Navajo

https://www.nps.gov/nava/index.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_National_Monument Navajo National Monument is located within the northwest portion of the Navajo Nation territory in northern Arizona, which was established to preserve three well-preserved cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan People: Broken Pottery (Kitsʼiil), Ledge House (Bitátʼahkin), and Inscription House (Tsʼah Biiʼ Kin). The monument is high on the Shonto plateau, overlooking the Tsegi Canyon system, west of Kayenta, Arizona. The Hopi, San Juan Southern Paiute, Zuni, and Navajo people have inhabited the canyons for centuries. Springs fed into farmlands on the canyon floor and homes were built in the natural sandstone alcoves. The cliff dwellings of Betatakin, Keet Seel, and Inscription House were last physically occupied around 1300 AD but the villages have a spiritual presence that can still be felt today. Drive 9 Miles at the end of AZ Highway 564, off US Highway 160. Navajo National Monument Visitor Center Main contact for NAVA is at VC. US Highway 160, turn North 9 miles on AZ-564 Canyon View Campground Canyon View Campground is open during the Summer Season from May through September, with 13 sites including 3 large group camping sites. Camping is free. Canyon View Campground is a non-fee camping 0.00 No Fees Sunset View Campground Sunset View Campground has 31 sites and open all year round. Betatakin Cliff dwelling and Alcove view from inside the Betatakin Cliff Dwelling looking out. Betatakin Cliff Dwelling was home to the Ancestral Puebloans over 700 years ago. 2019 Connecting with our Homelands Awardees Hopa Mountain, in partnership with the National Park Service, is pleased to announce the 2019 awardees of the Connecting with our Homelands travel grants. Twenty-one Indigenous organizations, schools, and nonprofits have been awarded travel funds for trips to national park units across 12 states/territories within the United States. An elder and young student talk while sitting on a rock. Arroyo Incision and Expansion in Navajo National Monument During my YLCC internship this summer, I worked to document how climate change is affecting Navajo National Monument located on the Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona. I documented the ongoing erosion and deposition occurring within Keet Seel canyon and reconstructed the 2011 Keet Seel Canyon flood. This was an extremely large event, and with climate change, we can expect to see these types of events becoming more frequent. Two researchers measure depth of sandy arroyo in canyon bottom The Colorado Plateau The Colorado Plateau is centered on the four corners area of the Southwest, and includes much of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Hazy Fajada Butte, Chaco Culture National Monument NPS Geodiversity Atlas—Navajo National Monument, Arizona Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park. Links to products from Baseline Geologic and Soil Resources Inventories provide access to maps and reports. alcove with stone buildings Module Conducts Wildland-Urban Interface Projects Throughout the Intermountain Region In 2013, the Saguaro Wildland Fire Module (WFM) managed multiple projects simultaneously in AZ, TX, and NM. WFMs are highly skilled and versatile fire crews that provide expertise in long-term planning, ignitions, holding, prescribed fire preparation and implementation support, hazardous fuels reduction, and fire effects monitoring. With their help, fire fulfills its natural or historic role to meet resource and management objectives and create fire-adapted communities. Monitoring Night Skies and Natural Soundscapes on the Southern Colorado Plateau Many national parks in the Southern Colorado Plateau region contain large areas of wilderness, where dark night skies and natural soundscapes are important human values. Dark night skies, which depend upon the visibility of stars and other natural components, are diminishing resources in several park units because of anthropogenic activities. Natural soundscapes—that is, the natural sounds of wildlands—are degraded by sounds caused by humans or human technology. Clouds and sky turning red and orange over Navajo National Monument at sunset Vegetation Characterization and Mapping on the Southern Colorado Plateau Vegetation mapping is a tool used by botanists, ecologists, and land managers to better understand the abundance, diversity, and distribution of different vegetation types across a landscape. Vegetation plots used for the classification and mapping of El Malpais NM Climate Change on the Southern Colorado Plateau The combination of high. elevation and a semi-arid climate makes the Colorado Plateau particularly vulnerable to climate change. Climate models predict that over the next 100 years, the Southwest will become warmer and even more arid, with more extreme droughts than the region has experienced in the recent past. One result of climate change may be more, larger floods, like this flash flood in Glen Canyon NRA Monitoring Spring Ecosystems on the Southern Colorado Plateau Springs are important water sources in arid landscapes, supporting unique plant associations and sustaining high levels of biotic diversity. Because springs rely on groundwater, they can serve as important indicators of change in local and regional aquifers. On the Colorado Plateau, spring ecosystems also provide vital habitat for both endemic and regionally rare species, including several types of orchids and declining populations of leopard frogs. A pool of water filled with vegetation and sheltered by large rocks National Park Service Commemoration of the 19th Amendment In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment the National Park Service has developed a number of special programs. This includes online content, exhibits, and special events. The National Park Service’s Cultural Resources Geographic Information Systems (CRGIS) announces the release of a story map that highlights some of these programs and provides information for the public to locate and participate. Opening slide of the 19th Amendment NPS Commemoration Story Map Series: Defining the Southwest The Southwest has a special place in the American imagination – one filled with canyon lands, cacti, roadrunners, perpetual desert heat, a glaring sun, and the unfolding of history in places like Tombstone and Santa Fe. In the American mind, the Southwest is a place without boundaries – a land with its own style and its own pace – a land that ultimately defies a single definition. Maize agriculture is one component of a general cultural definition of the Southwest. Changing Patterns of Water Availability May Change Vegetation Composition in US National Parks Across the US, changes in water availability are altering which plants grow where. These changes are evident at a broad scale. But not all areas experience the same climate in the same way, even within the boundaries of a single national park. A new dataset gives park managers a valuable tool for understanding why vegetation has changed and how it might change in the future under different climate-change scenarios. Green, orange, and dead grey junipers in red soil, mountains in background Water Resources on the Colorado Plateau Describes the origin, uses, threats to, and conservation of water on the Colorado Plateau. Dark green body of water winding through red rock formations with brilliant sun overhead. 50 Nifty Finds #17: Common Threads Each National Park Service (NPS) employee has a unique story. We can't tell them all, but sometimes there's a personal account—like that of Sallie Pierce Brewer Van Valkenburg Harris—that speaks to common experiences. Although her NPS connections ran from 1933 to 1971, many of her joys, challenges, and frustrations can still be recognized in the NPS today. Sallie's story resonates regardless of era, gender, or position. How will it speak to you? Sallie Brewer in her NPS uniform standing at a gate Making an Impact: Long-Term Monitoring of Natural Resources at Intermountain Region National Parks, 2021 Across the Intermountain Region, Inventory & Monitoring Division ecologists are helping to track the effects of climate change, provide baseline information for resource management, evaluate new technologies, and inspire the next generation of park stewards. This article highlights accomplishments achieved during fiscal year 2021. A man looks through binoculars at sunrise. The Plateau Postcard: Spring-Summer 2023 The Plateau Postcard is the official newsletter of the Southern Colorado Plateau Inventory and Monitoring Network. In this issue, we say hello to many new faces within the network and head to the field with some of this year's spectacular monitoring crews. Pile of postcards with images of various southwest national parks on them. Project Profile: Expand Southwest Seed Partnership for Intermountain Region Parks The National Park Service and organizations of the Southwest Seed Partnership will implement the National Seed Strategy and associated revegetation and ecosystem restoration efforts. The project focuses on native plant development and involves collecting, producing, cleaning, testing, tracking, and storing seeds from native species. grasses and shrubs on a hillside Lesser Long-nosed Bat Research at Organ Pipe Cactus Lesser long-nosed bats have been in scientific focus since the late 1900's. These unique animals face different obstacles in their changing environment, but researchers are at work in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, learning more about these bats. Through research here and throughout Central America, scientists are understanding better how to protect these animals and their environment. A small black lesser long-nosed bat with a black face hovers above a waxy white saguaro flower. Toad Research in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument Research at Organ Pipe Cactus has seen large monsoons, drought, and the Sonoran Desert’s impact on different species of toad. The aim of this research is to understand which species are present, as well as the geographical reach of the chytrid fungus. A large dark green-gray Sonoran Desert toad sits in a pool of water. National Park Service project to build up 'workhorse' native seed stocks for major restoration and revegetation efforts The National Park Service, with funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will be able to build up stocks of the native workhorse plant species that can out compete invasive plant species so that native grasses and forbs can grow in previously disturbed areas.  a man kneels next to a bucket collecting seeds in a field Desert Varnish Ever wondered what those dark lines were on the rock walls of canyon country? These black, brown, and red streaks are called desert varnish. streaks of black desert varnish on a red rock wall The Plateau Postcard: Winter 2024 The Plateau Postcard is the official newsletter of the Southern Colorado Plateau Inventory and Monitoring Network. In this issue, we learn about how we are trying to predict pinyon-juniper die-offs, as well as a new tool we developed to help make us all better field scientists, and we hear from Bob Parmenter about his remarkable career at Valles Caldera National Preserve. A pile of postcards. Updated Species Database Will Help Boost Amphibian Conservation Across the National Park System To steward amphibians effectively, managers need basic information about which species live in parks. But species lists need constant maintenance to remain accurate. Due to recent efforts, the National Park Service now has an up-to-date amphibian species checklist for almost 300 parks. This information can serve as the basis for innumerable conservation efforts across the nation. A toad sits on red sand, looking into the camera.

