Navajo Food Run - May, 2010
The food runs are sponsored by Adopt-a-Native Elder. They are held at a variety of remote locations across the huge Navajo reservation because the Navajos tend to live on their land, not in towns or villages. These elders often don’t have running water or electricity. We were in some pretty remote areas, and the elders came from even more remote places to join us.
Pix at http://picasaweb.google.com/aldixon3/NavajoFoodRunAdventure#
Day 1: Monday, May 3 - Our drive from Green Valley to Winslow, AZ
We drove up route 77 from Tucson to Globe and were reminded of the beauty of the San Pedro Valley. En route from Globe to Payson, we stopped at the Tonto National Monument, which protects cliff dwellings of the Salado people. We watched a very good video about the monument, but we did not climb up to the cliff dwellings as there were killer bees in the area. The hillside leading up to the dwelling was covered with yellow brittle bush and was gorgeous. The brittle bush all along our journey was a bit past its prime, but still beautiful. The view out over Roosevelt Lake from the monument was also worth the short detour up to the monument. The entire drive to Payson was pretty – past the Roosevelt Dam.
Payson was also very pretty – pine trees, cool temperatures. It reminded us of Show Low, AZ and Flagstaff. More a mountain town than a desert town. It would be a good place to visit when GV gets really hot. We had a not-so-luxurious lunch at a Burger King, but we did sit outside on a beautiful day.
We arrived in Winslow about 3 p.m. and took a quick drive through downtown as we searched for our hotel, La Posada. They are totally redoing the historic downtown streets, trying to cash in on Winslow’s history with Route 66 and the Eagles “Standing on a Corner in Winslow, AZ”. They are doing a major overhaul, but they still have a long way to go. The La Posada Hotel was built in 1930 by the Santa Fe railroad as one of their Fred Harvey hotels. Winslow was the major hub for the Santa Fe RR in the Southwest. Mary Jane Colter designed the hotel, grounds, furniture, china – everything! She had designed other hotels for Fred Harvey, such as El Tovar at the Grand Canyon, but never the whole enchilada, so to speak. It was also the last of the Fred Harvey hotels to be built.
The hotel was built around a “fantasy” history – created to resemble a hacienda that would have been built over several generations (but was actually built in less than 2 years). It had beautiful hand painted windows, an orangerie connecting the main building with a west wing, “linmosaic’ floors – mosaics made from linoleum, so they were quieter than tile. We learned all of this from a great video narrated by the current owner and rehabilitator of the hotel. The RR closed the hotel in 1957 and auctioned off all of the contents. No one would buy the hotel (route 40 had by then put the kiss of death on Winslow, diverting traffic from route 66) so the RR gutted the interior and turned it into a 1960’s era office building, complete with cubicles and acoustical tile drop ceilings. It was used as the RR offices in Santa Fe until the early 1990’s. The National Historic Trust put the building on a watch list as the RR was planning to tear it down, and the current buyer saw the notice and bought the place. There is still much work to be done on the hotel, but it is very nice at this point. We stayed in the Mary Pickford room. The hotel restaurant is the Turquoise Room with a famous chef who creates delicious and unusual meals using as many local ingredients as he can get. Arthur had Navajo churro lamb, and I had a vegetarian meal with an absolutely scrumptious cheese-stuffed pepper among other delights.
Day 2: Tuesday, May 4 - Our drive from Winslow to Chinle, AZ
We got an early start, hoping to stop at the Homolovi State Park when it opened at 8. Unfortunately, it was a victim of the AZ legislature’s theft of the state park funds and it was closed. We continued on to Second Mesa on the Hopi Reservation, planning to visit the Cultural Center and Museum, which was to open at 9. When we arrived, the sign said open but the door was locked. The gentleman in the gift store said the person in charge was over at the restaurant. We looked around for a while but finally gave up and headed to First Mesa, where we were assured there would be a visitor’s center that provided walking tours of Walpi.
I was a little worried about the road to Walpi as one of the tour books talked about it being a nerve-wracking drive along a cliff! Fortunately, there was a guard rail and the drive was not too bad. Just as promised, the visitor’s center was open at 10 and a tour was starting then. We had a short lecture about the Hopi and Walpi before walking to and around the village. It is perched WAY UP on First Mesa with commanding views in all directions. It was built in 900 A.D. making it the second oldest Hopi Village, next to one on Third Mesa. Only 3 people live in Walpi full-time now as there is no running water or electricity. The families still own the homes and use them for holidays and ceremonies. It reminded us exactly of Acoma, which makes perfect sense since they are both Pueblo tribes. Our tour guide, a young woman, was excellent. She told us about the Hopi matrilineal society, the clans, life today, and lots more. We tasted pika (?) bread made from blue flour and ashes that was very tasty.
