Friday, June 17, 2011

[jules' pics] Bucolic Idyll

Cows rest in the cool shade of a tree on the prime pastureland of the Navajo Nation:

Navajo Nation finest pasture

The Native Americans were given not only the very best pasture in the whole USA, but the most promising commercial locations too:

Navajo shops

Such astonishing generosity...

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Posted By jules to jules' pics at 6/17/2011 11:42:00 AM

10 comments:

EliRabett said...

You missed the Navaho generating station and the coal mines

Rattus Norvegicus said...

Ah yes, Kaiporowits. The project immortalized in the Ed Abbey classic "The Monkey Wrench Gang".

My words, Ed was a god. I love his old irascible ass.

Brian said...

No question Native Americans were badly mistreated (plus Eli's ongoing point), but the Navajo land is where it always was, unlike many East Coast and California Native American tribes.

James Annan said...

Ah, but is it all of the old land or only the worst bit?

Steve Bloom said...

This is evergreen (unlike the reservation), and don't forget to watch out for the cobalt next time you pass through there.

EliRabett said...

You'd rather they got Phoenix? Hmm, excellent idea.

BobN said...

James - As poorly as the native americans have been treated through history, Brian is right that the Navajo Nation pretty much covers their ancestral lands. I don't think much of the "best" lands were withheld, since there really isn't any great amount of "best" lands out there.

Btw, Thanks for the pictures of my old stomping grounds

jules said...

I thought the Native Americans wandered about a great deal over the centuries.

Anonymous said...

Stumbled across your blog by following a link.

I've always been struck - when traveling out west - how you always know when you've crossed onto a reservation: It's when you've traveled from beautiful and lush landscape to the most desolate and depressing landscape.

Brian said...

IIRC, the Navajo wandered down to that area of the Southwest around 1600. Mass movements of Native Americans were somewhat constrained by the presence of other tribes, but the Navajo early adoption of horses and sheep gave them an edge over the agricultural Hopi.

Movement in the historical period was probably higher than in previous periods due to adoption of new technologies, epidemics opening up new areas, and forced migration away from white settlement.