I've always been drawn to native spirituality and the images evoked in art: land, water, animals, birds, plants -- all rooted in profound awareness of and respect for the Creator.
The Hopi and Navajo people we've met on our journey have been welcoming, helpful and pleasant. I bought a beautiful wooden ornament near Sedona and earrings yesterday after we crossed the border into Utah. I feel uplifted after talking with the artists who sell their work at roadside stands.
The hotel in Tuba City is staffed mostly by Hopi, who must live somewhere in the area, maybe in one of the many rundown properties we passed along the road. The poverty rates for indigenous peoples is shockingly high, as evidenced 2010 census reports. Several cities we've visited on this trip are on the list of the Top 20. I was even more shocked to read that Minneapolis, one of the Twin Cities a few miles from my own home, is #2.