We arrived in Chinle about 2 (Navajo time, with daylight savings time) and went to our first meeting for the Food Run. There was lots they hadn’t told us and it looks like we will be working very hard loading potatoes, digging out sand around the “Shade House”, cooking stew. AND we have to sit on the ground at a blessing ceremony for 3 hours. Arthur is wondering once again what I have gotten him into (and I have a few questions myself…).
Day 3: Wednesday, May 5 - Ceremony at Many Farms
Wow, this may stack up as one of Arthur’s least favorite days of his life, pershaps with good reason. We were instructed to begin a fast at 8:00 a.m. so that we would know what it is like to go without food. So we had a big breakfast at 7:00☺. Then we met the rest of the volunteers at the Basha’s grocery store for food shopping (me) and potato loading (Arthur). We headed out to the home of Elizabeth, one of the elders, where the Many Farms food run is always held, about 13 miles north of Chinle. I was assigned kitchen duty, so I spent the morning in Elizabeth’s small kitchen with about 6 other women (some Navajo) peeling and cutting vegetables to make soup and pasta salad for the 40 plus volunteers and member of Elizabeth’s family. It was very hot in the kitchen with the stove on even though the temperature outside was very pleasant. All of the women volunteers were told we had to wear long skirts during the food runs out of respect for the elders. We were surprised to see all of the non-Elder Navajo women wearing pants! Anyway, after we arrived, one veteran woman suggested it was always good to wear pants or jeans under the skirt because it is often windy and because we would be sitting on the ground a lot (now they tell me….). So I started the day with pants under my skirt, but I soon abandoned them as I was so hot in the kitchen I thought I would pass out. I thought many times during the morning of Arthur’s sister, Susan, who is one of the most action-oriented “let’s just get the job done” people I know – no time for whining – and was inspired to make the best of the situation.
Meanwhile, Arthur was outside unloading boxes and trying to stay busy. He finally went back to town for about 30 minutes before returning for the big opening ceremony. We had forgotten to bring a blanket to sit on, not realizing we would be required to sit on the dirt floor of the “Shade House” (basically what I think of as a lean-to, except it didn’t lean) which had 4 walls and a roof, but you could see daylight between the boards. Fortunately, the south wall was made of plywood, which. provided a better windbreak than the other walls. This became particularly critical as the wind picked up to around 30 – 40 miles per hour, blasting us with sand from the surrounding “fields” – huge open spaces with virtually no vegetation. One middle –aged Navajo told me when he was a child they didn’t have such sandstorms but now the fields have been overgrazed. Fortunately, we had an old piece of carpet in the back of the Jeep we used to protect the back end when loaded, so we sat on that (and loaded the potatoes directly onto the unprotected floor of the Jeep).
The opening ceremony was an attempt to have us experience a traditional Navajo ceremony. Linda, the leader of Adopt-a-Native-Elder (ANE), led it. Elizabeth, the Elder at whose home we were, participated so everything that was said had to be translated into Navajo. Linda spoke about the importance of quiet, of our culture getting too separated from nature and dependent on electronics for communication. She had given us all the assignment of taking a walk before we came, spreading some corn pollen (which she sent us) as an offering, and bringing something with us from our walk. We then had to sit and listen as more than 40 people told about their walk, how they were inspired, what they brought with them (and from some, a description of their whole spiritual life; give some people the floor and they take it……). And, of course, all of this had to be translated into Navajo, which partially explains why even though we had started at noon, we were still at it at 3:00 p.m. (remember we were also still fasting!). It was a glimpse of eternity for both of us. I have to say yoga helped me survive both physically and spiritually – I decided the only way to survive was to surrender, and it worked pretty well. I was also mesmerized watching piles of sand form on Arthur’s shoulders.
Once the ceremony was finally over, I had to help serve lunch in my role as kitchen help, and finally ate lunch about 4:00 p.m. It is not a good week to try to lose weight as we feed crowds on a tight budget – lots of carbs, including Navajo fry bread, which I can’t pass up! When we finally arrived back at our motel, all we could think about was taking a shower to rid of the grit covering us. It was hard knowing that more wind was forecast for Thursday, and we would be right back in the same place for the Food Run.
