Canyon de Chelly

Petroglyphs on the Canyon walls

One of the Anasazi ruins from a distance. They look small but are up to 10 feet in height.

The top of the overhang often created the roof of the dwellings

This is a Navajo summer home that is actually currently inhabited. The American Indians grow all sorts of crops and fruit trees for their own consumption. You can see the pictographs and petroglyphs on the wall near the house that date back to 350 to 1300 A.D.

This is called the White House and is a famous Anasazi ruin

We stayed at the Thunderbird Lodge in Canyon de Chelly which is on the Navajo Reservation. It is unique among all the National Parks as it is totally within the Navajo Tribal Trust Land. Because of this, you can only enter the Canyon with a Navajo guide. Our guide was actually born and raised in the North Canyon. There are still 5 or 6 families living in the Canyon and many go there for the summer to tend their crops. It is one of the longest continually inhabited areas in North America and there are Anasazi Indian dwelling remains dating between 350 – 1300 A.D. There are also petroglyphs (pictures scraped into the rock) and pictographs (pictures painted on the rocks) on the stone walls of the Canyon. We had a wonderful time bumping along the rugged Canyon floor and Ben and Adam somehow managed to get a ride up front with the driver. Mom also bought some beautiful jewelry from the Navajo women and Ben watched one of the Elders paint on a piece of stone. It was quite an eye-opening experience seeing how many of the American Indians live even to this day. I’d have to say that it was a bit depressing seeing them on the Reservation and quite a learning experience for all of us.