8-22 to 8-27

Gallup, NM

During our stay in Gallup, NM, we attended a free nightly summer Indian Dance at the Courthouse Square.  At the conclusion of the performance members of the audience were invited to join in a circle dance.

 

 

We also spent a couple of hours at the Fire Rock Casino.   Monte and I each received $20 in free slot play.  Monte went through his $20 in less than a half hour and spent the rest of the evening listening to a band play in the restaurant.  I continued playing for a couple of hours being ahead most of the time until I lost it all and called it quits. 

Another day we took a drive through Tohatchi, located on the Navajo Nation where we passed wild horses, and a flock of sheep.

 

 

 

 

On our last full day in Gallup we crossed into Arizona to visit the Navajo Nation Museum, the Navajo Nation Zoological and Botanical Park and the Navajo Nation Code Talkers World War II memorial located in Window Rock.

 

 

 

The Navajo Nation Museum contains exhibits that help to document the culture and history of the Navajo people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to watching an interpretive video we were able to enter a Hogan, the traditional dwelling of the Navajo people.    

A Hogan can be round, cone-shaped, multi-sided, or square with the door facing east to welcome the rising sun for good wealth and fortune.

The Zoological and Botanical Park, located next to the museum, is the only tribally owned zoological park in the United States. 

The zoo is home to about 100 animals representing over 50 species including black bear, bobcat, Mexican wolves, mule deer, elk, Gila monsters, coyotes, cougars and red foxes, as well as wild turkey, cranes, golden eagle, red-tailed hawk, and great horned owls.

 

 

 

 

 

The creation of the Golden Eagle Sanctuary has an interesting history.  The zoo lobbied for funding to build an eagle sanctuary in order to be able to distribute the feathers to tribal members for ceremonial purposes. 

The federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Ace states that any remains of dead eagles are to be collected by the federal government and transported to a central repository in Colorado.  Members of Native American nations must then apply individually to receive parts, such as feathers, in a lengthy process with wait-times that can exceed several years.

A tribal-operated eagle sanctuary constitutes an exception to the process.  In 2015, the Navajo Nation Zoo was successful in obtaining the necessary funding for a large Eagle Sanctuary that is permitted to house up to 25 Golden Eagles.

We ended our visit to Window Rock at the Navajo Nation Code Talkers World War II memorial. 

The town of Window Rock is named for the natural sandstone formation with an imposing arch or window that looms over the Window Rock Tribal Park where the Code Talkers memorial is located.

During WWII, the Navajo language was used to develop an unbreakable communication.  The Navajos were assigned to devise a code in their language that would baffle enemy listeners.  Code talkers served with all six Marine divisions in the Pacific and with Marine Raider and parachute units, where they earned praise for their performance.