Wood Cutting

Forrest.  The logs are at
the top. They would cut
rounds and roll them to the
trailer.

The only source of heat durinmg the winter for many of the members is a wood stove.  Each year the "get woods" is a must activity.  They go up to Jacobs Lake and chop down "dead falls", saw them into
"rounds", haul them to their house and chop the rounds into small pieces.  Many of the older sisters do not have the capacity to do this so we went to the forrest and got a Branch supply of wood.

 These are the rounds of wood.  They are about 24 inches long and as round as the tree.  Some of the trees are 60 feet tall.

Loading Rounds

 We would load the rounds on a trailer and take them down to the Branch Building.  The picture below is Ruby.  She is 57 years old and that is a 9lb Mall she is swinging.  She very politely told me to let her show me "how" and split the log with one blow.  She has been doing this as an annual chore since she was 15 years old.  Now she chops and stacks and her husband cuts the wood.

"Ruby Chopping Wood"

Felling the Tree

Pile at the Building

 Monument Valley. This is one of the Mittens.  You can use your imiganation to determine what hand.


 Goulding is where the original settlers lived.  John Wayne lived in these cabins while they were filming in this area.  This is one of the buildings used at that time

The Duke!  What else can you say!!

Part of the District. We are in the
Kyenta District of Couples

Road from the Monument Valley Hotel at
Goulding.

Picture of the Living Room used by the Duke while
they were filming in Monument Valley

Part of the Valey

Denahortso District Meeting

 These are the ruins that you can see from an overlook in Navajo National Monument.  These dwellings are in the bottom of an alcove.  Part of the tour is an indication of the various root they would use for medicinal purposes.  This particular bush is called Mormon Tea??

Mormon Tea Bush

 This is a foot print of a dinosaur that is just outside of Denehotso.  There are several of the prints in this area.  They have marked them so it is easier to identify.  Some people have tried to remove the prints with a small jackhammer and have damaged the area.

   

Dinosaur foot prints

Garnet Stones

 The activity that we had as part of our District Meeting was to go Garnet hunting.  You can see the Garnets on the head of the Flashlight.  There is an area outside of Denehotso where you can pick these stones off the ground. Many are very small.  If you can find an ant hill it is generally loaded with small Garnets that the ants have brought to the surface.  One of the couples in our group that lives in the area has some pretty large stones.  While we were in he area there were several Native Americans that were searching for the stones.  You have to have the sunlight to your back and the stones glisten in the sun.  Some of the stones are a red color, some are amber in color.

Garnet Stones

This is the inside of the chapel at Denahotso.  The buildings are generally Parallel and you have a chapel in one end and classrooms at the other end.  You can see them for miles.  They all have a small white steeple.

Original Echo Cliff members.

David Sellers

 This is David and Bessie Sellers.  When the early missionaries came into this area a missionary by the name of Harvey Gardner (no relation) sought out Brother Sellers to help him communicate with the residents of the area.  Brother Sellers went with Elder Gardner and contacted and baptized many of the early members of the church. 
Brother Sellers is very deaf now and as you can see Sister Sellers has Arthritis in her hands so bad that she cannot use them.
We found this couple one day while we were wandering the hills down about a half mile from Daisy Nockenadeh home.  We took Daisy back with us to visit them and found that they were in need of food and company.
     The bathroom toilet was plugged.  The Navajo nation was supposed to send someone to their house and fix the problem.  That was 6 months ago.  I did not ask what they used as bathroom facilities.


Bessie Sellers.  You can get a feeling for the size of the Hogan
by the fan at the bottom of this picture is the fan shown below.  Mom is
doing a food order.

view from house



Sellers Living room. I was standing in the front
door when I took this picture.

This is view from Daisy's neighbor's house.  Sellers live next to the light pole just over the Hogan. We will pick up food for them when we are in St George on October 18.


