Trading Posts—Hubbell and Perry Null

Apr 6

On Tuesday we stuck around home (the trailer) and did some errands. Wednesday we went to two trading posts, Hubbell Trading Post and Perry Null. Both were filled with interesting stuff and people. We bought some gifts and some things for ourselves. I told Randy I have a secret wish that we would find two turquoise rings, one for him and one for me, that we could substitute for our wedding bands we no longer have or wear. Randy lost his wedding band quite shortly after we got married and mine no longer fits me. We looked at a few rings for Randy but there were hardly any in his size, size 13. I bought a beautiful turquoise necklace later when we stopped at some roadside tables.

It was interesting to see the elderly women who came in to pawn things. Most of them wore traditional skirts and beautiful squash blossom necklaces. I wanted to take pictures but I thought it would be disrespectful. I saw a book at the Zion gift shop written by an artist who took black & white portraits of Native American elders and wrote up the stories that they told him about themselves. Beautiful.

The Hubbell Trading Post is a historic site with several buildings and homes, including two hogans. I think hogans are so interesting. I have read all the mysteries by Tony Hillerman (Now his daughter Anne is continuing them. There are also 3 good “Mystery” shows based them. My understanding is that the Hillerman books are not always accurate in the portrayal of the Navajo culture but they’re good books and have piqued my interest in a big way.). Hillerman talks quite a bit about the hogans. The Navajos historically have used them for religious ceremonies as well as dwelling places. They are often hexagonal or circular and the door faces the East. The Navajo have, as I understand it, a lot of fear and taboos about being near death or dead bodies. When someone dies in a hogan, they cut a hole in the wall for the spirits to leave and they abandon that hogan. As we drove through New Mexico we would see quite a lot of hogans and I wonder if now they might be built as parts of residences. We saw some that looked like they were attached to homes.

We stopped at Hubbell one more time as we were heading to Zion and caught a tour of the Hubbell home. It was so interesting! Our guide (a ranger) introduced himself as Elvis Burbank and I noticed the name (Elvis Presley + Burbank CA came to mind). He gave his Navajo introduction, too, which is another thing I’ve read about. They give a kind of family history as part of their greeting, telling which clans they are a part of. I’ve read that when two young people want to marry, traditionally they will consult an elder to make sure they are of clans that are allowed to join in marriage. As the guide gave his introduction in Navajo I noticed he also pointed in the direction of the clan homelands he was talking about.

During the tour he pointed out some of the many, many paintings filling the walls. A bunch of paintings are called “Red Heads” because they were drawn with a red “crayon.” The artist was E.A. Burbank so I asked the guide if they were related. He said that the story he’s heard is that when his family needed to choose a last name, they were living near the artist and used his name. He also said, though, that there are sometimes members of his family born with blue or blue-grey eyes, which is very rare in Navajos, so they wonder if maybe they “share more than just a name.” I love guides like Ranger Burbank. I could hear his love of the place, the people, his family and heritage in his voice.

We ended the day at the Meester’s house where we had a delicious and delightful dinner. Spending time with them has been such a blessing.