typical tourist town
but south of there we entered the region of the Sinagua people, an ancient farming tribe who inhabitated the cliff dwellings they call the Montezuma Castle. This apartment-type structure is five stories high, housed 95 - 100 people and dates back to the 12th century.

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The next outing took us north from Cameron on Hwy 89 through the Painted Desert area to Page, Arizona (close to the Colorado border) and then on Hwy 160, along the Black Mesa back to Cameron. Roadside stands dot the entire route - some are simply tables along the side of the road and others more elaborate structures - all the stands sell jewellery and woven Navajo rugs. Most are authentic, made by the people manning the stand. The terrain is diverse as well, ranging from the sand waves to the multicoloured mesas and rock formations.

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Wupatki National Monument
Wupatki National Monument was our last expedition from Cameron. The ruins of Wupatki lay in the shadow of the Sunset Crater Volcano which is reputed to have last erupted in 1064 but they say that the Sinagua people (ancestors of the Hopi and Zuni) had already been cultivating that area for 400 years. We visited two ruins sites in the park - the Box Canyon Dwellings and the Wupatki Pueblo.
Box Canyon
The buildings of Wupatki Pueblo (as many other of the pueblos) used the red rock outcropings as the backbone for the pueblos.
On the north and west sides the walls were tall to protect against the prevailing winds and the open places were on the south and east to catch the sun. Wupatki had a unique air circulation ventilation system to allow for indoor fire pits. It had a large ball court that apparently was used for trading and games and a blow hole that seems to have spiritual significance and nothing else.

We left Arizona on November 5th.