DAY 8
THUR 4 OCT 2012

Our home for the next two nights as we explore Canyon De Chelly.
The hotel is right in the heart of the Navajo reservation, close to Canyon de Chelly National Monument (Park). There are 11 points around the rim of the canyon that travelers can drive to and that overlook the spectacular canyon.

Before this was a Holiday Inn Hotel, the building and grounds was formerly Garcia's Trading Post - an important trading site dating back to the late 1870s.
To learn the history of trade between the Navajo and the white man is to understand the cultural significance of white settlement and trade in the area, and how much it impacted Native American life, especially among the Navajo.
A system of pawn was the basis for the economic borrowing and banking for the community. The Navajo were forced to trade wool, sheep, rugs and jewelry for bartered goods such as tinware, flour, tools, coffee, and tobacco, etc. As demand increased over time for Native American goods, the Navajo became more skilled at weaving and producing rugs and blankets, basketry, pottery and art - to what is now a thriving industry.
Traders also acted as key intermediaries and facilitated the exchange of information amongst the Southwest Native American Tribes, Hispanics, Euro-Americans, and travellers.

Garcia's closed in Dec 1985 or '86 thereabouts, and has changed hands many times, before being turned into a hotel franchise and rechristened as The Holiday Inn Canyon De Chelly. Locals still refer to it as Garcia's. The original building facade still stands today and looks pretty much like it did in the '40s - '60s; and contains the hotel lobby checkin, a restaurant and gift shop.

" Locals would walk to Garcia's Trading Post, along the Chinle Wash (rather than walking on the dirt road) where there were trees to offer shade and protection from the sun. The Chinle Wash "trail" came out by "Presbyterian Hill" above Garcia's. That little trail is still there today. It leads to the town's water tanks. "
--Source: Tall Woman: The Life Story of Rose Mitchell, a Navajo Woman, C. 1874-1977

The Holiday Inn Canyon De Chelly (Chinle)
Indian Route 7/64
Garcia Trading Post,
Chinle, AZ