Navajo Navajo National Monument Arizona National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior National Monument Morning mist rolls through Tsegi Canyon © RUSS GREENBURG Aspen stand below Betatakin dwellings © MARC MUENCH Home and Family in Canyon Country Walk on a rainbow trail; walk on a trail of song, and all about you will be beauty. There is a way out of every dark mist, over a rainbow trail. —Edward A. Navajo Named for the people who now occupy the region, Navajo National Monument protects Betatakin, Keet Seel, and Inscription House—remarkably well-preserved dwellings built hundreds of years ago by Ancestral Puebloans. In the cliff faces and terraces of the Tsegi Canyon system, modern Navajo life carries on side by side with the distant past. Nomadic hunter-gatherers came and went from this area for thousands of years. Around 2,000 years ago people became increasingly adept at farming, and a distinct culture emerged in the Four Corners region—the Ancestral Puebloans (sometimes called Anasazi). By 1200 the land surrounding today’s national monument was dotted with the farms of the Ancestral Puebloan © GENE BALZER Keet Seel dwellings people. Their villages, clusters of masonry rooms, stood nearby. Wide-ranging trade brought items like cotton, turquoise, sea shells, and parrot feathers. Rainfall was as scarce then as now, but usually there was enough to sustain their drought-adapted crops. Even so, harder times repeatedly prompted the people to move their farms and villages. While many probably remained in the bottomlands, others took shelter in the cliffs. The three cliff dwellings at Navajo National Monument date from around 1250 to 1300. There were countless other structures on the canyon rim and floor, but these three survive protected by sandstone alcoves. The cliff dwellers flourished here for five decades, then began to move away. There are many theories: drought, erosion, social pressures, religious dictates, or other influences that we know nothing about. Some say that the Ancestral Puebloans joined other peoples in the Southwest in regional migrations, underwent cultural shifts, and became the contemporary Hopi, Zuni, other Pueblo groups, and other tribes. Betatakin dwellings W h a t’s i n a Na m e ? Anasazi Navajo name meaning ”ancient ones” or ”ancestors of the aliens.” Though this name is still sometimes used, the preferred term is Ancestral Puebloans. Ancestral Puebloan The ancient people of the Four Corners region. Besides the cliff dwellings at Navajo National Monument, they lived at Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Aztec Ruins, Wupatki, Walnut Canyon, and elsewhere. A:shiwi Zuni name for their own people. Diné, Dineh Navajo name for their own people. Hisatsinom Hopi name for the ancient pueblo people of the region, who they claim as ancestors. Talastima Hopi name for Betatakin, meaning ”place of the blue corn tassels.” Betatakin Kawestima © MARC MUENCH Keet Seel dwellings © LAURENCE PARENT Modern Navajo people are not Puebloans, but some traditional Navajo trace their ancestry back to the prehistoric cliff dwellers through clan ceremonies and oral histories. When Spanish explorers and missionaries brought horses, sheep, and goats, the Puebloans and later the Navajo became expert herders. Sheep and cattle ranching are crucial to today’s way of life, and you can see livestock grazing on canyon terraces as they have for hundreds of years. As the ancient dwellings of the Southwest were rediscovered in the late 1800s, they suffered looting and damage. The Antiquities Act of 1906, signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt, allows U.S. Presidents to proclaim national monuments protecting natural and cultural treasures. In 1909 Navajo National Monument was established to incorporate Keet Seel, and later Betatakin and Inscription House. Navajo name meaning ”ledge house.” Hopi name for Keet Seel. Keet Seel Rough translation of Navajo name meaning ”broken pottery scattered around.” Tsu’ovi Hopi name for Inscription House, meaning ”place of the rattlesnake.” Hopi Navajo San Juan Southern Paiute Zuni According to Hopi traditions, their ancestors—the Hisatsinom—built these cliff dwellings. The Hopi have identified pictographs on canyon walls as clan symbols. Fire, Flute, and Bighorn Sheep clans lived at Keet Seel. Betatakin was home to the Deer, Fire, Flute, and Water clans. Inscription House is a Rattlesnake, Sand, and Lizard clan village. These places are active spiritual and physical links between past, present, and future. Here various clans developed and refined rituals and ceremonies that they took to the Hopi mesas when they migrated. You are on Navajo Nation land, which covers an area about the size of West Virginia. The traditional boundaries of the Navajo homeland are four sacred mountains: Blanca Peak in southern Colorado; Mount Hesperus in southwestern Colorado; Mount Taylor near Grants, New Mexico; and the San Francisco Peaks north of Flagstaff, Arizona.