Week of February 4, 2024 | View the Map
Right click and SAVE AS
to download the Google Earth file for this episode
Use free Google Earth software
to OPEN it, using File> Open.
Find more tech info here.
Monday
We are here in the Navajo Nation! We hired a driver to take us from Mesa Verde to the Navajo Nation. It is not very far (see our map below). Did you know that the Navajo Nation is actually another nation within the United States? This place has so much rich culture that I could write my entire blog post about these incredible people and this amazing place. We are here to search for the teenagers who wrote and created the YouTube video. We "think" they might be the ones meeting with Louie. If you missed it last time, we pasted the link again below.
Uncle GT called a few minutes ago, and they have definitely been tracking WHO Louie has been talking to on his phone. It has been people in the Navajo Nation area. Holy Idaho! We might actually find Louie and convince him to go back to Washington, D.C. Based on the YouTube video that we saw a few days ago (and phone tracking), we know he is probably meeting with teenagers. Or at least that is who he has been talking to.
Have you ever heard of the Navajo Nation? I am very ashamed to say that I have heard about it since we lived very close, but I knew very little. What an amazing people and what a beautiful land. We have included many pictures for you to see.
Navajo Nation is located in the four corners. This is the area where the corners of the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah all meet. The Navajo Nation covers the "corners" of all four states. That is why it is called the "four corners." The Navajo Nation covers the southeastern portion of Utah, the northwestern portion of Arizona, and the northwestern portion of New Mexico. It also borders the southwest side of Colorado, although very little is actually in the state. There are Navajo people in many other states/cities, too (California, West Virginia, Las Vegas, and Oklahoma, to name a few). The Navajo language is the Dine Bikeyah. Sadly, the language is slowly becoming extinct. However, the Navajos have done an excellent job of preserving their language in books and other forms.
The Navajo homeland covers about 26,000 square miles. The Navajo Nation is the largest Native American jurisdiction (with land area assigned) within the entire United States - Holy Idaho! Did you know the Navajo traditionally call themselves Dine (sometimes spelled in English as Dineh)? This means "The People" in Navajo. Navajo Nation has its own language, religion, land, and government. There are close to 300,000 Navajo people living in the United States. Nearly 200,000 of those live within the Navajo Nation, and over half are in Arizona (our own home state).
Guess what! We decided that we were going to head home for a quick visit while we figured out where to look for Louie and the teenagers. We even wonder if Louie led us to the Navajo Nation, hoping we would just go home and stay there. That surely isn't going to happen. We are both still confused about why he is so suspicious of Geo and me. I wonder what connection he has to Mike, the hiker, from a few weeks ago? We won't give up until we find Louie. But we are looking forward to a day at home with our parents and, yes, even Pandora. We attached a map of the Navajo Nation. Use the map scale to figure out how many miles the Navajo Nation stretches from east to west. For a bigger challenge (and more fun), figure out about how many square miles Navajo Nation is in total.
Uncle GT called a few minutes ago, and they have definitely been tracking WHO Louie has been talking to on his phone. It has been people in the Navajo Nation area. Holy Idaho! We might actually find Louie and convince him to go back to Washington, D.C. Based on the YouTube video that we saw a few days ago (and phone tracking), we know he is probably meeting with teenagers. Or at least that is who he has been talking to.
Have you ever heard of the Navajo Nation? I am very ashamed to say that I have heard about it since we lived very close, but I knew very little. What an amazing people and what a beautiful land. We have included many pictures for you to see.
Navajo Nation is located in the four corners. This is the area where the corners of the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah all meet. The Navajo Nation covers the "corners" of all four states. That is why it is called the "four corners." The Navajo Nation covers the southeastern portion of Utah, the northwestern portion of Arizona, and the northwestern portion of New Mexico. It also borders the southwest side of Colorado, although very little is actually in the state. There are Navajo people in many other states/cities, too (California, West Virginia, Las Vegas, and Oklahoma, to name a few). The Navajo language is the Dine Bikeyah. Sadly, the language is slowly becoming extinct. However, the Navajos have done an excellent job of preserving their language in books and other forms.
The Navajo homeland covers about 26,000 square miles. The Navajo Nation is the largest Native American jurisdiction (with land area assigned) within the entire United States - Holy Idaho! Did you know the Navajo traditionally call themselves Dine (sometimes spelled in English as Dineh)? This means "The People" in Navajo. Navajo Nation has its own language, religion, land, and government. There are close to 300,000 Navajo people living in the United States. Nearly 200,000 of those live within the Navajo Nation, and over half are in Arizona (our own home state).
Guess what! We decided that we were going to head home for a quick visit while we figured out where to look for Louie and the teenagers. We even wonder if Louie led us to the Navajo Nation, hoping we would just go home and stay there. That surely isn't going to happen. We are both still confused about why he is so suspicious of Geo and me. I wonder what connection he has to Mike, the hiker, from a few weeks ago? We won't give up until we find Louie. But we are looking forward to a day at home with our parents and, yes, even Pandora. We attached a map of the Navajo Nation. Use the map scale to figure out how many miles the Navajo Nation stretches from east to west. For a bigger challenge (and more fun), figure out about how many square miles Navajo Nation is in total.
- Meri
A picture we found of the Navajo Nation.
Another shot of the Navajo Nation - beautiful!
Another picture we found. What do you suppose this picture is of?
YouTube Video about solar energy
Geo thought some of the comments with this video were interesting (can you find the one from the Navajo youth?)
