Navajo County(130) ► ADJACENT TO NAVAJO COUNTY Apache County(48) ► Coconino County(236) ► Gila County(41) ► Graham County(16) ► San Juan County, Utah(47) ►
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Before you lies a small tributary of the Tsegi Canyon watershed. A quaking aspen grove graces the canyon floor, while the north-facing cliff (right) offers shady habitat for towering Douglas-fir trees.
Thriving here in this desert wilderness is . . . — — Map (db m144450) HM
It is not known if the prehistoric Indians of the canyons used this plant, but both Navajos and Hopis make medicine from it, to cure stomach-ache. The Navajos use it to cure colds and headache. — — Map (db m144404) HM
As with the narrowleaf yucca, all parts of this plant provided something for the Indians. They ate the fruit, and shredded and twisted the leaves into cord and rope. Soap comes from the crushed roots and is used as a shampoo in Navajo and Hopi . . . — — Map (db m144395) HM
The maze of canyonlands stretching before you is the continuing work of millions of years of powerful and pervasive geological forces.
Water scours and down-cuts channels in the soft sandstone plateau. The process is augmented by forces of . . . — — Map (db m71515) HM
Hopis made arrows from the wood of this plant and shredded the soft bark to make a padding for babies' cradleboards. Like many of these plants, it provided medicine, and was used as an emetic and as a wash for wounds. — — Map (db m144393) HM
Footprints of a small dinosaur that walked on his hind legs. About 180 million years ago, he left a lasting signature by walking through the mud. The print then filled with sediment, and both print and cast (upside-down here) eventually turned to . . . — — Map (db m71516) HM
Generations of Hopis have long travelled far from their arid, mesa-top homes to collect fir boughs and branches. Navajos also traded cut boughs to the Hopis in exchange for corn. Each culture requires fir neck-wreaths for the dancers of certain . . . — — Map (db m144406) HM
The most common oak in Navajoland has a hard, durable wood, which is still used for ax handles, weaving battens, and cradleboard hoops. The leafy branches are favored for shade ramadas in the summer. Solutions of root bark are used to dye wool and . . . — — Map (db m144405) HM
The fruit of the pricklypear cactus is widely eaten by Southwestern Indians. It is picked with a forked stick or wooden tongs, and the spines are broken or burned off. It may be eaten fresh or dried. — — Map (db m144403) HM
The Navajo Indians resourcefully met the demands of desert dwelling when they came up with this comfortable and sturdy forked-stick hogan — so called because its chief structural support is made up of three poles with their forked ends . . . — — Map (db m144378) HM
When protected from overgrazing, this bunchgrass thrives on the high desert. It was once a nutritious food source for the Hopi Indians.
While Navajos also depended on rice grass, other foods that were easier to prepare eventually replaced it. . . . — — Map (db m144391) HM
Who Was Here? Descendants of the Hopi people who built this place call it Talastima, a Hopi word for "Place of the Blue Corn Tassels." They call their ancient relatives “Hisatsinom.” Zuni, also pueblo builders, know . . . — — Map (db m144402) HM
This plant, when made into a brew, was a multipurpose medicine, prescribed for stomach trouble, kidney afflictions, venereal disease, and coughs. — — Map (db m144407) HM
The nut of this little tree, eaten raw or roasted, is a favorite wild food of the Southwestern Indians. Prehistoric Indians used the pitch to fasten stone arrowheads and knives to wooden shafts and handles, and to repair broken pots. Navajos made . . . — — Map (db m144399) HM
This Is The Place The Ancestral Puebloans often chose south-facing alcoves like this one for their cliff villages; here are all the basic necessities of life. Benefits of winter sun and summer shade, shelter from the elements, and springwater . . . — — Map (db m144400) HM
Hopi Indians burn rabbit brush kindling with three other wood fuels in their ceremonial kivas. Slender, flexible stems are woven into basketry. Green dye comes from the inner bark, while early autumn flowers yield a yellow dye. The Hopis once . . . — — Map (db m144448) HM
Follow the easy one-mile (1.6 km) round-trip trail to a point overlooking Betatakin Ruin—multi-level cliff-village home to a community of 13th-century Anasazi farmers.
On the way there and back, you’ll be walking through pygmy . . . — — Map (db m71519) HM
Serviceberry is one of the enduring "life medicines" of the Navajos, which insure their survival, health, and harmony. It is gathered to treat nausea, stomach problems, animal bites, and recovery from childbirth. It is also valued as a medicine in . . . — — Map (db m144449) HM
This miniature forked-stick hogan without a smoke hole is actually a highly effective bath — an ancient solution to the problem of keeping clean in a land where water is scarce.
Here’s how it works: Stones are heated in a fire, then . . . — — Map (db m71517) HM
This trail leads through vegetation typical of the plateaus of northern Arizona. Although the trees are small, they make up a true forest – the pinyon pine-juniper forest. The stunted trees and plants here may seem an unlikely source of food, . . . — — Map (db m144397) HM
Hidden away in Tsegi Canyon’s wilderness of bare rock, sand, and sparse vegetation are surprising pockets of luxuriant growth. Betatakin Canyon—home to a village of prehistoric cliff-dwellings farmers—is one of these oases. Fir Canyon, . . . — — Map (db m71514) HM
This tree had many uses. Many of the roof beams in Betatakin are juniper. Fires were started with juniper fire-drills, the shredded bark was used for tinder, and the wood was used for fuel. The shredded bark also served as diaper pads, was braided . . . — — Map (db m144396) HM
By 1286, Betatakin village had grown to fill even the most precarious shelves and niches in the alcove, and housed 100 to 125 people clustered into 20 to 25 households. Looking down at this sheltered site today you can still see most remnants of the . . . — — Map (db m144401) HM
You can tell that this two-horse wagon has traveled many a mile over rough Navajo reservation roads. One of the many styles made around the turn of the century specifically for the Indian trade, and sold at trading posts. Horse drawn wagons are a . . . — — Map (db m71518) HM
This contact station has served many purposes over the years, including an essential role as the monument’s first interpretive center.
The Cook Shack The building was originally constructed in 1939 as a nine-by-twelve-foot cook shack for . . . — — Map (db m144354) HM
