Canyon de Chelly Administrative History

1. Wirth to Demaray, Aug. 22, 1932, NA, RG 79, NPS, Nat. Mon., C de C, 1923-34; "Exhibit C," map, n.d., ibid.

2. "Exhibit B," map, n.d., ibid.; "Extracts from Mr. J. B. Hamilton's Reconnaissance Report, Dated Nov. 15, 1932, on Canyon de Chelly," ibid.; Demaray to Nusbaum, Nov. 30, 1932, ibid.

3. Pinkley to Dir., Nov. 11, 1932, ibid.; Kittredge to Dir., Nov. 22, 1932, ibid.

4. Cammerer to Pinkley, Oct. 25, 1932, ibid.; Albright to Supt., SWNM, Nov. 26, 1932, ibid.

5. Wirth to Dir., Nov. 12, 1932, ibid.

6. Kittredge to Dir., Dec. 5, 1932, ibid.

7. Actg. Dir. to Kittredge, Dec. 17, 1932, ibid.

8. Albright to CIA, ibid.

9. Rhoads to Albright, Dec. 28, 1932, ibid.

10. U.S., Congress, Senate, 72d Cong., 2d sess., 1932, S.5190, Calendar 1306, S. Rept. 1211, ibid.

11. U.S., Congress, House, 72d Cong., 2d sess., 1932, HR 13960, Calendar 344, H. Rept. 2037, ibid.

12. Ibid.

13. U.S., Congress, House, 72d Cong., 2d sess., Feb. 5, 1933, H. Rept. 2037, ibid.; U.S., Congress, Senate, 72d Cong., 2d sess., Feb. 13, 1933, Calendar 1306, S. Rept. 1211, ibid.

14. The Congressional Record (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, Feb. 20, 1933).

15. The Congressional Record (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, Feb. 25, 1933).

16. The Congressional Record (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, Mar. 4, 1933).

17. Richey, Sec. to the Pres., to Sec. of Int., Mar. 3, 1933, NA, RG 79, NPS, Nat. Mon., C de C, Part 2.

18. Demaray to Pinkley, Mar. 2, 1933, ibid.

19. Pinkley to Dir., Mar. 8, 1933, ibid.

20. Parrott, Actg. Asst. Dir., GLO, to Dir., NPS, July 2, 1934, ibid.

21. Hunter to Kitteridge [sic], May 2, 1934, and encl., Resolution of Canyon de Chelly Chapter, Apr. 28, 1934, ibid.; This organization undoubtedly corresponds at least in part to the present-day Chinle Chapter. During the political turmoil created by the Government's stock reduction program many chapter organizations, all still relatively new, failed to survive. Aubrey W. Williams, Jr., Navajo Political Process, Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, vol. 9 (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1970), p. 40. It has not been ascertained whether the Chinle Chapter is a direct continuation of the older Canyon de Chelly Chapter or whether it was more recently organized under the later tribal program.

22. The preamble to the resolution stated some justifications for Navajo ownership that were ahead of their time and that probably had little real influence in 1934, but they are worth quoting here because of their relevancy today:

Whereas, there are within the Navajo jurisdiction many areas of tremendous scenic beauty and great historical and archaeological interest, which thousands of people from all over the United States are eager to visit, and

Whereas, some of these visitors will be inconsiderate enough to desecrate and even ruin the scenic and scientific value of these areas unless they are protected, and

Whereas, the Navajos have a greater love for their country than any other people can possibly have, and wish to guard against any changes that may make any part of their country less beautiful, and

Whereas, the Navajos know more about their country and always will have greater interest in its welfare than any other people or organization, and

Whereas, the management of our own scientific and scenic areas would give us an additional source of income necessary to maintain our ever-increasing population.

Navajo Tribal Council, Title 19, Chapt. 1, Section 1, p. 235.

23. Navajo Tribal Council, Navajo Tribal Code, 2 vols. (Orford, N.H. : Equity Publishing Corporation, 1962), Vol. 2, Title 19, Chapt. 1, Section 1.

