Every time I've planned to do a series of posts on one topic, I've failed. Perhaps this will be no different. I lose interest, get side-tracked and leave the story incomplete. But in this case, I hope not. The Rez is close to my heart and schedules and finances keep my old home at bay. Though this trip was way too quick--not more than a drive by--it meant a lot to me. It seems it should be recorded even if I'm no longer fully there, so I'll try to do it some sort of justice. I once wrote to say things magnificently. I got a few gems and threw away a lot of crap. Now, I write to say things adequately. It is enough to say, "I came, I saw, I thought, and here is my record." Just imagine the tapestry we'd leave behind if everyone had the need to record the journey of their days. Facebook, to some extent is just that. I hope future generations will have access to that cultural goldmine, but I doubt it.
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| These two rocks south of "Rock Point" together look like a cartoon whale to me. I'm not sure if the community is named after one of these or a smaller rock north of "town". |
Red rock, as a whole, is different in southern Utah than in northern Arizona. In Utah, high plateaus, still mostly intact are gouged by deep, winding canyons that cut through and shred the edges of massive tables of rock. In northern Arizona the plateaus, as a whole, have eroded away and left islands of rock.
There are, of course, lots of exceptions. Canyon de Chelly cuts deep into the still very intact Ft. Defiance Plateau. The Kiabab, though torn by the Grand Canyon is still there, cohesively major. And so my argument may here fall apart, but at least visually, there seems to be less canyons in Arizona and more lone stones.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Four Corners: El Capitan, Monument Valley, Church Rock, Rock Point, Round Rock, Red Mesa, Ship Rock, etc. Red Rock buttes and deep gray volcanic plugs rise out of broad valleys abruptly. Many of these in Navajo mythology are the monsters slain by the hero twins.
As we made our way south and east on US 191 and India Route 12 I was amazed to see again my old stone friends.
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| Close up of the tale of the "whale" Rock Point?--I don't know. |
My favorite rock on the Rez is what I assume to be Round Rock, a massive butte between the communities of Many Farms and Round Rock with a flying buttress arch on the west side and a deep red gouged vegetation-less skirt reminiscent of NASA pictures of Mars.
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| Round Rock?--I don't know |
As the rock is more rectangular than round, I've never been sure if it is the rock for which the community is named. It does have a round eye of the needle hole through the arch on the north, but that isn't visible from "Round Rock". There is a much less impressive rock closer to Round Rock that is round, so that may be the rock for which the town is named. I once picked up a hitch-hiker and asked him, but he didn't know--or just as likely, wasn't willing to divulge that information. I understand that. The white man wants to claim everything and make a profit off it--especially after marginalizing a culture. Okay, even though we tried to exterminate you, we still would like your culture and your religion logged in our books. There have been far too many books written about the Rez by bilagáanas who spend a summer and interview a few elders without really taking the time to absorb the culture.
Personally, I feel the Navajo are quite capable of writing their own books, should they want to. And even after eight years living there and sixteen years of being married into the culture, I feel inadequate to be more than a travel writer when on the Rez. So, I will restrict myself to being a tourist and will let the Diné story be told by the Diné . It seems only reasonable.
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