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Navajo Nation

Program Overview

Yá’át’ééh.
Experience the cultures and natural beauty of the US southwest desert. Join a diverse group of students to enjoy the richness of Diné (Navajo) society through a homestay with a native family. You will also explore the ancient Anasazi pictographs and ruins, contribute to a community service project on the reservation, and travel throughout the Four Corners region at the intersection of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.

Orientation and Discovery
Meet your group in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and travel into the Navajo Nation. Spend your first three days in Tsaile, Arizona, on the western slopes of the Chuska Mountains learning about the culture and traditions of the Navajo people. An overview of Navajo language, art, and history introduces you to the sacred geography of the region. Experience the area firsthand through trekking and overnight rafting trips on the San Juan River. Explore Anasazi ruins and the geology, flora, and fauna of the southwest’s ecologically spectacular high desert.

Sample activities: Learn about sandpainting, silversmithing, weaving, and basket making; take classes in Navajo language and culture; learn about prehistoric technologies; explore the area on foot, mountain bike, or horseback; discover the symbolic importance of hogans, wedding baskets, k’é, and baby cradleboards.

Homestay on the Navajo Reservation
Surrounded by the protection of the four sacred mountains, discover the kindness and traditions of Navajo families during your 10-day homestay on the reservation. Whether they are herding sheep in the countryside or getting groceries from the local trading post, the Navajo open their homes and share their daily lives with you.

Sample activities: Learn how to cook Navajo dishes; converse with community members using your basic Navajo language skills; attend rodeos and traditional dances; explore the beautiful and diverse landscape of the southwest desert; take a day trip to the Hopi Nation to meet with elders; camp in Canyon de Chelly.

Community Service and Travel
After bidding hágoónee’ to your host families with a thank-you celebration, begin your community service project. Work side by side with Native American work crews on small-scale construction projects. Your efforts will be a lasting reminder of your connection with the Navajo Nation. Spend your final three nights camping on the rim of the Grand Canyon. Enjoy day hikes and take in the majesty of the Canyon as you reflect on your time in the Navajo Nation.

Sample service projects: Construct a playground at a Navajo chapter house; build a traditional hogan; assist with farming projects in historic Canyon de Chelly; create signs in English and Navajo for a local chapter house; make a weather shelter at a bus stop on the reservation; build picnic tables at a local camp site.

"I felt at home on the Navajo Nation. I participated in a traditional Navajo wedding and a sweat-lodge meeting, my host mother taught me Navajo recipes, and I spent my days riding horses, going to the mountains, and learning the Navajo language. Most important to me was my family who I really learned to love for all of the amazing moments that we shared."

-- María Loría, Palmares, Costa Rica

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