Travel the Trails

Trip 14: NR-59 South: Chilchinbito to Many Farms

46 miles (74 km) from the junction with U.S. Highway 160 to Many Farms

Disclaimer: NANACT trip guides are based on information from Native Roads: The Complete Motoring Guide to the Navajo & Hopi Nations, 2nd Edition by Fran Kosik (Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2005). Some information may have changed since the publication of the book. While NANACT will attempt to maintain current information, consider verifying the current operation/existence of businesses, accommodations, dining and similar interests before planning your trip.

Scenic & Historic:

NOTE: Navajo Route 59 does not have mile markers, so set your trip odometer to zero when you turn off Highway 160.

MILE 1 Carrizo Mountains

The Navajo name for these mountains means "circular mountain." Uranium is plentiful here because of the extensive Morrison Formation.

MILE 15 Chilchinbito

In Navajo, Chiiłchin Biíto means “water in the sumac.” Navajo artists use sumac, which grows around a spring here, to create baskets.

Black Mesa

This mesa to the west extends all the way to Many Farms.

MILE 31 Rough Rock Community School

Bob Roessel, a widely known educator who has had a significant impact on the improvement of education for Navajo children, once said, “Education as the Indian knows it on the reservation can be characterized as the ‘either-or’ type. One is either an Indian or a white man, and the way we traditionally have weighted things, the good way always is the non-Indian way and the bad way always is the Indian way. We have told the child that he is superstitious and primitive… We try to impose our values on him and tell him he should eat green, leafy vegetables and sleep on a bed and brush his teeth. In short, we try to make a white man out of an Indian. The child listens and looks at himself and sees that he doesn’t measure up. In his own eyes he is a failure. Education can be a shattering experience when one is taught nothing but negative things about himself…”

Funded in 1965 by the Office of Economic Opportunity, Rough Rock Demonstration School attempted to teach Indian children about their own history, language, and heroes so that students would come away with a sense of who they are as individuals and collectively as Indian people. They did this by involving an active and interested community in the teaching of their children. Elders taught language and legends that children should have learned at home from their grandparents but may have missed because they were away at boarding school.

The school was originally built in 1930 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but an all-Navajo school board took control in the 1960s under the Indian Self-Determination Act. Rough Rock was the prototype upon which community members lobbied Congress to charter the first Indian-run community college, Navajo Community College, now Diné College.

Today the school’s purpose is to “educate, enlighten, motivate, challenge, and assist in the proper cultural rearing of our Navajo children so they can be self-respecting, respectful of others, speak and practice their language and culture, and be totally functional in the Anglo society.”

Navajo Police Sgt. Jim Chee, Tony Hillerman’s second major fictional character, was first introduced in People of Darkness. He grew up at Rough Rock and was a member of the imaginary Slow Talking Clan. His uncle, Hosteen Frank Sam Nakai, who was a well-known “singer,” or medicine man, was the mentor who taught Jim Chee his knowledge about traditional healing. Chee was learning the Nightway Chant and the Enemy Way ceremony.

The Enemy Way

Also known as the Squaw Dance, this is an important ceremony for people who have been living off the reservation among “enemies.” Many veterans have this ceremony when they return from a war zone. In summertime, it’s common to see signs along reservation highways announcing a Squaw Dance. Please do not attend unless invited by a Navajo family.

MM 37 Tsaile Butte and the Chuska Mountains

These landmarks are visible to the east.

Many Farms(At the junction of N.R. 59 and U.S. 191)

Dá´ák'ehalání, the Navajo name for Many Farms, means large cultivated fields, a good name for the more than seven hundred small farms run by Navajo families since 1937. A very large lake two miles east of Many Farms on U.S. Highway 191 has largemouth bass, channel catfish, and black bullhead.

Accommodations (Hotels/Camping/RV Parks):

Many Farms Lodging

Many Farms Inn

At the intersection of Navajo Route 59 and U.S. Highway 191, head north one mile on 191. Turn left at the Many Farms High School sign, and follow the signs for another mile to the entrance of the inn. This inn was made possible through a School-to-Work federal grant project to give high school students a chance to learn about the hospitality industry. The school converted a vacant dormitory, and because it was a dormitory, bathrooms are shared. Each room has two single beds. Rates are $30 per room, single or double occupancy. There is a television lounge, pay phone, coffee, and vending machines. Because lodging is hard to find in the summer, a room at the inn will probably make some travelers very happy. (928) 781-6362.

Tours:

Food & Dining:

Services (Auto/Gas/Repair/Emergency):

Many Farms

Many Farms Health Center: Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; (928) 781-6246.

Art & Culture (Galleries/Trading Posts/Museums):

Permissions

• Trip information is condensed with permission from Native Roads: The Complete Motoring Guide to the Navajo and Hopi Nations, by Fran Kosik, Rio Nuevo Publishers, Tucson, Arizona, 2005. Trip numbers generally coincide with chapter number in the book. Fran's full book contains much more wonderful information on traveling our Native roads. For more detailed information, the book can be purchased from:

  Museum of Northern Arizona bookstore, 3101 N. Ft. Valley Rd., Flagstaff, AZ 86001; phone #: 928-774-5213 or direct 928-774-5211 + Ext 261. Or, contact the publisher, Rio Nuevo Publishers, PO Box 5250, Tucson, Arizona 85703; phone #: 520-623-9558 or 800-969-9558. Trip numbers generally correspond to chapter numbers.