Day 4: Thursday, May 6 - Food Run at Many Farms
We arrived at the restaurant at our Best Western motel at 7:00 for our breakfast meeting to start the day. It lasted until about 8:30, and we were due to line up for the caravan to the Food Run at 9:00. Once we are all lined up in our cars, they were “smudged”. This consists of one of the guys lighting a bundle of sage and spreading the smoke around the group of cars. I need to find out exactly what the significance of this is. The wind was stronger this a.m. than it had been yesterday, which was not a good omen. I was assigned the pasta salad-making detail today, and Arthur was on the “Box” team, unloading and arranging food boxes, 20 lb bags of Bluebird flour, 10 lb bags of potatoes and onions in preparation for distribution to the Elders. I enjoyed visiting with several Navajo women in the kitchen, many of them sisters of Elizabeth, in whose home we were. (It isn’t clear exactly what a “sister” is in Navajo society, given the clan structure, being born “to” one clan and “for” another and uncle/aunt/brother/sister relationships defined an a way different from our way.)
At 11:00 all of the volunteers were told to report to the Shade House for the beginning of the Food Run meeting. The Elders (about 40) were all seated at tables, many of them accompanied by one or more of their children and grandchildren. There must have been 100 of them plus 4o plus of us in a fairly small room. There was no room to maneuver, that’s for sure. We stood at the front of the room – little did we know, we would still be standing there 2 ½ hours later☺.
We started with a Navajo prayer that lasted a long time. After that, Linda introduced all of us, telling where we were from and whether it was our first Food Run. And once again everything had to be translated into Navajo. After that, Linda enlisted the Elders in some play – games and singing, with gifts to the participants, for example: having men choose purses with gifts in them—big prize a $25 gift card to Walmart; handing around a doll in a papoose thingy and having 4 people sing it to sleep with Navajo lullabies—men as well as women; sending around a stuffed toy sheep she said needed to be herded because she didn’t get a chance to herd her sheep that day. One male was to say “bingo” as the sheep was passed and a gift given to whoever held it at that point, but Linda told the person when to say bingo. Stories that had been submitted were given awards. Toys and prizes were given to kids by age. Some elders brought gifts for the program—mostly rugs they had woven; some personal gifts for Linda or another.
The Navajos were good sports, making up funny lullabies, laughing at themselves and others in a good-natured way, etc. Then black plastic garbage bags were handed to the people in the program only (the others there—elders wanting to get in; family members) and giveaways were done: towels, hatchets, cleaning supplies, cookies, much other stuff. Volunteers were assigned to hand out these giveaways as the elders held out their bags. Then personal giveaways volunteers had brought were distributed. After the giveaways, the volunteers went through the food line to load up clamshells for the elders and gave them out, only to those elders in the program, as directed by Elinda according to male-elder-first rules. Then the male volunteers made plates for themselves, going first so they would be ready to load boxes into cars. Then the women volunteers made plates and stashed them to eat later and served all the people not elders in the program. We fed over 100 people each day. The volunteers ate wherever they could find a place—sitting on the floor in the storage building the first day, during the sandstorm. After the meal, some elders brought out their rugs and jewelry to sell and others brought up their cars/trucks to be loaded. After all the loading was done and the kitchen staff had cleaned up, we left.
As a kitchen helper, I (Jane) was assigned as a server for the dessert table. The desserts were brought by the Elders, and I found myself distributing doughnuts to the Navajos; I felt pretty guilty, given all we hear about the diabetes epidemic. A very nice young Navajo woman, Christine, and her 13-year-old daughter were next to me serving the fry bread. I was shocked when Christine told me she had 10 more children! They range in age from 3 to 16, including two sets of twins. Most of the other children were in attendance as well, and I met many of them. They were very well-behaved. Christine and her husband seem to be doing a great job in what I would consider an impossible task. I was sure ready when I had the chance to sit (finally) and eat about 2:30.
Poor Arthur spent several hours out in the sandstorm loading food boxes into the Elders’ cars. He looked more like a bank robber than a Good Samaritan with his bandana-covered face. We finally dragged our gritty bodies home for another eagerly anticipated shower about 4:30.
Day 5: Friday, May 6 – Sunrise Ceremony and evening Food Run at Tsaille
Arthur’s description of the Sunrise Ceremony: This morning we participated in a sunrise ceremony on the rim of Canyon de Chelly starting at 5.30 am. The ceremony was led by Linda, head of the ANE program, and her partner, Rodger, a Navajo. It was 42 degrees with a wind chill I'd estimate at no more than 30 degrees. We sat on cold, living rock in a circle while Rodger did some Navajo stuff-- actually, very nice--and then did some sharing and listened to Linda tell stories about characters named "Why am I here" and Where am I going"--journeying around talking to eagles, coyotes, bears, etc. and intone "restore my feet, restore my feet . . ." and various other body parts for quite some time. I had on a fleece and a windbreaker, Jane about the same. It took me several hours to warm up. During the ceremony we did a giant circular hug, etc. etc. There has been a lot of this kind of thing.
