Day 9

Day Nine – Wednesday 23^rd April

Wupatki and Hopi

(Wupatki National Monument)

While Wupatki looks like genuine ruins of an ancient pueblo settlement, which it is, according to the information boards in the visitors center a lot of it has been reconstructed by park rangers, due to effects of time and raiders in the 1800s, who stole artifacts from the ruins. It is therefore a reconstruction in a sense, much like Stonehenge which was rebuilt by the Victorians as the stones had fallen over, and again demonstrates this issue of fabrication; it looks genuine, but is maintained and constructed in order to attract the attention of tourists.

            Even on the reservation tourism remains a key part of the economy in this region, which we experienced in the form of a guided tour around the dinosaur foot prints just outside of Tuba City in the Navajo Nation. While our guide clearly didn't really know which dinosaurs had made the foot prints, she kept referring to the dilophosaurus, it was a fascinating experience nether the less because this tourist trap was clearly the only opportunity that was available to these people had to make a living.

            Staying at the Hopi Cultural Center was certainly a unique experience, the stray dogs wandering around in the car park certainly took some getting used to, but it gave us a chance to better understand the native peoples, at least a little. As it turned out the Hopi are a very private people and tended to dodge questions about their culture, when Kim asked one guy about the meanings of the masks in the painting on the wall near reception he responded with “each one does something.” While they were happy to take out money, the Hopi weren't so happy to actually interact with us, almost as if they wanted us gone in a way. Perhaps this was because we were the only group of truly white people in the restaurant, while there were a couple of other white people they were with Hopi partners, and we were therefore just as alien to them as they were to us.