Known for their ornate baskets with intricate designs, the modernly named "basketmakers" are the original native people of Canyon de Chelly and have occupied the area since 250 A.D.

Between 700-1100 A.D.the native people, known by archaeologists as the Anasazi, built the pueblo structures at the Mummy Cave Villages. Anasazi, originally thought to simply mean "ancient ones," also means "enemy ancestors" in Navajo. The Puebloans, ancestors of the Hopi, eventually left the canyon to find better farmland.

The Navajo people moved into the canyon areas and recorded the arrival of the Spanish and the introduction of horses and sheep into the area. The relationship between the Navajo Nation and the United States Government has been complex. After the two governments established peace, the United States tried to Americanize the Tribes. Although the distrust between the two nations remained, the 1975 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act gave the Navajo more control over their own decisions.

The Canyon de Chelly National Monument became a national park in an effort to save its unique ruins. In contrast to other national parks, the National Park Service does not own the canyon, but acts as guests on Navajo Tribal Trust Land.

The Navajo Nation maintains all rights of the canyon lands including Canyon de Chelly, Canyon de Muerto, and Monument Canyon, a total of over 131 square miles. A community of Navajo people called the Dine continues to occupy the canyon and maintain significant connections to the land, both ancestrally and spiritually.

Podcast Written and Narrated by Sunne Heubach, Public History Student at the University of West Florida.