Monument Valley East Mitten during sunrise
Effie Yazzie holds a weaving comb her family made for her inside her hogan. The hogan’s main source of light comes from the doorway and the hole in the roof for the furnace.
Effie Yazzie stretches her yarn from her spindle to prepare it being weaved into the rug
Effie Yazzie sits at her rug and uses her comb to push down a new thread weaved is into her piece
A closer look at Effie Yazzie’s hands as she uses the spindle to stretch her yarn
Effie’s daughter, Alvina Yazzie stands in front of her family hogan with a piece she has been working on. She learned these sacred skills from her mother
Alvina Yazzie who stays with her mother to help with the animals feeds the sheep in the morning
A herd of wild horses peer at us over a ridge at one of the local water collection areas. When Effie collects water for her livestock, she will also make sure these wild herds get water too.
Effie Yazzie stands in front of one of the recently installed water collection tanks in Monument Valley called Piney Springs. Her grandfather used to collect water from the head of the spring when she was a little girl. This water collection tank is nested miles away from her home, where she must off-road to access it
Ph.D. Post Doctoral Researcher and local Tommy Rock gives us a tour of one of two water collection tanks he maintains and samples in the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park. Rock’s work focuses on the identification, monitoring and communication of environmental hazards related to legacy uranium mining, and ongoing oil and gas exploration in the Navajo Nation
Effie Yazzie sits in front of her hogan during a short interview about her her life
Effie’s sheep run outside of her the building where she sleeps. It’s dinner time and time to head back into the pens!
Effie poses with her outhouse that she uses.
Clouds slowly dissipate as the first light finally touches Merrick Butte and Monument Valley