Map of Navajo Nation
Use the map scale to figure out how many miles Navajo Nation stretches from east to west. For a bigger challenge (and more fun), figure out about how many square miles Navajo Nation is total.
Wednesday
It has been nice to be back home for a day. We spent last night researching the videos on the web from Uncle GT. He called our house and told us to head back to the Navajo Government building in Tselani-Cottonwood. We are going there now. Apparently, that is where a lot of research has taken place about solar and wind power. Uncle GT believes this is where Louie is, based on tips he has received from anonymous sources. Louie is supposedly there meeting with a handful of young people (from the Navajo Nation), discussing ways to harness wind and/or solar power for the US to be more energy self-sufficient and more earth-friendly in the process. We will let you know what we find out!
- Geo
Navajo Nation (what kind of power is being used here?)
Driving onto the reservation.
Another breathtaking shot.
Navajo Nation for Kids
This site provides some basic questions/answers about the Navajo Nation.
Navajo People
If YouTube is available in your school, check out this video to learn more about the Navajo people.
Wednesday Night
Holy Idaho! What a day today! Geo and I visited the native museum at the Navajo Nation and almost missed it because our watches did not match the clocks there! We learned so much about the history of the Navajo. We are back at home right now, packing up some new winter clothes! We are going to need them, it seems.
Today we had the opportunity to talk to many other teenagers from the reservation. Do you know what a reservation is (and no, we don't mean at a restaurant)? A reservation is land that is set aside for a special purpose, in this case, as a home for the Navajo Nation. The reservation (Navajo Nation, in this case) has its own government, police, laws, and more. It is basically just like a small country. However, Navajos are still American citizens and subject to U.S. laws.
Anyway, back to our adventures at the museum: none of the teens admitted to being on the YouTube video or even KNOWING anything about Louie. But one girl explained that many teens might not be telling the truth, because some of them created the YouTube video when they were SUPPOSED to be doing schoolwork! She did give us a lead that "someone" with a special interest in energy conservation and natural resources has been speaking at the Navajo Government building in Tselani-Cottonwood. It turns out that this person (Louie, we assume), was there investigating alternative forms of energy (mainly solar and wind power). It really sounds like it might be "our" Louie. A teenage boy, Yiska, gave us a ride to the government building. "Yiska" means "the night has passed" in Navajo. I wonder what our names mean. Anyway, when we arrived at the government building, the officials said Louie had been there (we showed him the picture we had on our phone). They said he had left the reservation and headed north. They only knew he was heading north because he said he had to swing by one of his homes to pick up some winter gear. I wonder where he is off to now! This wild goose chase is getting so frustrating.
Oh--about our watches being wrong: We always thought that Arizona didn't observe Daylight Saving Time. It turns out that the Navajo Nation (which is located in Arizona) DOES observe Daylight Saving Time. So it was an hour later there than it was everywhere else in Arizona!
We also learned about the economy of the reservation. One of the most important businesses is the many handmade craft shops. At least 60% of all families living in the Navajo Nation have at least one family member either creating or selling crafts. We saw some of the beautiful crafts; they are truly amazing.
Holy Idaho! Uncle GT just called us with our next destination! One of his affiliates in Detroit, Michigan, just saw a picture of Louie on the FRONT PAGE of their local newspaper. Why would Louie be up in Detroit? Do you have any idea what is manufactured in Detroit?
Today we had the opportunity to talk to many other teenagers from the reservation. Do you know what a reservation is (and no, we don't mean at a restaurant)? A reservation is land that is set aside for a special purpose, in this case, as a home for the Navajo Nation. The reservation (Navajo Nation, in this case) has its own government, police, laws, and more. It is basically just like a small country. However, Navajos are still American citizens and subject to U.S. laws.
Anyway, back to our adventures at the museum: none of the teens admitted to being on the YouTube video or even KNOWING anything about Louie. But one girl explained that many teens might not be telling the truth, because some of them created the YouTube video when they were SUPPOSED to be doing schoolwork! She did give us a lead that "someone" with a special interest in energy conservation and natural resources has been speaking at the Navajo Government building in Tselani-Cottonwood. It turns out that this person (Louie, we assume), was there investigating alternative forms of energy (mainly solar and wind power). It really sounds like it might be "our" Louie. A teenage boy, Yiska, gave us a ride to the government building. "Yiska" means "the night has passed" in Navajo. I wonder what our names mean. Anyway, when we arrived at the government building, the officials said Louie had been there (we showed him the picture we had on our phone). They said he had left the reservation and headed north. They only knew he was heading north because he said he had to swing by one of his homes to pick up some winter gear. I wonder where he is off to now! This wild goose chase is getting so frustrating.
Oh--about our watches being wrong: We always thought that Arizona didn't observe Daylight Saving Time. It turns out that the Navajo Nation (which is located in Arizona) DOES observe Daylight Saving Time. So it was an hour later there than it was everywhere else in Arizona!
We also learned about the economy of the reservation. One of the most important businesses is the many handmade craft shops. At least 60% of all families living in the Navajo Nation have at least one family member either creating or selling crafts. We saw some of the beautiful crafts; they are truly amazing.
Holy Idaho! Uncle GT just called us with our next destination! One of his affiliates in Detroit, Michigan, just saw a picture of Louie on the FRONT PAGE of their local newspaper. Why would Louie be up in Detroit? Do you have any idea what is manufactured in Detroit?
- Meri
The purse I bought today at a craft shop at Navajo Nation.
A picture we took today.
Another picture of Navajo Nation
Vote Here:
105
Copyright © 2011-2024 by The Source for Learning, Inc. All rights reserved.