American Indian Quarterly, vol.25, #1(2001):21-27
Native Voices. An Informal Collection of Papers
Presented at the AAA Meeting, November 2000
Compiled By June-El Piper
Doo Dilzin Da: Abuse of the Natural World
By Robert Begay
In my work across the reservation in the past decade I have been involved with many traditional Navajo people who are concerned about the health of the earth and its effects on the power of traditional ceremonies, which depend on summoning the powers of the earth and the deities that inhabit the earth and universe. Traditional Navajo people are particularly interested in the preservation of the cultural and natural resources found on Navajo lands and protecting the earth from further degradation. The earth, Nihidzaan, is considered a deity and a mother to Navajo people. With high unemployment rates and the need for economic development, today’s necessity for new economic opportunities has desecrated the earth through the extraction of minerals and the creation of public spaces for recreational activities. In the same way that mining activities have destroyed or prohibited access to resources and extracted minerals from the earth, the promotion of tourism has limited Navajo access to and use of healing resources in the Grand and Glen Canyons. Obviously mining and tourism are very different kinds of activities and Black Mesa (where coal is extracted) is different from the canyons, but for Navajos these places are sources of reality; the exploitation of the earth has limited and affected the healing power of the earth. Traditional Navajo healers are concerned about the effectiveness of ceremonies and rites that are intimately intertwined with the natural landscape. Here I will look at the effects of tourism within public spaces, and the extraction of minerals and the impact of its associated industries (power generation), all of which have transformed the fragile northern Arizona ecosystem. In particular I will discuss the Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon, and Black Mesa regions, and offer some suggestions for minimizing the impact on traditional ceremonies and lifestyles through sensitive management strategies.
Glen Canyon National Recreational Area and Grand Canyon National Park are managed by the National Park Service. Presently only parts of both park units are on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Grand Canyon National Park covers 1,217,403 acres, while Glen Canyon National Recreation Area encompasses more than 1,254,306 acres.
In 1963 the Bureau of Reclamation completed the construction of Glen Canyon Dam, which created Lake Powell and provided the nation and the world with an aquatic recreational area in the arid desert of northern Arizona. Recreation was only a secondary purpose of the dam. The BOR expected the dam to meet two primary objectives. First, the dam would meet the water needs of the Upper and Lower Colorado Basin in accordance with the Colorado River Compact (Law of the River). The dam would also provide hydroelectric power for consumers within the greater region. As interesting and controversial as Glen Canyon Dam is, I will not dwell on it. Instead I would like to focus on the tourism associated with the lake.
Just below Glen Canyon Dam, at Lee’s Ferry, begins the Grand Canyon National Park. The park was created to preserve the natural and cultural resources of the canyon. Today approximately 25,000 people raft on the Colorado River through Grand Canyon every year. In addition, numerous people hike the many trails throughout the canyon. The Navajo reservation is bordered by the Colorado River, and the Navajo Nation does have some jurisdiction in the canyon.
Both national park units attract millions of tourists from throughout the world every year. The National Park Service estimates that the Grand Canyon National Park had 4,930,151 visitors in 1999, while the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area attracted approximately 2,667,249 visitors in 1999 - a total of over 7.5 million visitors in one year! The tourists have provided a wealth of economic opportunities for the Navajo people, but they have also affected the cultural and natural resources on which Navajo ceremonial life depends.
Black Mesa is also located partially within the Navajo Reservation; the other portion is on the Hopi Indian Reservation. Peabody Western currently operates two mines on Black Mesa: the Black Mesa Mine and the Kayenta Mine. Peabody Western estimates that they have extracted and transported some twelve million tons of low-sulfur coal annually from both mines. While extracting coal from Black Mesa, Peabody Western is also removing water from the Navajo Aquifer below Black Mesa to transport coal to the Mojave Power Plant in southern Nevada. The mine uses approximately 3,800 acre-feet or 1.425 billion gallons of water annually. Coal from the Kayenta Mine supplies the Navajo Generating Station located near Page, Arizona; this coal is transported by railroad.
Both mines are located on Navajo Nation land and employ a large number of Navajo people. The actual mining lease extends into the Hopi reservation. Peabody employs some seven hundred Navajo employees. Incidentally, the unemployment rate on the Navajo Reservation is in the 40 percent to 50 percent range. In addition to providing employment, Peabody estimates that it has injected more than $1.2 billion into both the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribal governments in the past thirty years. Presently, Peabody pays some $40 million in royalties to both tribes, which represents 80 percent of the Hopi Tribe’s budget and 20 percent of the Navajo Nation’s general fund budget. As you can see, the Navajo Nation does reap some economic benefit from both tourism and mining, but the activities at both locations affect the natural and cultural resources. We now turn to a discussion of the traditional views of the earth and its role in Navajo ceremony.
Glen and Grand Canyons and Black Mesa are only small elements within the larger ceremonial and physical landscapes that define the Navajo world. They are ceremonially connected to each other and to other physical elements of the earth’s surface, as well as to the deities who inhabit the earth and the realms below and above it. Within and surrounding these two regions are smaller landscapes, defined by periods of Navajo history: from the creation of the Navajo people, to their relationship with other pre-Columbian and current inhabitants, to their use of the canyons and mesa for protection from the U.S. Army during the conquest of the Navajo tribe in the 1860s, and to twentieth-century daily life (including Navajo involvement in World War I and World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and Desert Storm). To understand and discuss the importance of the canyons and Black Mesa one must understand that the landscape and the people are inseparable; each is a part of the other.