We didn’t have to leave for the Food Run until 3:00 p.m. so we had a little free time in Chinle. There is not much to do in Chinle. We went to the visitor’s center for Canyon de Chelly and then to the local market. Every Friday vendors set up in a large, dusty field at the edge of town and sell products not otherwise available in Chinle. (Chinle has a grocery store and a couple of convenience marts, nothing more). Tires, used clothing, shoes, sheep, and fresh vegetables are what I remember. Not a lot. After a nap, we lined up for the caravan to Tsaille.
The Food Run was held at the community college in Tsaille. Of course, the wind finally died down as we arrived, but this time the run was to be indoors! The facility is beautiful, but we had no access to a kitchen, which makes it hard to serve a meal and clean up. We spent a lot of time in the restrooms filling pots with water. We served sloppy joes and taco salad that we made along with lots of good stuff brought by the elders and their families – blue corn mush, corn, beans, chicken, etc. The room was large and made it easy to move around and interact with the Navajo elders and their families. They are a very reserved people, but were extremely grateful for everything we were doing for them.
The party atmosphere made for a fun evening, especially after the long, hard winter during which many of the elders were unable to get out. We had a fun conversation with two sisters who live with their grandmother since their parents' divorce. They were amazed at how tall we are! Delightful young ladies. Arthur and I bought a beautiful rug from one of the “grandma” elders. It is a “butterfly” pattern, which we have not seen very often.
The meal and program did not end until almost 9 p.m. We had an amazingly fast clean-up including cleaning, taking down and re-packing our “kitchen”, folding up all of the tables and chairs, and mopping the floor so we were able to start back to Chinle before 10. We arrived about 10:30, exhausted and knowing we had to get up at 5:30 for a 6:30 breakfast meeting before heading out to the Pinon Food Run.
Day 6: Saturday, May 8 – Pinon food Run and drive to Sedona
This was a big day for us as we were to meet our adopted elders, Ruth and Sam, who live near Pinon. We drove FOREVER to get to a home where the Food Run was to be held. Although it is called the Pinon run, we drove about 30 minutes beyond Pinon (which is an hour from Chinle), to a very isolated spot, the last several miles over dirt roads. Arthur and many others were elated to see the outhouse when we finally arrived at the site. I opted to wait for the other outhouse, a little farther away that had a door and a seat, unlike the first one we encountered.
This run was held entirely outdoors with the elders and their families sitting in a semi-circle facing the porch of the house. It followed the same routine as the other two drives. I, however, was excused from much of my kitchen duty to spend time with our elders and their family members. Our elders were accompanied by their daughter, Ida Charley, and their granddaughters, Emerald (ager 10) and April (age 9). Ida spoke excellent English, while the elders spoke almost none. Ida told me she has worked at the coal mine near Kayenta for 30 years. She said her mother had been hoping we would be there, and that she brought me a very pretty beaded necklace she had made. We also met Ruth’s sister, Victoria, who is in the program. It was great to be able to put faces with names and interact with this delightful family.
Once again, the wind picked up, but due to the higher elevation there were pinon trees and other vegetation, we didn’t have the kind of sandstorm effect we had at Many Farms. We bought a small place mat sized “rug" from 12-year old Sandy, who is learning to weave from her “Aunty”. We finished the clean-up and left about 2:30, following as Linda led a long line of cars over a gravel road toward Second Mesa and the highway to Winslow. All of those in the procession other than us were heading to the next food runs that would be conducted in the Winslow area. We were headed to Sedona for a little R and R after our exhausting week.
Day 8: Sunday, May 9 – Sedona
We hadn’t been to Sedona for almost 20 years and were amazed at how much it has grown. Although we knew red rocks surround it, we had forgotten how up close and personal they are! After now having spent a lot more time in the West, we realize what a unique location this is, living among the rocks as opposed to viewing them in a park. We were too tired to do much, but we did some gallery-hopping and a nice drive on Red Rock Loop Drive. I also came down with a cold.
Day 9: Monday, May 10 - Back home to Green Valley
As planned, we stopped in Phoenix at the Emser Tile Company to purchase Wedi board for my mosaic projects. It has taken me months to finally locate a supplier of this magic product. And we couldn’t go through Phoenix without a stop at Ikea. We even managed to make it a lunch stop! Doesn’t get much better than that☺. Two hours later we were back at home in Green Valley - sick (me), tired, and happy we went but also happy to be back home.
Pix at http://picasaweb.google.com/aldixon3/NavajoFoodRunAdventure#
Day 1: Monday, May 3 - Our drive from Green Valley to Winslow, AZ
We drove up route 77 from Tucson to Globe and were reminded of the beauty of the San Pedro Valley. En route from Globe to Payson, we stopped at the Tonto National Monument, which protects cliff dwellings of the Salado people. We watched a very good video about the monument, but we did not climb up to the cliff dwellings as there were killer bees in the area. The hillside leading up to the dwelling was covered with yellow brittle bush and was gorgeous. The brittle bush all along our journey was a bit past its prime, but still beautiful. The view out over Roosevelt Lake from the monument was also worth the short detour up to the monument. The entire drive to Payson was pretty – past the Roosevelt Dam.
Payson was also very pretty – pine trees, cool temperatures. It reminded us of Show Low, AZ and Flagstaff. More a mountain town than a desert town. It would be a good place to visit when GV gets really hot. We had a not-so-luxurious lunch at a Burger King, but we did sit outside on a beautiful day.
We arrived in Winslow about 3 p.m. and took a quick drive through downtown as we searched for our hotel, La Posada. They are totally redoing the historic downtown streets, trying to cash in on Winslow’s history with Route 66 and the Eagles “Standing on a Corner in Winslow, AZ”. They are doing a major overhaul, but they still have a long way to go. The La Posada Hotel was built in 1930 by the Santa Fe railroad as one of their Fred Harvey hotels. Winslow was the major hub for the Santa Fe RR in the Southwest. Mary Jane Colter designed the hotel, grounds, furniture, china – everything! She had designed other hotels for Fred Harvey, such as El Tovar at the Grand Canyon, but never the whole enchilada, so to speak. It was also the last of the Fred Harvey hotels to be built.
The hotel was built around a “fantasy” history – created to resemble a hacienda that would have been built over several generations (but was actually built in less than 2 years). It had beautiful hand painted windows, an orangerie connecting the main building with a west wing, “linmosaic’ floors – mosaics made from linoleum, so they were quieter than tile. We learned all of this from a great video narrated by the current owner and rehabilitator of the hotel. The RR closed the hotel in 1957 and auctioned off all of the contents. No one would buy the hotel (route 40 had by then put the kiss of death on Winslow, diverting traffic from route 66) so the RR gutted the interior and turned it into a 1960’s era office building, complete with cubicles and acoustical tile drop ceilings. It was used as the RR offices in Santa Fe until the early 1990’s. The National Historic Trust put the building on a watch list as the RR was planning to tear it down, and the current buyer saw the notice and bought the place. There is still much work to be done on the hotel, but it is very nice at this point. We stayed in the Mary Pickford room. The hotel restaurant is the Turquoise Room with a famous chef who creates delicious and unusual meals using as many local ingredients as he can get. Arthur had Navajo churro lamb, and I had a vegetarian meal with an absolutely scrumptious cheese-stuffed pepper among other delights.
Day 2: Tuesday, May 4 - Our drive from Winslow to Chinle, AZ
We got an early start, hoping to stop at the Homolovi State Park when it opened at 8. Unfortunately, it was a victim of the AZ legislature’s theft of the state park funds and it was closed. We continued on to Second Mesa on the Hopi Reservation, planning to visit the Cultural Center and Museum, which was to open at 9. When we arrived, the sign said open but the door was locked. The gentleman in the gift store said the person in charge was over at the restaurant. We looked around for a while but finally gave up and headed to First Mesa, where we were assured there would be a visitor’s center that provided walking tours of Walpi.
I was a little worried about the road to Walpi as one of the tour books talked about it being a nerve-wracking drive along a cliff! Fortunately, there was a guard rail and the drive was not too bad. Just as promised, the visitor’s center was open at 10 and a tour was starting then. We had a short lecture about the Hopi and Walpi before walking to and around the village. It is perched WAY UP on First Mesa with commanding views in all directions. It was built in 900 A.D. making it the second oldest Hopi Village, next to one on Third Mesa. Only 3 people live in Walpi full-time now as there is no running water or electricity. The families still own the homes and use them for holidays and ceremonies. It reminded us exactly of Acoma, which makes perfect sense since they are both Pueblo tribes. Our tour guide, a young woman, was excellent. She told us about the Hopi matrilineal society, the clans, life today, and lots more. We tasted pika (?) bread made from blue flour and ashes that was very tasty.