Stove used for heat

Kitchen from door.  Stove at bottom

Grand Canyon

the Watchtower was originally built in 1932 by Mary Elizabeth Jane Cutler.  It was intended to replicate many of the towers that are found in the Southwest.  This is the original tower.  The tower was used as a means of food storage and also for defense from attackers.  By the use of a ladder they would climb up to the several landings and then pull the ladders up after them.  Thus the attacking tribe could not gain access.

 

Inside Looking down from next level

   

There are stairs on the inside that wind around the outside of the tower that allow access to the levels of the tower.  You can go up three levels. The fourth level is the roof.  They will not allow you to go up to the roof.  The picture below is a huge wall Murial the is on the first level of the tower.

This Murial is an attempt to capture the various forms of Native American Art collected from various sources.  The large picture is a depiction of the Kiva.  The tower is constructed  There is a large fireplace on the first level that is the vent for the fireplace in the main store.   The stairs inside are a modern invention that would represent the ladders used anciently inside the structure.  Sister Gardner would not climb up.

Wall Murial

This is the remains of an ancient Kiva or ceremonial circle.  The fire pit can be seen
in the middle of the circle. This is in the Tusayan ruins.

The statue above is Elder Gardner.  I get kidded about the rigid poses that I take when I have my picture taken.  I am in front of an area that is a living quarters.   To the right this is a picture of a series of circles that were used for food storage and living quarters.

 We are allowed to visit the various sites in our mission.  The East Entrance to the Grand Canyon is about 40 miles south of Bitter Springs.

Add caption

These are pictures of the Grand Canyon.  In the far distance from where Sister Gardner is standing you can see Echo Cliffs area that runs the length of our branch.  From Lees Ferry to the Gap.

It is amazing to me that is some of the areas the Oriental tourists would crawl over the fences and go to the outer edges to get a better picture.  One can only guess what is in the small cavity called "the brain".           The canyon is immense.  The drop-off in some of the observation areas are over a mile.  One wonders why you would walk to the edge of a point just to get a better picture.

This sweet Native American lady is picking up Pinyon nuts of the ground.  I went over and helped her pick up some nuts and put them in her sack and she offered me a key chain to thank me.  The "season" for Pinyon nuts is in full force.  They are the size of a large watermelon seed.  When the are ripe the cone bursts and the nuts are on the ground.

Our Squashkin

        There are two Banana Winter Squash like these in the mission.  Ours and one at a place called Lukachukai at Inscription House.  The Winter Banana is an open pollinated squash and there is a genetic combination that gives this result.  At Lukachukai there is not a pumpkin within miles according to Brother Seely who is our specialist that teaches at BYU.  We have dubbed this as a Squashkin because it is right next to our Pumpkin plant.

The squash measures 17.5 inches high and is 15 inches across the middle of the plant.  There are only two squash on the entire vine.  The second squash is just a little larger than the one that Lyndy is standing by.  It is covered with vines and leave so it is more difficult to measure and take a picture of that one.                                          The picture on the left is the picture of our Pumpkin.  It is half the size of our Squashkin.

 

Rug Spinning

 

 This is  Geraldine Yellowhair weaving a rug. She is spinning the small strings that form the base of the rug.  (see below)  The strings are the verticle base.  The wool yarn then is placed on the horizontal to form the rug. The pattern is memorized and she visualizes how it should be put on the loom.  The rug Geraldine is workinf on is shown in the background.  It is 4 feet by 6 feet.

Note the small verticle strings.  These
are the strings she is weaving

Legend has it that the partterns that are made were revealed to the men by the Spider Women.  In the past the men were the weavers.  This has now been taken over by the women.
     Geraldine learned weaving from her mother.  She has a 16 year old daughter that she is teaching.


The unit she is using is an old sewing machine
base.  The yarn is spun real tight and then
geathered on the ball at the left.

It is an art that is vanishing from the culture.  The rug shown here will retail in a trading post on the reservation for $6,000.  You can purchase the item from Geraldine for much less.  The have to sell rugs and make various trinkets to survive.