Mountain Classroom's curriculum is built on the belief that the most powerful learning happens through direct experience with people and places. During a recent stay in northeastern Arizona, students were generously hosted by a Navajo family with ties to Proctor – Verrin, father of a Proctor alumna, who welcomed the group onto his family's property. Students immersed themselves in the history and culture of the Navajo and Hopi Nations, participated in a traditional offering ceremony, and gave back to their hosts through hands-on work around the property. Levi '27 writes about the group's time on the Navajo Nation below!
Levi ’27
February Second. Rejoice! Ted and Emi have returned from their 50k. We spent the day at our campsite outside of Tucson. Getting back into our regular non-adjunct weekend rhythm, we had a “chiller” day, filled with classes for us and appointments for Ted and Emi. The following day, we made the long and arduous journey to Diné (or Navajo) Nation in central Arizona. After a stop in Flagstaff, entailing errands for Emi and Ted and shopping time for us, we continued on. Many Navajo families live together in clusters of homes on the reservation, and this is the case for Grandma Lucy’s family, who hosted us. Pulling onto their property, we were greeted by some very cute sheep dog puppies and Cooper, the most devious dog I’ve ever met, but more on him later. Soon after, we were greeted by Verrin, our host, a dad of a Proctor alumna, and a member of the family. He showed us the hogan (an eight-sided dirt floored Diné building used for ceremonies and hosting guests) we’d be staying in, and then we made dinner and went to bed.
The following day, Rick, an elder in the family, took us to Shoshoni Point in the Grand Canyon, an outcropping that drops off into the canyon. It’s almost hard to describe how beautiful the view was. The depth and vastness of it was incredible. After a while there spent listening to Sue (Rick’s wife) play her wood flute and doing observational drawings for science class, we left for the homestead to a delectable dinner of frybread tacos cooked by Grandma Lucy.
~ Levi '27
The next day was the busiest we had during our time in Navajo Nation. Verrin, who is also Hopi, took us into Tuba City, which is in Hopi Nation. Hopi Nation sits entirely within Navajo Nation, and was only about a half hour drive from where we were staying. After getting burgers and boba at a restaurant, which Verrin helped start, we headed out into the country to see some Hopi villages that are some of the longest continuously inhabited places in North America, at 700 years old. Since outsiders aren’t really allowed in the village, Verrin took us to an outlook where we could see all of it, including an old Spanish mission that was raided in the Pueblo Revolts. After visiting the village, we drove back to Tuba City, where we were given a tour of the Tuba City Boarding School. This school was established in the 1930s as part of the Indian Residential School program, the goal of which was to force Native American children to abandon their culture. We even saw some of the early buildings where the original school was housed. Today, however, the school embraces the culture of its teachers and students, and it’s clear that there is a lot of care put into the environment they create. There are separate high schools in town, so the Tuba City School is K-8. Students from this whole age range board at the school. It was really surprising to all of us that kids that young live away from home, but there are few other options for school in the rural areas of the Navajo and Hopi Nations.
For me, and probably most of us, the next day was the most impactful out of all that we spent with Grandma Lucy’s family. In the first half of the day, we repaid the family for their hospitality by doing some work – shoveling the poop out of the sheep and goat pen. Evan and I, as it turns out, make a great poop scoopin’ team. Once we got into our flow state, nothing could stop us. Emily and I also perfected our wheelbarrow dumping technique. We all thought we were doing a pretty good job, but then Rick came over and showed us we needed to go about a foot deeper into the poop than we had been. Oops! After a subpar shift of poop scooping, we broke for lunch.
In the second half of this day, we had the rare and incredible opportunity to participate in an offering ceremony led by Uncle Lorenzo, a Navajo Chanter (what we would typically call a medicine man, which Lorenzo prefers not to be called). We were all very moved by the ceremony. It is normally closed to outsiders, and so I won’t go into much detail, but I would say it was one of the most unique experiences of my life.
Our next and final day was a quieter one. After a breakfast cooked by Grandma Lucy, we had an extra long English class. Then, after lunch, we drove to the confluence of the Little Colorado River and the Colorado River, a sacred place for the Diné. Their stories teach that it is where their people originate from. We spent some time looking over the cliffs and shopping from the vendors who are set up there, and then headed back to camp for a social studies class. Finally, we wrapped up our night with a dinner cooked by Rick and Sue in their house. Rick's brisket was incredible – it was falling apart, and Sue's frybread, teriyaki, and soup were amazing.
Now, let me tell you about Cooper. He’s a tiny stray Pomeranian that lives on Grandma Lucy’s property. Somehow, he kept making it into our trailer to eat our trash, but the door to the trailer is probably over twice his height. We were all very curious as to how he was getting in, since no one ever saw him do it. Every time we would see him about to do it, he would sense our attention and walk away. Whatta guy. I’ve included a photo of him here. Let me also tell you about the goats that Emily and I named. First, there’s Big Poppa. We called him that because he was the biggest goat and clearly the head honcho. Next, there’s Mr. Nibbles, who loves to nibble your hand when you try to pet him. He and I are on a first name basis, so I just call him Nibbles. Next, there’s Chill Guy. We named him that because he is just a chill guy. Next, there’s Momma, who had a little baby goat. Not a very good mom, though – she was always head butting and kicking him. Finally, there’s Auntie, who looks a lot like Momma.
In all, our days in the Navajo Nation were among our best so far. It’s a side of the country that I’ve truly never seen before, which is the type of thing that Mountain has shown me time and time again.
Read More Mountain Classroom Reflections
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