Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park marks 50 years

In this 20003 file photo, Japanese symbols mark a bessing as they overlook the magnificant and well-known rocks at Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. [Independent file photo]

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — It took the unrelenting forces of nature more than 25 million years to carve out the great sandstone masterpieces that make up Monument Valley — masterpieces towering to heights of more than 1,000 feet.

This Thursday and Friday, the world renown landscape of Monument Valley — celebrated for decades in film and photographs — will serve as a breathtaking backdrop for the golden anniversary celebration of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park.

The 29,817-acre tribal park, which straddles the border of southeastern Utah and northeastern Arizona on the Colorado Plateau, was established by a resolution of the Navajo Tribal Council on July 11, 1958.

“On Thursday we have community activities that will be happening. On the 11th all activities will be at the park,” said Ray Russell, department manager for Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation.

Center stage for the celebration will be country music sensation Earl Thomas Conley, who will perform classic hits such as “Fire and Smoke” under a star-studded sky. An fireworks display will cap off the evening.

“We’re going to have two stages: Stage 1 is for the concert. It will be a controlled entrance. Stage 2, that’s where all the various entertainers are going to be performing. That’s outside the controlled entrance,” Russell said.

Though the agency had planned to charge a $2 admission to Friday’s events, that plan now has been scrapped. Tickets for the Conley concert are $20 and are on sale at Navajo Arts & Crafts and Basha’s.

Dignitaries from the Navajo Nation and the states of Arizona and Utah will be on hand to participate in the celebration. Later, they will tour The VIEW Hotel, owned by Armanda Ortega.

Russell said the hotel, which will offer guests an unobstructed view of the Mittens formation, is set to open in October.

Friday’s keynote speaker George Arthur, chairman of the Navajo Nation Resources Committee, told the Budget and Finance Committee last week that Parks & Rec is seeking a $1.036 million loan from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund to invest in the hotel.

The investment would be handled similarly to the $35 million loan from the trust fund to the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise to develop the Churchrock casino. The action must be approved by the Investment Committee and Budget and Finance.