Arizona/New Mexico
Ancestral Homelands: Hopi, Navajo and Chaco Canyon
Program No. 4541RJ
Immerse yourself in the culture and mystery of America’s Southwest as you explore ancient cliff dwellings, attend a Native-arts demonstration and visit world-renowned Chaco Canyon.
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Prices displayed below are based on per person,doubleoccupancy.
DATES
& starting prices
PRICES
Sep 15 - Sep 21, 2024
Starting at
1,799Sep 22 - Sep 28, 2024
Starting at
1,799Oct 6 - Oct 12, 2024
Starting at
1,799Oct 20 - Oct 26, 2024
Starting at
1,799Oct 27 - Nov 2, 2024
Starting at
1,799DATES
& starting prices
PRICES
Sep 15 - Sep 21, 2024
Starting at
2,159Sep 22 - Sep 28, 2024
Starting at
2,159Oct 6 - Oct 12, 2024
Starting at
2,159Oct 20 - Oct 26, 2024
Starting at
2,159Oct 27 - Nov 2, 2024
Starting at
2,159Not seeing the date you're looking for?
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7 days
6 nights
17 meals
6B 5L 6D
1
Check-in, Registration, Orientation, Welcome Dinner
Flagstaff, AZ
3
Hopi Cultural Center Demo, Walpi Village
Chinle, AZ
7
Transfer to Flagstaff, Program Concludes
Flagstaff, AZ
At a Glance
The Southwest is the keeper of America’s best-preserved and most compelling archaeological treasures. That heritage continues today in the modern Hopi and Navajo culture of northeastern Arizona. Hear personal insights as Native American representatives share cultural achievements, historic struggles and modern challenges. Then journey to uncover the mystery of Chaco Canyon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with its Great Houses and Great Kivas, displaying prehistoric architectural masterpieces on a grand scale.
Activity Level
Keep the Pace
Walking up to 1.5 miles on varied terrain. Exploration of ruins requires agility. Elevations up to 7,000-plus feet.
Small Group
Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.
What You'll Learn
- Visit cliff dwellings at Walnut Canyon National Monument and, on the Hopi Reservation, experience a cultural demonstration and explore a Pueblo village that is one the oldest continually inhabited American settlement.
- On the Navajo Reservation enjoy a 4x4 vehicle trip into the heart of Canyon De Chelly.
- Journey to the center of the Ancestral Puebloan world — Chaco Canyon — to explore the Pueblo Bonito, Chetro Ketl and the Great Kiva of Casa Rinconada.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
Filmer Kewanyama
Fil Kewanyama was born in the village of Shungopavi on Second Mesa on Hopi Land in northeastern Arizona. He is of the Qalwung'gwa (Sun Forehead) clan and grew up with all the ceremonies that are still a part of his life. Following his military service, Fil moved to Phoenix and then Prescott, Arizona where he started focusing on his art. Fil says he grew up learning to draw, paint and carve as it was all around him in the form of Hopi ceremonies and rituals.
Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.
Mike Masek
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Mike Masek is a wilderness skills instructor, herbalist and ethnobotanist living in Flagstaff, Ariz. In addition to his current work with Road Scholar, he is adjunct faculty at Northern Arizona University where he teaches traditional uses of native plants and outdoor survival skills. He also teaches programs at the National Parks and Coconino Community College. He has spent a lifetime exploring the canyons and deserts of the American Southwest and loves to share these treasures with others.
Matt Turner
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Since he decided to attend high school in Southwest Colorado, Matt Turner has been in love with the natural wonders of the Four Corners region prompting him to obtain a degree in Natural History from Prescott College. In addition to working as a field biologist and ecological consultant, he is an avid photographer, leads trips throughout the Southwest, across rivers and in the backcountry. As a naturalist, he hopes to impart a unique perspective of the region's natural environment in all of its visitors.
Azalia Lewis
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Azalia Lewis is descended from the Navajo, Hopi, and Laguna tribes. Currently residing near the mouth of Canyon De Chelly National Monument, Azalia is Kin'ya'aani, (towering house clan), Kis'anni, (born for Hopi), Maii' deeshgizhnii, (born into coyote pass clan), and Too' lanii dinee', (born into Laguna). She attended school in Chinle and is pursuing a career in the art of jewelry making. Azalia looks forward to meeting new people and sharing the beauty of her multicultural background.
Dorothy Ami
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Dorothy Ami is a well-respected Hopi potter. Her demonstrations detail the pottery making process — from gathering the clay to tempering, coiling a piece, making the paints from nature, painting with a yucca brush and firing.
Richard Stephens
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Rich has been director of Northern Arizona University’s highly popular Road Scholar programs since 2001. He previously spent many years in the field as a program coordinator and group leader, where he honed his skills and learned the importance of detailed, pre-trip planning. Before making his home in Arizona’s spectacular red-rock country, Rich spent 10 years in Yosemite National Park and the Santa Cruz mountains as an environmental educator.