We arrived in Chinle about 2 (Navajo time, with daylight savings time) and went to our first meeting for the Food Run. There was lots they hadn’t told us and it looks like we will be working very hard loading potatoes, digging out sand around the “Shade House”, cooking stew. AND we have to sit on the ground at a blessing ceremony for 3 hours. Arthur is wondering once again what I have gotten him into (and I have a few questions myself…).
Day 3: Wednesday, May 5 - Ceremony at Many Farms
Wow, this may stack up as one of Arthur’s least favorite days of his life, pershaps with good reason. We were instructed to begin a fast at 8:00 a.m. so that we would know what it is like to go without food. So we had a big breakfast at 7:00☺. Then we met the rest of the volunteers at the Basha’s grocery store for food shopping (me) and potato loading (Arthur). We headed out to the home of Elizabeth, one of the elders, where the Many Farms food run is always held, about 13 miles north of Chinle. I was assigned kitchen duty, so I spent the morning in Elizabeth’s small kitchen with about 6 other women (some Navajo) peeling and cutting vegetables to make soup and pasta salad for the 40 plus volunteers and member of Elizabeth’s family. It was very hot in the kitchen with the stove on even though the temperature outside was very pleasant. All of the women volunteers were told we had to wear long skirts during the food runs out of respect for the elders. We were surprised to see all of the non-Elder Navajo women wearing pants! Anyway, after we arrived, one veteran woman suggested it was always good to wear pants or jeans under the skirt because it is often windy and because we would be sitting on the ground a lot (now they tell me….). So I started the day with pants under my skirt, but I soon abandoned them as I was so hot in the kitchen I thought I would pass out. I thought many times during the morning of Arthur’s sister, Susan, who is one of the most action-oriented “let’s just get the job done” people I know – no time for whining – and was inspired to make the best of the situation.
Meanwhile, Arthur was outside unloading boxes and trying to stay busy. He finally went back to town for about 30 minutes before returning for the big opening ceremony. We had forgotten to bring a blanket to sit on, not realizing we would be required to sit on the dirt floor of the “Shade House” (basically what I think of as a lean-to, except it didn’t lean) which had 4 walls and a roof, but you could see daylight between the boards. Fortunately, the south wall was made of plywood, which. provided a better windbreak than the other walls. This became particularly critical as the wind picked up to around 30 – 40 miles per hour, blasting us with sand from the surrounding “fields” – huge open spaces with virtually no vegetation. One middle –aged Navajo told me when he was a child they didn’t have such sandstorms but now the fields have been overgrazed. Fortunately, we had an old piece of carpet in the back of the Jeep we used to protect the back end when loaded, so we sat on that (and loaded the potatoes directly onto the unprotected floor of the Jeep).
The opening ceremony was an attempt to have us experience a traditional Navajo ceremony. Linda, the leader of Adopt-a-Native-Elder (ANE), led it. Elizabeth, the Elder at whose home we were, participated so everything that was said had to be translated into Navajo. Linda spoke about the importance of quiet, of our culture getting too separated from nature and dependent on electronics for communication. She had given us all the assignment of taking a walk before we came, spreading some corn pollen (which she sent us) as an offering, and bringing something with us from our walk. We then had to sit and listen as more than 40 people told about their walk, how they were inspired, what they brought with them (and from some, a description of their whole spiritual life; give some people the floor and they take it……). And, of course, all of this had to be translated into Navajo, which partially explains why even though we had started at noon, we were still at it at 3:00 p.m. (remember we were also still fasting!). It was a glimpse of eternity for both of us. I have to say yoga helped me survive both physically and spiritually – I decided the only way to survive was to surrender, and it worked pretty well. I was also mesmerized watching piles of sand form on Arthur’s shoulders.
Once the ceremony was finally over, I had to help serve lunch in my role as kitchen help, and finally ate lunch about 4:00 p.m. It is not a good week to try to lose weight as we feed crowds on a tight budget – lots of carbs, including Navajo fry bread, which I can’t pass up! When we finally arrived back at our motel, all we could think about was taking a shower to rid of the grit covering us. It was hard knowing that more wind was forecast for Thursday, and we would be right back in the same place for the Food Run.
