The Hopi Celebration

The Hopi Indians are an integral part of Flagstaff.  Recently, a large building bordering downtown’s Heritage Square was renamed “the Hopi Building”;

the tribe held a celebration around the ribbon cutting.

Cake and punch was provided for the crowd, an arts and crafts fair provided a look at their work, and dancers entertained.

Each tribe has a different way of expressing themselves through art.  For the Hopi, it’s stylized paintings and weaving.  We enjoyed looking at the colorful offerings.

 

This young man demonstrated a traditional spinning toy for us. Four teenagers provided the dancing entertainment.  We’ve seen several tribes performing in dance exhibits; the one thing that stood out in the Hopi dancing was that they enter the arena backwards.

    

It’s good to see the youth working to preserve their heritage.

Montezuma’s Castle and Well

Montezuma’s Castle is another well-preserved ancient dwelling in northern Arizona, near Sedona.  The name is a double misnomer, as there is no connection between the dwelling and the Aztec Indians, as was thought when the name was bestowed; in addition, it is not a “castle” belonging to one family, but rather a 5 story, 20 room “high-rise apartment”, housing as many as 35 or more of the Sinagua Indians.

Built into a limestone cliff 70 feet above the ground, the structure is an architectural wonder.  This drawing is on one of the interpretive signs.  Can you imagine the labor involved to construct the dwelling, and then, how hard it would be to have to maneuver the ladders every time you left home for food or water? 

The public is not allowed any closer than the path below the structure, but even from there, you could see some of the original wooden beams in the walls.

The atmosphere near the cliff dwellings seems cool compared to the nearby desert, as a creek runs through the valley, supplying water for huge sycamores and other plants.  

The inhabitants had close neighbors.  Just a few feet away once stood an even larger dwelling, with 45 rooms and an occupancy of 100 or more. Unfortunately, a fire destroyed most of it in the 1400’s, not leaving much to see, other than the remains of some of the walls.

A small building with a glass front houses a diorama cross section of how the interiors may have looked.

Less than 10 miles away is Montezuma’s Well, a funnel shaped limestone sink.  The only connection between the two sites are the similar names, although I would think there would have been times when the creek at Montezuma’s Castle would have run dry, and they would have made the trek to the well for water. 

Fifty five feet deep and 368 feet across, this body of water in the middle of the desert, fed by underground springs, never goes dry.  Astonishingly, a million and a half gallons of fresh water flow into the sink daily; an irrigation canal, dug sometime between 900 and 1400 AD, provides an outlet for the water.

Several dwellings are visible from the top, perched on the rocky bank of the well.     

A footpath leads down to the level of the water, where the remains of another dwelling are visible. 

The terrain is rough,

home now only to those needing the water source.

Once back on top, we continued on to the back side of the well.  There, you can descend again to the bottom of the bank. 

The largest sycamore tree in Arizona lives in the shade here, probably gaining its status due to the unending water supply. 

You walk along the irrigation canal formed so many years ago.. 

…..

The V Bar V Petroglyph site is only open Friday through Sunday each week;  it was Friday, and we were told by a park ranger we shouldn’t miss it.  The largest known petroglyph site in the Verde Valley, it was acquired by the National Forest Service recently, in 1994.

Accessible by either the shorter gravel road from the well site, or by pavement, we first tried the gravel, only to find it a very bad “washboard” and backtracked to use the paved road.  Even it narrowed as we went on, and the last little bit was gravel.

The site is located on an old ranch, hence it’s name.  A one mile loop trail leads you  past the home site, through the field.  

Had we not just seen Newspaper Rock in southern Utah (see our post on Canyonlands) we might have been more impressed with this site, but the figures are hard to see, and many are obscured by a fungal growth.  Still, there is an impressive number of petroglyphs.

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Other ancient ruin sites nearby are Tuzigoot and Walnut Canyon National Monuments.  Those we’ll save for another trip.

Sedona, Arizona

Overall, Sedona was a bit of a disappointment to us.  There are times when you build up an image in your mind that a location cannot live up to; Sedona was such a place.

Instead of the romantic, red rock vista we envisioned, your first view of Sedona is a bustling, tourist trap.  But, let’s back up and start with the trip down. 

We chose Scenic Route SR89-A, and it was definitely scenic.   Just before starting the descent through the canyon, the rest stop, Oak Creek Canyon Vista, offers panoramic views of the valley, and a chance to shop with the many Native American vendors who set up in the open air market along the path.  Most were selling jewelry or pottery.

Winding down through Oak Creek Canyon, the road descends more than 2500 feet rather rapidly. 

If you look closely in the following photo, you can see 3 different sections of the road’s switchbacks down the mountain.

 

At the end of the canyon drive, the Midgley Bridge carries you into Sedona.

Just driving through Sedona offers many examples of interesting architecture,   

but probably the two most unique are situated next to each other.

The first, one of the most popular tourist stops, is the Chapel of the Holy Cross.  Conceived by Marguerite Bruswig Staude in 1932, it was finished in 1956.  The design inspiration came to her while observing the newly constructed Empire State Building.  When viewed from a certain angle, a cross seemed to impose itself through the very core of the structure.  Mrs. Staude wanted to build such a structure that would glorify her Creator and in thanksgiving for all that her family had received. She traveled throughout Europe looking for the ideal location. She returned to the United States and while her and her husband  traveled through Sedona, she was struck by the beauty of the area and decided that this chapel should be built here. .. “This would be a monument to faith…".

Built on a twin pinnacled spur about 250 feet high, jutting out of a thousand foot red rock wall, "solid as the Rock of Peter" the building of the Chapel was completed in April 1956. Just the physical construction was a physical miracle, overcoming difficult conditions to construct this chapel.

No longer used for regular services, it is open daily to the public.

Visible from the chapel, at the bottom of the hill is what some consider an eyesore, while others marvel.  A veritable mansion sits on grounds surrounded by beautiful gardens.  Owned by some “mystery person involved in the medical field” it was once offered for sale for 29 million.

The Red Rock Loop Drive is through the famous red rocks of Sedona,

but better views can be found at the overlook near the airport. 

Although we weren’t impressed with the shopping district, I did enjoy the many statues adorning the sidewalks. 

This one is unique.  The little girl taking the photo is part of the statue.

But nothing thus far had fit the image I had of Sedona in my mind.  In years past, we used to work a lot of jigsaw puzzles.  So many of the puzzles pictured beautiful garden fountains surrounded by Spanish tile and flowering bushes.  Always, the caption was just “Sedona, Arizona”.  Where had these photos been taken?  I finally had my answer when we entered Tlaquepaque (pronounced Tla-keh-pah-keh), Sedona's Arts & Crafts Village.

Authentically fashioned after a traditional Mexican village, Tlaquepaque, means the "best of everything".  Its vine covered stucco walls, cobble-stoned walkways and magnificent arched entryways makes it seem a world and time away from the rest of Sedona, and provides a refreshing oasis from the crowds.  Here I found the Sedona I had been looking for: