-- Museums --
The town of Kayenta, located about 10 miles East of the Navajo National Monument, has a couple of interesting museums. One has an outdoor and indoor component, and the other is located within the Burger King restaurant.
If I got it right, the owner of the Burger King is the son of one of the Navajo Code Talkers who helped win battles in WWII by using the Navajo language to send coded messages between allied troops. The Burger King has a good collection of memorabilia in a glass display case.
Even more impressive is the collection in the other museum. The indoor component of the museum is inside a Navajo Shade House.
Besides having Navajo Code Talker memorabilia, it also had video recordings of former code talkers describing their experiences. Seeing menwho were actual code talkers and listening to them talk of their experiences brought the history to life.
Many of the soldiers were taken from boarding schools, where the goverment had sent Navajo youth to become more integrated into American society. As one of them pointed out, it was ironic that the goverment had previously sent them away to forget their native customs and learn English, and now they were asking them to use their Navajo to help win the war. The soldiers had to memorize the codes. Multiple Navajo words assigned to each letter of the English alphabet. They varied which word was used each time, thus reducing the likelihood of the enemy detecting a pattern.
The outdoor museum had several Navajo buildings. I won't go into the details, but there are two types of hogans. The fork-topped "male" one that is smaller and used for ceremonies (interior photos below).
-- Sweat Lodge Experience --
A groundskeeper was just finishing up his work and getting ready to leave when he was me looking at the sweat lodge. He asked me if I wanted him to take me into the sweat lodge and explain how it is used. Of course I agreed!
Here is what he explained. The sweat lodge is a community thing. They heat up rocks over a fire and then carry them into the sweat lodge and lay them by the door. Sometimes they use dry heat from the rocks and sometimes they pour water and herbs on the rocks for steam. They cover the door with a blanket to preserve the heat.
When someone is preparing the sweat lodge, they yell out a specific phrase several times so everyone who hears can join in if they want. Even if someone is passing by on a horse and hears the call, they are welcome to join. You enter back first into the sweat lodge, and sit on the floor. Sometimes a concoction of herbs is heated over the rocks and prepared into a drink. It is a coming of age ritual for young men. You are supposed to hold it in as long as you can (it is a mental exercise -- mind over body), and then go outside and vomit it. You repeat that several times, and sing chants. He sang one of the songs for me, explaining that the song expressed gratitude for ancestors and their accomplishments.
He also explained that Navajos do things in fours. He has built 3 sweat lodges and will build another for his son who is coming of age. It was interesting listening to him. He explained that for his protection it is traditional that I tip him for his explanations, so I gave him a couple of dollars and he said that was fine.
That is his experience and description, and I'll take it at face value.
-- Continuing on to Mesa Verde --
Shortly after leaving Kayenta, I drove past this interesting formation. It got me wondering why we drive for hours to see certain natural sights and mindlessly pass by others. The desert landscape creates many. These are certainly ona much smaller scale than Bryce Canyon, Zion, or Mesa Verde. These reminded me of statues of people or a crowd of people.
The campground at Mesa Verde had lots of open sites, so I chose one and fixed dinner. I'm not sure if I'll stay one or two nights... depends on what I see tomorrow. After dinner I attended a ranger talk about mountain lions. Rangers have set up trail cameras and believe a handful of mountain lions live in the park.
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