Professional Development Spotlight: A Journey Like None Other, Part 5

Thanks to the Thatcher Faculty Professional Development Grant, I had the unique opportunity this summer to head out west and visit Native American sites in San Diego and Arizona. I had no idea just how much history I was about to discover (or maybe uncover). These visits allowed me the chance to visit and speak with Native Americans and find out history from their perspective. This is Part 5 of the travelogue of my experiences and will explore my visit to the 3rd Mesa and one of many reservations.

Perhaps the most eye-opening part of my journey out west was my visit and tour of one of the many reservations on the 3rd Mesa. We had the chance on a Sunday morning to have a private tour of the reservation with our guide Ernie - a native of the Navajo Nation. I didn't realize just how special this was until we visited the Heard Museum the next day. Understanding the life of the Native American people through the eyes of an actual Navajo tour guide compared to a docent in a museum is like taking four pictures from the top of the Empire State Building and telling someone who has never seen the skyline of New York, "This is what New York looks like." In other words there is no comparison!!

We started our tour by exploring the hieroglyphs and petroglyphs on the rock walls just outside the reservation. These were drawn and carved on and into what Ernie called the Newspaper Wall. It is truly amazing the stories and history that encompass these walls.

For all the technology we have at our disposal - and all that we are able to draw, write, or compute with said technology - the beauty of these ancient drawings and markings and the detail within them is fascinating. Once again this idea of Native Americans not being smart just doesn't hold water when you look at the details in the rocks and how each symbol represents a part of the story. I guess you could call this "old school" Native American style!! Where most folks can google something they aren't sure about the Native Americans are able to go the Elders or the Newspaper Wall and hear and "read" about the things that matter most to their people.

For our final visit of the day we actually got to visit Ernie's reservation home. We were not allowed to take pictures, but the level of poverty that these folks live in ignited the fire of embarrassment for how they have been treated throughout history. As Ernie told me this is not how all of his people live, but those folks who have moved off the reservation are often shunned by the folks on the reservation. It is hard to be on the reservation and not wonder why more folks don't want to leave this way of life. Those who leave are seen as being disloyal to the Tribe. Ernie did tell me that he is often seen as an outcast himself because he brings outsiders on to the reservation and gives tours and writes articles about Native American life that are published off the reservation.

With all that being said there is a sense of admiration I walked away with because of the way the Native American people I met live their live regardless of what seems like crushing and unbearable conditions. Everything that Ernie showed me on the "Newspaper Wall" was all about how the tribes have full confidence in the Creator that this is the life they have been chosen to live and they embrace it - at least the large number of folks who remain on the reservation. In the final installment of this travelogue I will finish my journey with a stop at the Heard Museum in Phoenix and a discovery that was truly unexpected.

My "Journey Like None Other" has definitely led me to meet a people who live a life like none other.