Ongtupqa (the Grand Canyon)

I first laid eyes on Ongtupqa (the Hopi' word for the Grand Canyon) when I was seventeen years young. I was fresh out of my New York high school and that life altering trip in the four corner states steered me on the path I was meant to trod. (see https://twosmallgems.blogspot.com/2012/05/one-love-one-heart.html for that part of my life story. )  

During those remarkable four weeks in the Southwest, I was blessed to be invited to the third mesa, home of the Hopi. It was there that saw the Kachina rain dance that blew my mind. Had I not witnessed with my own eyes, I would have never believed that a blue, cloudless skies could shift in a minutes to a powerful hailstorm and rain. From that moment on, a deep, unbreaking respect for the Hopi people was formed. To this day, I see them knowing ones; those who know the truth about this earth and honor the ways of walking in balance.

 

Photo of original painting of a Kachina dancer.

From my time learning and exploring around the four corners, I would be led to Prescott College, which in turn took me back to the Hopi Reservation a handful more times. I broke bread with a family there, watched in awe and gratitude more Kachina dances and even danced to the hypnotic beat at concert of Third World, the Jamaican reggae band (the Hopi love reggae and I was just a few months into the twelve years of having dreadlocks. But that is another story!)

One of the things I learned from the Hopi was that when the human physically dies, the soul goes to live in Ongtupqa. I was lucky to be in Arizona when some influential people I knew died and I found myself going to the canyon, to pray and meditate on the soul of the one who transitioned. There were also times when family and/or friends would come to visit and we'd make the drive north, so I could share the magnificent wonder of the Ongtupqa. 

Eventually, I left Arizona and my life moved in different directions. I would return now and again to Prescott to finish up my degree (through their distance learning Adult Degree Program) but it had been many years since I had visited that awe inspiring canyon. My heart and soul felt a longing to return for many years but sadly, I was unable to make the trek until just recently. And that was perhaps the most special of visits of all to Ongtupqa, because with me I had my two small gems and I got to witness them see the glory of that place for the very first time. Don had been on an eight day Colorado River rafting trip with his family some years back and saw the canyon from the bottom and a bit through a helicopter when they left but he had never seen her from the top. So for him too, it was a first. For those who have visited, you know there is nothing quite like her anywhere on Mother Earth. 

I feel most fortunate. In this life, I have led a life of service, which has meant that material gains was not the goal. And yet, I am most blessed in so many ways including being able to raise my girls in a way that not honors and cherishes Mother Earth but a life that has allowed us to visit some of the grand places, like Ongtupqa. My heart and soul are happy now, having made a visit after far too long and I felt that the canyon was happy too, for my return and for bringing with me two small gems, who now love her as equally as I do.