Amy Calhoun
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Amy Calhoun has been writing poetry, short stories and human interest pieces for local publications for nearly 35 years. She is an artist working with furniture and mixed media, pulling from her inspiration -- the great Southwest. Amy enjoys the outdoors as much as anything else she. She has spent time studying archeology and anthropology and enjoys working relationships and friendships with members of many Arizona tribes. She has raised three children and has two young granddaughters.
Eric Kee
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Eric Kee was born and raised on the Navajo Reservation in Tuba, City, Ariz. In addition to sharing his Navajo culture, Eric enjoys spending his spare time building Native American flutes, working with silver and enjoys hiking, kayaking, camping with his family. He met his wife in Florence, Italy during his three years teaching English and working Italian camps for kids. He, along with his wife and three children, currently reside in Tuba City, Arizona.
Filmer Kewanyama
View biography
Fil Kewanyama was born in the village of Shungopavi on Second Mesa on Hopi Land in northeastern Arizona. He is of the Qalwung'gwa (Sun Forehead) clan and grew up with all the ceremonies that are still a part of his life. Following his military service, Fil moved to Phoenix and then Prescott, Arizona where he started focusing on his art. Fil says he grew up learning to draw, paint and carve as it was all around him in the form of Hopi ceremonies and rituals.
Amanda Sahli
View biography
Since studying at Northern Arizona University and exploring the Colorado Plateau, Amanda Sahli has lived in the Grand Canyon area for over 20 years. After teaching and leading groups throughout the area, she began working in native plants and archaeology while continuing to share the Grand Canyon with groups of all ages. She has worked as a ranger at the Grand Canyon experiencing it from the rustic winters at Tuweep Ranger Station to baking summers at Phantom Ranch and the wild waters of the Colorado River.
Suggested Reading List
(7 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Ancestral Homelands: Hopi, Navajo and Chaco Canyon
Program Number: 4541
Warriors: Navajo Code Talkers
The American offensive in the Pacific during World War II [was] hampered by the Japanese ability to crack the most secret U.S. Codes. Navajo was virtually unknown outside the reservations, ... and [their] code proved uncrackable. Kenji Kawano's striking photographs capture the quiet dignity of the surviving veterans as they recall their actions --Los Angeles Times 128 pp
The Fourth World of the Hopis: The Epic Story of the Hopi Indians As Preserved in Their Legends and Traditions
Folklorist Courlander traces Hopi legends from the tribe’s search through the wilderness for its home location to its settling on the Hopi Mesas and development thereafter. 239pp
Native Roads : The Complete Motoring Guide to the Navajo and Hopi Nations
Using the mile markers of the US, Arizona, and Navajo highways and routes running through the Navajo and Hopi nations as her organizing principle, the author offers a travel guide to the sites found in the area. Natural, historical, and cultural points of interest are covered, along with some information on lodging and services. 280 pp
In Search of Chaco
Startling discoveries and impassioned debates have emerged from the "Chaco Phenomenon" since the publication of New Light on Chaco Canyon twenty years ago. This completely updated edition features seventeen original essays, scores of photographs, maps, and site plans, and the perspectives of archaeologists, historians, and Native American thinkers. For more than a century archaeologists and others have pursued Chaco Canyon's many and elusive meanings. In Search of Chaco brings these explorations to a new generation of enthusiasts.
People of Chaco: A Canyon and Its Culture
Chaco Wash has cut a broad canyon through northwestern New Mexico. Its natural beauty is surpassed only by the many prehistoric ruins it contains, which were built by the Chacoan Anasazi, the ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians. About 1000 years ago, the Chacoans constructed multistory residences, established an extensive road system, exercised cultural hegemony over a large region in the southwestern United States, and then suddenly left. Frazier skillfully recounts the fascinating story of Chaco Canyon. He describes its discovery and exploration, its role in the development of American archaeology, and the clues it contains about a unique cultural system. Gordon C. Tucker, Jr., Nickens and Assocs., Montrose, Col. 261pp
In the House of Rain
In this landmark work on the Anasazi tribes of the Southwest, naturalist Craig Childs dives head on into the mysteries of this vanished people. The various tribes that made up the Anasazi people converged on Chaco Canyon (New Mexico) during the 11th century to create a civilization hailed as "the Las Vegas of its day," a flourishing cultural center that attracted pilgrims from far and wide, and a vital crossroads of the prehistoric world. By the 13th century, however, Chaco's vibrant community had disappeared without a trace. Was it drought? Pestilence? War? Forced migration, mass murder or suicide? Conflicting theories have abounded for years, capturing the North American imagination for eons.
Diné: A History of the Navajos
This comprehensive narrative traces the history of the Navajos from their origins to the beginning of the twenty-first century. Based on extensive archival research, traditional accounts, interviews, historic and contemporary photographs, and firsthand observation, it provides a detailed, up-to-date portrait of the Diné past and present that will be essential for scholars, students, and interested general readers, both Navajo and non-Navajo.