24. Demaray to Sec. of Int., Aug. 14, 1934, NA, RG 79, NPS, Nat. Mon., C de C, Part 2.

25. Albright to Ickes, Sept. 3, 1934, ibid.

26. Bryant to Dir., Oct. 10, 1934, ibid.

The problem received quick attention in Washington. At first it was thought that the best plan would be to return a revision of the boundary description to Congress. [29] The Director asked the General Land Office to prepare a new description that could be used in drafting another bill. [30] The assistant commissioner of the land office, Antionette Funk, thought the current description a good one and suggested that only a survey on the ground could ascertain and correct any problems. Because the land was on an Indian reservation, the survey would have to be requested and paid for by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the estimated cost being $15,000. [31] Cammerer forwarded Funk's letter to the Bureau and asked whether they could arrange for the survey. [32] He was informed that no funds were available and warned in the following terms of probable Bureau opposition to any bill submitted to Congress:

27. Burney to Pinkley, Mar. 22, 1935, NA, RG 79, NPS, Nat. Mon., C de C, Part 4.

28. Pinkley to Dir., May 6, 1935, ibid.

29. Tolson to Cammerer, May 9, 1935, ibid.

30. Cammerer to Dir., GLO, June 1, 1935, ibid.

31. Funk to Dir., July 8, 1935, ibid.

32. Cammerer to CIA, July 12, 1935, ibid.

33. Zimmerman, Asst. CIA, to Cammerer, Aug. 14, 1935, ibid.

34. Stewart to Collier, Feb. 29, 1936, ibid.

35. Collier to Ickes, Mar. 13, 1936, ibid.

36. It should be noted that as early as 1901 the Navajos had registered strong protests against the fencing of a certain tract of land near the mouth of Canyon de Chelly on the grounds that it was holy. Because the objections were sustained by headmen from over a wide area, the agent concluded that only by acceding to their desires could long term trouble be avoided. Hayzlett to CIA, NA, RG 75, OIA, Class. Files, 45797/ Nav 01, copy in files of Navajo Tribal Research Section.

37. Pinkley to Dir., Apr. 10, 1936, NA, RG 79, NPS, Nat. Mon., C de C, Part 4.

38. Actg. Dir. to Sec. of Int., May 11, 1936, unsigned, ibid.

39. Collier to Ickes, May 6, 1936, ibid.

40. Ickes to Demaray, May 9, 1936, ibid.

41. Demaray to Sec. of Int., May 12, 1936, ibid.

42. Cammerer to Pinkley, June 29, 1936, ibid.

43. Ickes to Collier, May 13, 1936, ibid.

44. Richey to Supt., SWNM, Oct. 16, 1941, NA, RG 79, NPS, Nat. Mon., C de C, Central Classified Files 1933-49, Boundaries (General), 602.

45. Actg. Supt., SWNM, to Dir., Dec. 30, 1941, ibid.

46. Drury and Collier to Sec. of Int., May 5, 1942, and "Proposed Western Boundary, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona," Apr. 16, 1942, both approved by Burlew, May 25, 1942, ibid.

47. Resolution of Canyon de Chelly Chapter, Apr. 28, 1934, NA, RG 79, NPS, Nat. Mon., C de C, Part 2.

48. Kittredge to Dir., June 11, 1934, ibid.

49. Richey to Supt., SWNM, Oct. 16, 1941, NA, RG 79, NPS, Nat. Mon., C de C, CCF, 602.

50. Burlew to Denman, Nov. 8, 1937, NA, RG 79, NPS, Nat. Mon., C de C, Part 4.

51. Shepardson to Brugge, Aug. 14, 1974, encl., NALA files, Chaco Center.

52. For more detail on the general history of Navajo affairs during this period see Williams, Navajo Political Process; Mary Shepardson, Navajo Ways in Government, A Study in Political Process, American Anthropological Association, Mon. 96 (Menasha, Wisc., 1963); David F. Aberle, The Peyote Religion among the Navajo (Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co., 1966), especially Chpts. 3 through 6; and Robert W. Young, The Navajo Yearbook, 1951-1961; A Decade of Progress, No. 8 (Window Rock, Ariz., 1961).