Canyon de Chelly was one of the centers of the Anasazi (ancestral Puebloans) Indians from around A.D. 750-1300. The canyon was protected as a monument in 1931 to preserve the numerous Puebloan-type ruins that are still found tucked into alcoves at all levels in the towering sandstone canyon walls. After the Anasazi disappeared, Navajos arrived in the 1700s. They have been farming this canyon ever since.
Because Canyon de Chelly National Monument is located on tribal land and Navajos still farm within the canyon during the summer, you can only go in the canyon with a native guide. (The one exception is a hike down to the White House ruins.)
We signed up for the all-day tour through Antelope Lodge in the park. The roads had just opened due to the heavy winter rains so this was only the third day the all-day tour was being given this year. Water still flowed in both canyons and this had kept vehicles out. It turns out that many tours are offered into the canyon by hotels and individuals, not just by the main lodge at the park. Our "Deuce and a half" truck held 24 people; other tours were smaller tours in jeeps or Suburbans. For a wet year like this, our tour had decided advantages. We sat way high and could go through deep water. No other tour went as deep into the canyon —at least not today. 
Canyon de Chelly is actually two main canyons: Canyon del Muerte (canyon of death) and Canyon de Chelly (pronounced Canyon d’Shay). Benson, our Navajo guide and driver, told us this was the "shake ‘n bake" tour. At the end of the day we all agreed that was an apt name! We went up both canyons, stopping at ruins and petroglyphs, with Benson giving us background on them. He also told us about his life as a Navajo. He had not been interested in the stories his grandfather told and had always planned to leave the reservation and never come back. Now he’s sorry he didn’t listen to the stories and he did return.
We crisscrossed the streams in both canyons umpteen times. The cottonwood trees had that bright, vibrant green look of new leaves. Lots of Russian olive trees and tamarisk —both foreign invaders — also grew in the bottom. Everywhere there was some land between the river and the canyon walls, we would see horses grazing or hogans with fields waiting to be planted. Navajos sold their jewelry and rock art at our pit stops. Families came back in the canyon to play in the stream and pools.
The ruins were partial structures but you could make out rooms, kivas, granaries, a tower a
nd a cistern. Several had elaborate petroglyphs. We stopped to see Navajo Fortress, a huge red sandstone butte where Navajos hid on top from U.S. troops trying to round up them up to take them to Ft. Sumner. One group managed to outlast the soldiers. Our last stop in Canyon del Muerto was the Mummy Cave (pictured) where we had lunch. It is one of the large
st ruins in the canyon. It was so named because of two mummies found by archeologists in the 1880s.
The other canyon had the large White House Ruin. We would hike down to here again the next day. We drove back as far as Spider Rock. (pictured)
Our tour turned out to be extra adventuresome. Our "Deuce and a half" lost its brakes somewhere in the first canyon. Benson used the gears to brake but when he had to shift to low-low coming out of the stream bed, it would often roll back until the gear caught and give us a jerk. We definitely got the "shake and bake" tour! Coming out of Canyon de Chelly, the truck only had two low gears and we crept along at about 5 mph. We had en
ough people for two trucks and the other driver was able to jerry-rig something to fix it so we could go a bit faster. We did make it safely back.
The next day we drove along the two rims and stopped at all the overlooks. We could see many of the same ruins we saw on the tour but with a very different perspective. More about that in my next post. Jaimie Hall-Bruzenak
Photos by George Bruzenak
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