Bosque Farmer: Canyon de Chelly

(Chelly is pronounced "shay") It's on the Navajo reservation in Arizona. George has been reading a lot of New Mexico history and especially the life and times of Kit Carson, who played a significant role in the "modern" history of the canyon.

Canyon de Chelly was inhabited by the Anasazi up to around 1100 AD. This is Mummy Cave Ruins seen from the top, probably one of the oldest "cities" in the canyon.

The Navajo arrived in the 1200's. The Spanish brought horses to the new world in the 1600's.

The Americans chased the Navajo out around 1864 to Bosque Redondo (The Long Walk) in Fort Sumner and finally let them return to their own lands about 4 years later. According to Navajo legend, Spider Rock is where Spider Woman and Spider Man came down to teach the Navajo weaving. Spider Man taught them how to build their looms and Spider Woman taught them how to weave.

The Navajo who live in the canyon now have winter homes up on top and summer homes down below. There is no electricity or running water; it's very much like camping out. But the canyon is fertile and temperate in the summer so it makes good grazing and gardening. There are no pictures of their homes execpt from up top because they are well hidden and if you do see any native people "out and about" you must ask permission to photograph them (we didn't see any). The 2nd photo is a close-up of the hogan you can barely see in the middle of the 1st photo.

Canyon de Chelly is really 2 main canyons, Canyon del Muerto, where Mummy Cave Ruins are, and Canyon de Chelly, where Spider Rock is. There are 2 roads around the rim of the canyons with overlooks to many of the ruins. You are required to have a Navajo guide to go into the canyon so we took a private jeep tour led by our guide Timothy whose grandmother owns land in Canyon del Muerto.