Angels Peak - Ma'ii Dah Siké - (Pair of Sitting Coyotes)
Angels Peak plays a significant role In the Navajo Wind Way Ceremony. Níłch'ijí (Navajo Wind Way) is one of several healing ceremonies that can be performed to treat health problems that arise when a person's relationship with the sacred Wind People is out of balance. The wind’s role in the Navajo creation ceremony is that if the wind blows it makes people come to life. Wind is a symbol for life.
Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah
The name Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah is derived from the sound of a Navajo phrase describing this region, meaning 'the salt is grey'. This place is also sometimes referred to as Ash Paw Canyon. Multicolored badlands, funny-shaped spires, eroded sandstone hoodoos and unique geological formations - a land of yellow cap rocks and scenic ochre or olive colored bentonite hills – beautiful and soft colors.
Shiprock
The Navajo name for the peak, Tsé Bitʼaʼí, "rock with wings" or "winged rock", refers to the legend of the great bird that brought the Navajo from the north to their present lands. Shiprock and the surrounding land have religious and historical significance to the Navajo.
Three Corn Pueblito
The Diné and their culture have been in existence and have lived in Dinétah since prehistoric times. The Navajo Pueblito sites are a truly unique phenomenon and are found only in the northwestern quarter of New Mexico. The standing walls, intact roofs and spectacular settings make the Pueblitios important not only for their cultural history, but also for their beauty and visual impact.
Dinétah Homeland - Spirit of the Landscape Workshop
Dinétah is the Navajo equivalent of the Holy Land; and it is here that the Navajo creation story is focused. The geography and names of places of Dinétah reflect its role in both the creation story and the clan migration legends. The Navajos appeared in the Dinétah (Largo/Gobernador) region sometime around A.D. 1300.
We have worked for twenty years in Dinétah creating a visual voice for the preservation of the Homelands and Sacred Sties for future generations. To honor the landscape of Dinétah we are offering this unique photography workshop as a fund-raiser for 2025 to continue and further our work. Four landscape locations have been selected, which are part of the Navajo creation story. Working in these unique locations you will have the opportunity to understand their cultural significance and the valuable stories the land has to share.
Our workshop is based out of Farmington, NM, which is known as the doorstep to Dinétah. The classic Casablanca Inn in Farmington will provide our lodging and breakfast meals for the workshop. Rooms have been set aside so that each workshop participant can make their own reservation. Rooms must be reserved by December 31, 2024. Opening and closing dinners and daily lunch with snacks included.
