Originally published on June 16, 2017
June 9, 2017. This week I had the pleasure of teaching onsite to a group of great people in Northern Arizona. I was in what turned out to be a very nice little city with some of the friendliest, most pleasant people I had ever met. I was in Tuba City, AZ, about an hour north of Flagstaff, on the Navajo Indian Reservation, teaching three days of Microsoft Office Applications to a dozen of the staff members at Tuba City Regional Healthcare Corporation, who manage the hospital.
I had the opportunity to learn a lot during our discussions this week–by the way, I learned that the name Tuba City in Navajo means place with many wells.
Rarely do I meet people who are so consistently pleasant and incredibly industrious! During the three days, a few of the participants were late because of the periodic cattle count, where livestock is cataloged. The surrounding land resembles Texas far more than one typically thinks of the land in Arizona–livestock grazing, crops growing food most months of the year, and people who smile a lot more than they frown.
Most of the great Navajo people in class not only work diligently at the hospital but also manage farms with livestock and crops! They have a great respect for the land and are far less materialistic than the average American, both in terms of their actions and their philosophies.
When you are in Tuba City, there are no shortages of friendly faces and people are always willing to have a pleasant chat with you. Although a humble people in their actions and appearance, the Navajo people are a proud nation who are happy to share the history of their nation as well as they things that they do in modern times. And no–it is not complaining about how the once great nation has been relegated to the reservation as others Native American nations have–it is about the good things in their history, their city, and their lives that they want to share.
If you want to learn about some of our country’s past from and see how the traditions passed down for generations can still survive in today’s world, ignore casinos and attractions along the highway–seek out the *real* Native American people who live the way these people do, enjoy pleasant discussions with an open mind, visualize the history and events they relate to you, and enjoy learning! Below is a slide show (@200 images) of some of the interesting displays in the Explore Navajo museum that would be well worth your time if you can visit there:
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Thank you, Tuba City and Navajo Nation, for a wonderful experience!
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Contact information:
Explore Navajo Interactive Museum
Address: 10 Main St, Tuba City, AZ 86045
Website: : (623) 412-0297
Website: Click Here