Day 4: Thursday, May 6 - Food Run at Many Farms
We arrived at the restaurant at our Best Western motel at 7:00 for our breakfast meeting to start the day. It lasted until about 8:30, and we were due to line up for the caravan to the Food Run at 9:00. Once we are all lined up in our cars, they were “smudged”. This consists of one of the guys lighting a bundle of sage and spreading the smoke around the group of cars. I need to find out exactly what the significance of this is. The wind was stronger this a.m. than it had been yesterday, which was not a good omen. I was assigned the pasta salad-making detail today, and Arthur was on the “Box” team, unloading and arranging food boxes, 20 lb bags of Bluebird flour, 10 lb bags of potatoes and onions in preparation for distribution to the Elders. I enjoyed visiting with several Navajo women in the kitchen, many of them sisters of Elizabeth, in whose home we were. (It isn’t clear exactly what a “sister” is in Navajo society, given the clan structure, being born “to” one clan and “for” another and uncle/aunt/brother/sister relationships defined an a way different from our way.)
At 11:00 all of the volunteers were told to report to the Shade House for the beginning of the Food Run meeting. The Elders (about 40) were all seated at tables, many of them accompanied by one or more of their children and grandchildren. There must have been 100 of them plus 4o plus of us in a fairly small room. There was no room to maneuver, that’s for sure. We stood at the front of the room – little did we know, we would still be standing there 2 ½ hours later☺.
We started with a Navajo prayer that lasted a long time. After that, Linda introduced all of us, telling where we were from and whether it was our first Food Run. And once again everything had to be translated into Navajo. After that, Linda enlisted the Elders in some play – games and singing, with gifts to the participants, for example: having men choose purses with gifts in them—big prize a $25 gift card to Walmart; handing around a doll in a papoose thingy and having 4 people sing it to sleep with Navajo lullabies—men as well as women; sending around a stuffed toy sheep she said needed to be herded because she didn’t get a chance to herd her sheep that day. One male was to say “bingo” as the sheep was passed and a gift given to whoever held it at that point, but Linda told the person when to say bingo. Stories that had been submitted were given awards. Toys and prizes were given to kids by age. Some elders brought gifts for the program—mostly rugs they had woven; some personal gifts for Linda or another.
The Navajos were good sports, making up funny lullabies, laughing at themselves and others in a good-natured way, etc. Then black plastic garbage bags were handed to the people in the program only (the others there—elders wanting to get in; family members) and giveaways were done: towels, hatchets, cleaning supplies, cookies, much other stuff. Volunteers were assigned to hand out these giveaways as the elders held out their bags. Then personal giveaways volunteers had brought were distributed. After the giveaways, the volunteers went through the food line to load up clamshells for the elders and gave them out, only to those elders in the program, as directed by Elinda according to male-elder-first rules. Then the male volunteers made plates for themselves, going first so they would be ready to load boxes into cars. Then the women volunteers made plates and stashed them to eat later and served all the people not elders in the program. We fed over 100 people each day. The volunteers ate wherever they could find a place—sitting on the floor in the storage building the first day, during the sandstorm. After the meal, some elders brought out their rugs and jewelry to sell and others brought up their cars/trucks to be loaded. After all the loading was done and the kitchen staff had cleaned up, we left.
As a kitchen helper, I (Jane) was assigned as a server for the dessert table. The desserts were brought by the Elders, and I found myself distributing doughnuts to the Navajos; I felt pretty guilty, given all we hear about the diabetes epidemic. A very nice young Navajo woman, Christine, and her 13-year-old daughter were next to me serving the fry bread. I was shocked when Christine told me she had 10 more children! They range in age from 3 to 16, including two sets of twins. Most of the other children were in attendance as well, and I met many of them. They were very well-behaved. Christine and her husband seem to be doing a great job in what I would consider an impossible task. I was sure ready when I had the chance to sit (finally) and eat about 2:30.
Poor Arthur spent several hours out in the sandstorm loading food boxes into the Elders’ cars. He looked more like a bank robber than a Good Samaritan with his bandana-covered face. We finally dragged our gritty bodies home for another eagerly anticipated shower about 4:30.
Day 5: Friday, May 6 – Sunrise Ceremony and evening Food Run at Tsaille
Arthur’s description of the Sunrise Ceremony: This morning we participated in a sunrise ceremony on the rim of Canyon de Chelly starting at 5.30 am. The ceremony was led by Linda, head of the ANE program, and her partner, Rodger, a Navajo. It was 42 degrees with a wind chill I'd estimate at no more than 30 degrees. We sat on cold, living rock in a circle while Rodger did some Navajo stuff-- actually, very nice--and then did some sharing and listened to Linda tell stories about characters named "Why am I here" and Where am I going"--journeying around talking to eagles, coyotes, bears, etc. and intone "restore my feet, restore my feet . . ." and various other body parts for quite some time. I had on a fleece and a windbreaker, Jane about the same. It took me several hours to warm up. During the ceremony we did a giant circular hug, etc. etc. There has been a lot of this kind of thing.
