Driving the Indian Country, Arizona

 

We were driving up north from the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. It was a beautiful sunny day with blue skies. Soon we entered the Native Indian reservation, a large, sparsely inhabited tract of land in the northeast of Arizona.

Its a wild, empty country, the Indian Country. The Native Indians, in the eighteen hundreds, were essentially corralled into a piece of land that no one else wanted, because it was so rugged and severe. This happened some couple of hundred years back, in 1830, after the signing of Indian Removal Act by then president Andrew Jackson, which resulted in removal of various Indian tribes from their lands east of Mississippi river. The entire episode, known as Trail of Tears, where the Indian tribes were forced to march from their homelands to various reservations in the West, is a dark part of American history.

Here we were at one such reservation, where the native Indians were relocated. The country is essentially high desert, not much grows here other than shrubs. This is a land no one wanted, clearly.

The sun went behind the clouds soon, and it started to rain. Driving through the Indian Country on a rainy day is a unique and unforgettable experience. The vast expanse of the desert landscape is transformed by the rain, creating a serene and peaceful atmosphere. The colors of the earth and rocks are more vibrant, and the air is filled with the sweet aroma of the desert after a rain.

We came to Keams Canyon, a small village located on the Navajo Nation. The canyon is named after Indian Chief, Keams, and is home to the Keams Canyon Trading Post, a historic trading post that has been in operation for over 100 years. Unfortunately it was closed that day.

The road through the canyon was breathtaking. The sun had come out, and the rain had stopped.

Driving through the Indian Country in Arizona is a truly unique experience. What strikes you the most is the vast emptiness all around. There were very few houses that we saw, and those we saw were clearly in need of repair. The poverty of the people was clear to see. The landscape was vast, but empty, and largely arid.

As I said before, the conquerers did not want this land.