Last night we had some visitors to our camp - Winnie's daughter Barbara and granddaughter Ellen had hiked down Sliding Rock trail (the same one we used) to the campsite to drop off Navajo jewellry that Winnie makes to sell to visitors. We had all been keen to take home some of the beautiful Navajo jewellry on our trip, and having spent time with Winnie we didn't want to buy from anyone else. After a short break, Barbara and Ellen turned around to hike back up again! We were incredibly impressed by their fitness, even more so when they told us they'd walk back down again tomorrow to hike with us on our final day in the canyon!
Before we bought our jewellry from Winnie, she gave us a wonderful gift - juniper berry bracelets. When Juniper berries fall from the trees, insects drag them into their holes underground to use as a winter food source. All winter they eat the seeds from inside the berries, and then in the spring push the empty dried berries our of their nests. The elder Navajo who tend the sheep know where to find them, and collect them to sell to the jewellry makers. Winnie told us the beads would protect us in our future journeys and lives, and to wear them often so the oil from our skin would preserve the beads.
Then we sat around the campfire and talked for a while before the day's hike caught up with us and we headed off for our last night sleeping in the canyon.
The next morning dawned bright and early, and we began the sad task of breaking camp - packing up our gear and the tents. Winnie invited us into her Hogan after breakfast and we held hands while she prayed in Navajo and English to thank the Creator for keeping us safe on our journey, and to watch over us in our future travels. She threw cedar chips on her fire as a blessing and we all inhaled the smoke and blessed ourselves.
Before we left the Amazons shared a group hug and gave our intentions for that day's walk. Although none of us had chosen the journey that had brought us to this beautiful place, the journey that we began that day was our choice. Every step was a symbol of our power and taking control of our lives from this point forward.
Winnie drove our four wheel drive out of the canyon with all our gear, and Barbara and Ellen arrived again to lead us down to White House. Along the way we passed many spots we had come to know and love so well - Wild Cherry Canyon, Sliding Rock where we had first hiked down, and Spring Canyon. As we walked Barbara told us more of her family history. When Winnie was growing up all of the children of the Navajo in the area were forcibly removed from their parents and sent away to Boarding school. Winnie's brothers had both been taken, but her family had managed to hide her in the canyon. Winnie's mother told her that if she ever saw strange cars around the Hogan she should hide and not come home. She was eventually discovered when a jealous neighbour whose children had been taken told the authorities she was there. They arrived to take Winnie away and she didn't even have time to find and say goodbye to her mother. It was several months before her parents knew where she had been taken.
Along the way Barbara pointed out a cliff where the young Navajo men in her grandfather's time would have archery competitions. They would shoot straight up and if your arrow went over the canyon rim you won. Up to 15 years ago you could still see the arrows that missed stuck high in the canyon wall, but they are all gone now.
After two hours we arrived at the other end of the canyon at White House. This is one of the largest Anasazi Ruins in the Canyon, and the most accessible. The trail to White House from the rim is not as challenging as those further up, and is the only one visitors can take without a Navajo guide. Barbara told us that when Winnie's mother had gone into labour with her, it was the middle of winter, and her father and grandmother had led her mom down the canyon on a horse to try to reach the hospital in Chinle. They made it to the bottom of the trail at White House, but when Winnie's mother got off the horse, Winnie popped right out! She fell into three foot of snow and her father had to dig around to find her. They went to a relative's nearby Hogan to warm up, then rode and walked all the way back to their Hogan as there was no point in going to the hospital at that stage!
Many of the Navajo have stalls at White House selling their jewellry and pottery. The girls did a little more shopping (!), then we started the bitter sweet task of hiking out of the canyon. It was the easiest trail we'd taken all week, but still a solid one hour climb. Along the way we stopped often to look back at the magnificent canyon we'd lived in for a week. As we reached the top of the trail we walked out singing our theme song. "I will survive". We spent a little time at one of the lookouts on the cliff top, then climbed back into our minivan and drove back to Chinle for lunch and hot showers!
That night we went out to dinner at another hotel, and met again with Winnie, Barbara and Ellen. It was a great time to share again our memories of our incredible week together. We said goodbye to Winnie with hugs and some tears, then went back to our hotel for our last night's sleep in the Navajo nation.
Tomorrow we will head back to Alburquerque, stopping at historic Acoma on the way.