We didn’t have to leave for the Food Run until 3:00 p.m. so we had a little free time in Chinle. There is not much to do in Chinle. We went to the visitor’s center for Canyon de Chelly and then to the local market. Every Friday vendors set up in a large, dusty field at the edge of town and sell products not otherwise available in Chinle. (Chinle has a grocery store and a couple of convenience marts, nothing more). Tires, used clothing, shoes, sheep, and fresh vegetables are what I remember. Not a lot. After a nap, we lined up for the caravan to Tsaille.
The Food Run was held at the community college in Tsaille. Of course, the wind finally died down as we arrived, but this time the run was to be indoors! The facility is beautiful, but we had no access to a kitchen, which makes it hard to serve a meal and clean up. We spent a lot of time in the restrooms filling pots with water. We served sloppy joes and taco salad that we made along with lots of good stuff brought by the elders and their families – blue corn mush, corn, beans, chicken, etc. The room was large and made it easy to move around and interact with the Navajo elders and their families. They are a very reserved people, but were extremely grateful for everything we were doing for them.
The party atmosphere made for a fun evening, especially after the long, hard winter during which many of the elders were unable to get out. We had a fun conversation with two sisters who live with their grandmother since their parents' divorce. They were amazed at how tall we are! Delightful young ladies. Arthur and I bought a beautiful rug from one of the “grandma” elders. It is a “butterfly” pattern, which we have not seen very often.
The meal and program did not end until almost 9 p.m. We had an amazingly fast clean-up including cleaning, taking down and re-packing our “kitchen”, folding up all of the tables and chairs, and mopping the floor so we were able to start back to Chinle before 10. We arrived about 10:30, exhausted and knowing we had to get up at 5:30 for a 6:30 breakfast meeting before heading out to the Pinon Food Run.
Day 6: Saturday, May 8 – Pinon food Run and drive to Sedona
This was a big day for us as we were to meet our adopted elders, Ruth and Sam, who live near Pinon. We drove FOREVER to get to a home where the Food Run was to be held. Although it is called the Pinon run, we drove about 30 minutes beyond Pinon (which is an hour from Chinle), to a very isolated spot, the last several miles over dirt roads. Arthur and many others were elated to see the outhouse when we finally arrived at the site. I opted to wait for the other outhouse, a little farther away that had a door and a seat, unlike the first one we encountered.
This run was held entirely outdoors with the elders and their families sitting in a semi-circle facing the porch of the house. It followed the same routine as the other two drives. I, however, was excused from much of my kitchen duty to spend time with our elders and their family members. Our elders were accompanied by their daughter, Ida Charley, and their granddaughters, Emerald (ager 10) and April (age 9). Ida spoke excellent English, while the elders spoke almost none. Ida told me she has worked at the coal mine near Kayenta for 30 years. She said her mother had been hoping we would be there, and that she brought me a very pretty beaded necklace she had made. We also met Ruth’s sister, Victoria, who is in the program. It was great to be able to put faces with names and interact with this delightful family.
Once again, the wind picked up, but due to the higher elevation there were pinon trees and other vegetation, we didn’t have the kind of sandstorm effect we had at Many Farms. We bought a small place mat sized “rug" from 12-year old Sandy, who is learning to weave from her “Aunty”. We finished the clean-up and left about 2:30, following as Linda led a long line of cars over a gravel road toward Second Mesa and the highway to Winslow. All of those in the procession other than us were heading to the next food runs that would be conducted in the Winslow area. We were headed to Sedona for a little R and R after our exhausting week.
Day 8: Sunday, May 9 – Sedona
We hadn’t been to Sedona for almost 20 years and were amazed at how much it has grown. Although we knew red rocks surround it, we had forgotten how up close and personal they are! After now having spent a lot more time in the West, we realize what a unique location this is, living among the rocks as opposed to viewing them in a park. We were too tired to do much, but we did some gallery-hopping and a nice drive on Red Rock Loop Drive. I also came down with a cold.
Day 9: Monday, May 10 - Back home to Green Valley
As planned, we stopped in Phoenix at the Emser Tile Company to purchase Wedi board for my mosaic projects. It has taken me months to finally locate a supplier of this magic product. And we couldn’t go through Phoenix without a stop at Ikea. We even managed to make it a lunch stop! Doesn’t get much better than that☺. Two hours later we were back at home in Green Valley - sick (me), tired, and happy we went but also happy to be back home.
posted by arthurandjane at 5:25 PM
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