Everyone who had talked about the zoo had said that it was a small zoo that was mainly traditional animals. I was expecting it to be like a farm. The Navajo adopted many animals from the Europeans and became a pastoral people. I was expecting to see sheep, cattle, and horses. Instead the zoo was filled with actual traditional animals from before the arrival of the Europeans. Each animal had an information sign that had its name in Navajo and English and explained the animal's role in the Navajo Traditions and Religion. I have always been fascinated by animals and symbolism, so to say the least the trip to the zoo became a lot more interesting for me.
This albino raccoon came out to play and saw hello to the children.
I learned that the raccoon is credited with creating the Mountaintop Ceremony and is important in several other traditional ceremonies.
It was starting to get hot at this point in the day so the grey fox and the red foxes stayed in the shade and were not very active.
Even though the kids knew that they were going to go to McDonalds where they would be able to play they still were very excited about the playground and wanted to stop and play awhile. It made for better interaction with my son than McDonalds. It was nice getting to play with him. We did not quite see every animal in the zoo but that is okay. The most important things are that Xander had fun, and he and I were able to bond.
Xander getting back on the bus with his classmates. The students were treated to lunch at McDonalds where they played like crazy before finally eating. Xander had fun by swiping my french fries and using them to practice counting. He also ate about half of them.
The bobcat was my high school mascot back in the day. So of course I am a huge fan of seeing them in any zoo. It is especially cool that the Navajo have such respect for this animal and its prowess as a hunter. Hunters would use their pelts as quivers so that the bobcat's excellent hunting ability would rub off on the arrows.
Xander was really cute with the elks. He had never seen an elk before. Pamela and I have only recently seen an elk in the wild just outside of Flagstaff. With enthusiasm I pointed to the male and said, "Look Xander, that is an elk!"
"Elk." He looked at it, "Hi elk!"
Each animal in the zoo had a name plate to tell visitors what to call each animal. For the most part I ignored these but for whatever reason I looked at the name plate for the female and found out that her name was Carin. I told Xander what her name was.
"Elk. Carin. Bye Carin!"
Horned Owl was the brother of Eagle and a messenger for the Holy People according to Navajo Tradition. The Navajo do not talk about a Great Spirit the way that many tribes do, they emphasize the Holy People, different spirits that help humanity.
The porcupine did not leave his shady house while we were there so I wasn't able to get a good photograph.
It was starting to get hot at this point in the day so the grey fox and the red foxes stayed in the shade and were not very active.
Even though the kids knew that they were going to go to McDonalds where they would be able to play they still were very excited about the playground and wanted to stop and play awhile. It made for better interaction with my son than McDonalds. It was nice getting to play with him. We did not quite see every animal in the zoo but that is okay. The most important things are that Xander had fun, and he and I were able to bond.
Xander getting back on the bus with his classmates. The students were treated to lunch at McDonalds where they played like crazy before finally eating. Xander had fun by swiping my french fries and using them to practice counting. He also ate about half of them.
