The Navajo Guide Who Opened My Eyes to the Spirit of Monument Valley
Our International Odyssey to the Navajo Nation
Americans usually consider “international travel” as crossing the border or flying to another continent. It’s not like Italy, where one can go to Vatican City or San Marino and technically be in a different country. But inside the US borders there *are* sovereign nations, with the Navajo Nation (located in the Southwestern US) being the largest swath of indigenous land.
In the summer of 2019, our Italian friends came to the Western US, and they had a goal of seeing the Navajo Nation. We accompanied them on that trip, and in many ways that journey felt like it spanned a longer stretch of history than any trip I’d done overseas. That feeling was largely thanks to our remarkable guide who graciously shared his people’s history with us during our tours.
Even though the Navajo peoples — or Diné as they call themselves — don’t have a long documented history (unlike European nations that have recorded events on paper for centuries), there is a rich oral history that reaches back to what might be deemed prehistoric times. This history fascinated me — along with the incredible beauty of the land — on our pre-pandemic, carefree visit that summer.
