NAVAJO NATION, ARIZONA

Lying at the intersection of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, the Navajo Nation is truly a nation within a nation. An ancient civilization is preserved both in ancestral ruins and traditional ceremonies that are still practiced today against the backdrop of the austere and majestic Painted Desert.

Known as Tó Naneesdizí in Navajo, Tuba City, in northeast Arizona, is the nation's largest Navajo town, and when Spanish explorers arrived in the area over 200 years ago, they wrote about the Navajo farming community there. Two centuries later, Tuba City serves as a cultural and economic center for these same Native Americans.

In June 2008, MYX worked with Navajo teens to enhance the Tuba City Community Center with a 125-foot long mural x 15-foot high mural depicting the desert landsape and traditional Navajo imagery including the Four Sacred Mountains and hogans.

Read more about this trip in the Navajo-Hopi Observer.