In the Navajo version of creation, in the beginning of time the world was created by the gods for the people. The earth was created and adorned with plants; the sky was created and clouds decorated it. The mountains were molded and all animals were given a place to reside. The oceans, springs, rivers, ponds, lakes, and all other types of water were created, and acting as a vast circulatory system they sustain the earth. Furthermore, all the deities took up a place of residence throughout the world and universe (at locations we now call Sacred Places or Traditional Cultural Places). Most important, the earth is a deity with a humanlike physical anatomy, and just like the human body the earth reacts to an injury that limits its power to function. The earth, as our mother, protects and nurtures us, and in times of need we turn to her for healing and protection. Furthermore, just as the human body has specific parts for specific tasks and powers to function properly, in the same manner specific landscapes or natural features (or a combination of features) have specific powers to assist the Navajo with their existence.
The Colorado River is also considered to be a living entity which runs through the Glen and Grand Canyons and acts as a natural boundary for the Navajo people, who thus depend on it for protection. The Colorado River, with its vast tributary system, is a source of power. This power is summoned when the songs of the water are sung in certain ceremonies, such as Tl’eeji. Offerings are deposited into the river or in certain places throughout the canyon. These offerings also summon the deities that reside in locations within the canyon, to protect, to heal, and to bring rain.
Black Mesa, like the Colorado River, is also an integral part of the Navajo sacred landscape. Black Mesa, or Dzi¬ijiin, is considered a female mountain and gives people “goods and things of value” and teaches them to live in harmony with the natural world. The mountain also provided a refuge for Navajo people. Many Black Mesa residents recount traditional histories describing their ancestors who made offerings to Black Mesa or specific landscapes or natural features on Black Mesa, asking for help and protection during the struggle between the United States and Navajo people in the mid-1800s. Today residents of Black Mesa say because their ancestors made offerings to Black Mesa many of them did not go to Hweeldi (Fort Sumner) in 1864. Many of these descendants still make offerings at some of the places where their ancestors made offerings. Some of these places no longer exist.
Traditional Navajos consider the earth as their mother. They understand that the same elements that make the earth a living ecosystem also make it possible for the Navajo and all people to exist. We are dependent on the earth for our survival, yet we have the power to destroy the earth if we so wish. In the same fashion as the mother nurtures a child, the earth nurtured and will continue to nurture the Navajo people. The earth nourished her children from their conception and will continue to take care of her children into the future. Traditional Navajo ceremonies and rituals are a way for Navajo people to request protection, healing, and assistance from the earth in times of need. This is comparable to the relationship that Navajo mothers have with their children. If a Navajo child is in need of comfort, healing, or protection it will turn to his or her mother for help much like a Navajo would turn to the earth.
Traditional Navajos are taught from an early age that the whole earth is sacred and should be addressed through proper kinship protocol. The earth is addressed as “Mother” while the universe is addressed as “Father.” Other elements or geographic features of the earth are also addressed through kinship terms. To establish familial ties between themselves and the natural world, Navajo people have a communication link with the earth through ceremony, ritual, prayer, and respect. Traditional Navajos are taught that the earth and its landscapes or features have power and should be respected accordingly, and one must observe certain protocols to obtain help. These protocols vary, from proper personal behavior to more elaborate ceremonial practices that may include a ceremony lasting nine nights. The activities that tap into this power to protect and heal must be performed in a respectful and serene and reverent manner. One must be able to connect spiritually with the deities, and the elements.
We must also remember that the earth is capable of destroying what it has created. The earth contains power that is dangerous to the Navajo people, or to all people, for that matter. For traditional Navajo people it is imperative that we follow established sacred procedures (ceremony and ritual) to protect the earth and to maintain a balance between ourselves and the natural elements.
Tourism associated with Glen Canyon Dam has had a great impact on traditional Navajo life in the Grand Canyon region. The establishment of the Glen Canyon and Grand Canyon National Parks has not only limited Navajo access to important resources (such as offering places and plant gathering areas), but also affected other natural and cultural resources within the canyons (such as natural springs, archaeological sites, and petroglyph panels). Lake Powell has inundated many of these places. Camping and recreation vehicles have disturbed or destroyed much of the cultural and natural resources along the shores of the lake and river. Because of the tourists it is rare to experience the serenity needed to make offerings along the Colorado River for protection and healing. The only accessible place today is Lee’s Ferry, where many river trips begin. Making an offering is often interrupted by the noise of rafters excited by the prospects of experiencing the wilderness in the canyon. It is also not uncommon for curious tourists to interrupt ceremonial proceedings by invading ceremonial space to gawk at those who are making offerings or by asking questions to satisfy their curiosity.
Making offerings above Glen Canyon Dam presents a problem for many ceremonialists. Offerings to the Colorado River are meant for a free-flowing, living deity, but the dam has “tied up” the river above the dam. Can an offering and the request for assistance and healing be honored if it is offered to a deity, in this case the river, that has been restricted by a dam? For that matter, is the offering effective downriver, since the river is no longer a natural system? Traditional Navajos believe that specific landscapes and features such as natural springs are sacred because of the power associated with them, and those specific locations should only be approached with reverence and proper ceremonial preparation. Just by their sheer numbers tourists also affect other resources essential for protection and healing that are found within the canyon, such as plants and wildlife.
On a more destructive level, the coal mining on Black Mesa and its use of the water has also affected the healing power of the earth. The extraction of coal from the mines on Black Mesa has desecrated the earth by taking out a nonrenewable resource that is part of the overall ecosystem. More important, mining alters the entire landscape and often destroys offering sites, plant-gathering areas, and other sacred places. Even though Peabody “reclaims” the area, it will never be the same again.