As the evening light fades into the Milky Way at Kane Ranch Arizona, archeologist Jason Nez pulls into our camp for dinner. His clothes and face are spotted with black soot—evidence of a long day in the field. Jason and his colleague Toby have been surveying nearby archeological sites that were recently revealed after the area burned. Once dinner plates are cleared away, we gather to hear Jason’s stories. He speaks in measured rhythm, spinning words both animate and raw. One of his stories recounts the night he encountered a skinwalker on an empty forest service road. Another is about Coyote, the Navajo trickster who feeds on chaos and leads people astray. Jason explains that in order to combat Coyote, we must collectively “develop the understanding and knowledge to see though the blame he’s (coyote) casting and all of the fear he instigates…we get past it through science, we get past it through study, we get past it through communication.”
Jason first joined the Park Service in 2001 as a ranger at Navajo National Monument. Since this time, he has become a vocal presence within the field of Native American archeology, giving presentations and promoting cultural outreach throughout the Southwest. For Jason, the work is of particular significance. He has spent most of his life on the Navajo Nation, but his genetic lineage is more in line with ancient civilizations he studies. In his words: “I am Zuni Edgewater, I am born for the Orabi Salt Clan, my mother’s father was tangle people and my father’s father was Mexican people… I’m Navajo culturally, I speak Navajo, I look Navajo, I live Navajo, but genetically, I’m not Navajo. I can walk in these ruins and know that these used to be my ancestors.”
By: Maya Aurichio