In Navajo land

Monumental nature with spirituality

[Tripper: Paola]

Imagine a column of over seven thousand men, fifteen hundred horses and two thousand sheep, escorted by fifty US Army tanks and cavalry.
They are the Navajos who move from Bosque Redondo, the reservation where they were forcibly confined in 1863, as part of the policy of assimilation of indigenous tribes into American culture.

Antelope Canyon (Page - Arizona)

Navajo Nation

The then president, Abraham Lincoln, based on the Indian Removal Act signed in 1830 by Andrew Jackson, had thought of ending the ongoing conflict with the Navajo tribes, simply by deporting them.
Five years later, the Navajos return home.
Under the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant, a treaty was signed in 1868 establishing the Navajo Nation, the largest Indian reservation in the United States, extending between Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

Entering this territory, to appreciate the many natural beauties and its historical sites, we must do it with grace, with respect for a people who are victims of a huge violation of human rights.
One of the most spectacular attractions of the Navajo Nation is undoubtedly Antelope Canyon. It is a very narrow canyon carved into the sandstone thanks to the erosion force of the water and the wind. It is located in Arizona, near the town of Page ((where you can sleep).
The formation process of the canyon began thousands of years ago and lasted thousands of years, a painstaking and continuous work of mother nature, to give us an absolute marvel.
It's just a crack, you might say, but upon entering, you will feel like little guests in a surprising world, made up of sinuous shapes that collect light and reflect it to create magical atmospheres. It is the sunlight that filters through the thin opening on the surface to create chromatic effects that change continuously. The best times to visit it are precisely the central ones of the day, around 12, because at that time the sunlight enters the canyon vertically making its colors explode from red to yellow to purple.
For the Navajos it is a place rich in spirituality, created by nature as an expression of divine strength. It was a place where shamans and wise men went to meditate and receive visions. Not far from the canyon is another marvel that nature has designed with mastery: Horseshoe Bend.
It is a bend in the Colorado River, which turns forming a horseshoe, almost carved between the 300-meter high walls of the canyon.
It can be seen in its entirety from a viewpoint located a 15-minute walk from a parking lot along Highway 89.
The horseshoe is another symbol traditionally important to the Navajo culture, used in healing ceremonies to protect the patient from evil forces, to bless homes and people.
The Navajo Nation also includes Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, the iconic park with the most photographed rock towers in America, the town of Window Rock, the official capital of the Navajo Nation, in whose urban center there is a rock arch known as Window of the Rock and the southern edge of Lake Powell.
Live this land with spirituality, let the Navajo people take you around, if you can, as well as living it in the most authentic way, you will also help their community.
Have a good trip!