The Dine say that Canyon de Chelly is the center of Navajo Nation. Unfortunately, it does not legally belong to them, but to the US Park Service. We gathered in a forested area just outside the canyon, listened to speakers talk about the canyon, and ate.
Afterwards, we piled onto several pick-up trucks that drove us across the shallow river. One of them got stuck. Once in the canyon, the walkers sang The Longest Song--a song they sing at every community they stop at, each time adding a new verse. The verse here was: "Dine Nation is where we are, Canyon de Chelly is their home."
I found myself in tears again in the Canyon. Somehow the overwhelming magnificence of the canyon mixed with some of the residual grief I was feeling about Denise's suicide, as well as the power, sorrow and the beauty of the Navajo people, and I was caught in one of those painfully aware moments of the exquisite contradictions of this thing we call life.
I had to leave the circle of singing and stand by myself for awhile, next to the river. Behind me I heard someone say, " That's Mother Earth, crying through her."
2 comments:
Which Dine say Canyon de Chelly is the center?
The Northern Navajo claim the Center to be the Shiprock.
Hello l.d.--
Thanks for visiting my blog. When I was with the Longest Walk 2 in Canyon de Chelly, the Dineh people who greeted us there referred to the Canyon as the center or heart of the Navajo Nation. Since I am not Dineh, I don't know if there is a difference of opinion between them and other Navajo who live near Shiprock.
Window Rock, as I understand it, is the governmental center of the Navajo Nation.
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