Canyon de Chelly National Monument
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| Canyon de Chelly National Monument | |
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| IUCN Category III (Natural Monument) | |
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| Location: | Arizona, USA |
| Nearest city: | Chinle, Arizona |
| Coordinates: | |
| Area: | 83,840 acres (339.28 km²) |
| Established: | April 1, 1931 |
| Total Visitation: | 881,783 (in 2004) |
| Governing body: | National Park Service |
Canyon de Chelly National Monument, established April 1, 1931 as a unit of the National Park Service, is located in northeastern Arizona, within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation. The monument covers 131 square miles and encompasses the floors and rims of the three major canyons: de Chelly, del Muerto, and Monument. These canyons were cut by streams with headwaters in the Chuska mountains just to the east of the monument.
Its 83,840 acres (339 km²), all nonfederal, preserve artifacts of the early indigenous tribes that lived in the area, including the Ancient Pueblo Peoples (also called Anasazi) and Navajo.
Canyon de Chelly is unique among National Park service units, as it consists entirely of Navajo Tribal Trust Land that remains home to the canyon community. Access to the canyon floor is restricted, and visitors are allowed to travel in the canyons only when accompanied by a park ranger or an authorized Navajo guide. The only exception to this rule is the White House Ruin Trail. Most park visitors arrive by automobile and view Canyon de Chelly from the rim, following both North Rim Drive and South Rim Drive. Ancient ruins and geologic structures are visible, but in the distance, from turnoffs on each of these routes.
The National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 25, 1970.
A spectacular geologic feature is Spider Rock, a sandstone spire that rises 800 feet from the canyon floor at the junction of Canyon de Chelly and Monument Canyon. Spider Rock can be seen from South Rim Drive. It has served as the scene of a number of television commercials.
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[edit] Name
The name Chelly (or Chelley) is a Spanish borrowing of the Navajo word Tséyiʼ, which meaning "canyon" (literally "inside the rock" < tsé "rock" + -yiʼ "inside of, within"). The Navajo pronunciation is [tséɣiʔ]. The Spanish pronunciation of de Chelly [detʃeʝi] was adapted into English apparently through modelling after a French-like spelling pronunciation, and the name is now pronounced /də'ʃe/ ([də'shā]).
 White House Ruins (photo courtesy of USGS) |
 Spider Rock, (photo courtesy of USGS) |
 Canyon de Chelly, 1904, Edward S. Curtis photograph |
 Canyon de Chelly, 2004, Douglas Dolde photograph |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- National Park Service: Canyon de Chelly National Monument
- National Park Service Geology Fieldnotes
- Canyon de Chelly Video
[edit] Reference
- Grant, Campbell. "Canyon de Chelly: Its People and Rock Art". University of Arizona Press, 1983. ISBN 0-8165-0523-3.
