Navajo Nation saddles up
Delegates, residents head to Window Rock

The flag bearers lead the rest of the Navajo Nation Council Delegates towards the Navajo Nation Council Chambers in Window Rock last July. [Independent file photo]

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Current and former Council delegates will depart from three separate chapters on Monday and Tuesday to lead the 12th Annual Navajo Nation Council Horse Ride.

Sanostee Delegate Jerry Bodie said his group will start from the east, at Tohajiilee Chapter, around 8:30 a.m., Monday, head south to Interstate Highway 40 where they will load up and drive to Grants, then unload, ride to the lookout tower at Mount Taylor, and camp below the tower Monday night.
Bodie’s route will take in Haystack, Baca, Thoreau, Iyanbito, McGaffey Breadsprings, Lupton, Oak Springs and St. Michaels.

Tonalea Delegate Leslie Dele will depart from his chapter in the west following a short ceremony at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday and then head toward Hardrock Chapter, where they will camp Tuesday evening before riding on toward Jeddito, Steamboat, Burnside and Ganado communities.

Former Navajo Mountain/Inscription House Delegate Willie Grayeyes will start out at 8 a.m., Tuesday, from Inscription House and come in from the north, Bodie said, stopping in Kayenta, Dennehotso, Mexican Water, Teec Nos Pos, and other chapters along the way before going over Buffalo Pass to Lukachukai and Wheatfields.

All riders will end up at the Navajo Nation Fairgrounds in Window Rock around 4-4:30 p.m., July 20, and then ride up to the Council Chamber Monday morning to kick off Council’s summer session.

The annual ride is Dele’s brainchild.

“It’s a yearly event that we’ve been doing since 1996,” he said. “I talked about it on the Council and everybody thought that I was joking, then when I initiated it, everybody thought, ‘Wow, that’s great.’”

The ride originally was held in the spring, “but they wanted to get the kids and everybody involved, so they wanted to change it to summer,” Dele said. “Every year it’s been getting better.”

Anyone who has a horse and the means to transport it is welcome to ride along, whether for the entire trip or just a portion of it.

“Most of the time, we will spend the night at the local chapters where the facilities are,” Bodie said.

Larry Noble said he has organized the ride for the past 10 years; however, because he also coordinates “Welcome Home” runs for military personnel, this year he turned over the reins to Bodie due to conflicting schedules.

“I told Bodie that I will try to be with him during the first part of the ride, and then probably check on my brother, Grayeyes, coming in from Navajo Mountain. We are planning on hosting Dele’s riders somewhere in Beshbito probably Friday evening.”

Bodie’s group will meet with Tohajiilee Chapter officials and residents Sunday evening.

“They will give us a local history of their area, why it’s called Tohajiillee, and why that band of Navajos is far away from the main reservation. I’ve asked one of the Alamo elders to be there to tell us about why their band of Navajos never went to Fort Sumner.”

This is Bodie’s 10th year riding.

“I don’t like to call it Council delegate ride, because it’s for everybody. I just call it the Navajo Nation Trail Ride. I think that’s appropriate because a lot of other people come in — a lot of youth like to ride with us.

“It gives them a sense of pride to ride along with their leaders We tell them about what our former leaders have done, going from place to place to reach Window Rock, exchanging horses, and on the way back telling communities what took place in Window Rock,” during the Council session.

“That’s how they did it back then. But nowadays we don’t need to ride back through the trail in reverse and give them the information. They get that either from TV, newspaper, or the Navajo radio station.”

Along the way, delegates and riders will stop at various chapters and discuss residents’ concerns, pick up chapter resolutions or statements, and carry those to Window Rock where the information will be disseminated among the various oversight committees.

“We don’t just ride to avoid the chapters. We come together with the local people and that way we know what their issues are,” Bodie said.

At the same time, they survey the terrain and livestock they encounter to determine what conditions are like outside the Navajo Nation capital so they have a better idea of the needs when legislations are introduced on the Council floor.

“A lot of people are expecting us,” Bodie said, and hoping to meet with delegates to air their concerns. “For me, this is a vacation. I never take a vacation anywhere throughout the year. This is the time I get down to the nitty-gritty with the grassroots people. I enjoy the outdoors and visiting with other people.”

Information: Jerry Bodie, (505) 860-1407 or Leslie Dele, (928) 283-8239.