'It's k'é'- Roots of Ééhaniih lie in a high-stakes horse race

By Shine Salt

August 8, 2013

Navajo Times (Print)

NAVAJO MOUNTAIN—Every acre of land on the Navajo Nation has a history, story, clanship and family. For the people who live around Navajo Mountain, the place is a sanctuary and a stronghold for the people to come home to.

“The (Ééhaniih) really brings people home and it’s an event of remembrance about our elders and it brings us back as people and individuals,” said Lena Fowler, who’s the Coconino County District 5 Supervisor. “It’s just this relation to really get to know who you are and where you fit in this society.”

Ééhaniih (known in English as Pioneer Day) did not start off a casual field day like it is today.

"Ééhaniih," meaning "remembrance," explains the event well. It was a historical observance for the local community, commemorating a horse race that changed the future for the Navajo people near Navajo Mountain.

“(During) The Long Walk,” said Andy Endischee Jr., a residence of Navajo Mountain. “A lot of my (ancestors) didn’t go to Fort Sumner, they escaped behind Navajo Mountain at the canyons.”

But those who lived near Paiute Canyon, did not escape like the rest, and had to walk the long journey to Bosque Redondo, NM—Hwéeldi—in 1864.

Back in the late 1800s, there was no Lake Powell but an area of canyons, Endischee continued. There was a man who was the chief of the area, and his name was Old Man Endischee. He had three wives and he had many children.

“When Fort Sumner was over and the people were sent back to their land, other inter-tribes were on that land. These were remote areas, where it’s hard to get to,” Endischee said. “I guess they had a dispute for a while and they settled it with a horse race.”

It was negotiated. Whoever won the 20-mile race would live peacefully on the land.

“The people were looking upon the hills and here comes the horses,” said Endischee. “The first person was Áshįįh Łitso (Yellow Salt). That’s how they got the land back.”

Áshįįh Łitso was only 11 years old when he won the horse race for his people, he was the son of Old Man Endischee.

Soon thereafter, the people started celebrating the anniversary of Yellow Salt's peaceful victory.

“At that time it was not called a Pioneer Day, it was a branding,” said Gilbert Graymountain, who lives in Shonto. “While Áshįįh Łitso along with his brothers and my father, Gilmore would wait for the branding, they would start racing.”

Then began a new tradition when a man by the name of Harold Drake, Graymountain’s uncle wanted the event to become more than a horse, but a remembrance of the people’s home.

The new field day moved about 7 miles east of the current location. The location did not last long there; Old Man Endischee, his sons, Harold Drake and other grandfathers wanted a bigger and leveled location.

“My grandfather, Check Endischee, who was also Áshįįh Łitso is son provided an area for the Pioneer Day to occur,” said Endischee. “At first the land was supposed to be for a cornfield, but the current location became Ééhaniih.”

Now on their 48th annual event, Fowler gazed at the crowd. It’s not about the games or activities provided here, but it’s going to the camps and meeting new people. Chances are, they’ll be your relatives.

“Just hearing about how our elders were such wise people and the knowledge they had, they carried it onto us to fulfill,” Fowler said.

For Endischee, Ééhaniih is an emotional and thoughtful moment.

“I sometimes wonder what my grandpa was thinking when he originally was clearing the area for a cornfield,” Endischee said. “Now when I go to that area, I always think about my grandpa.”

Endischee said his grandpa and the past elders would have never predicted how big and popular Ééhaniih would become, though it's still one of the tiniest Navajo fairs.

On Saturday, the event was filled with activities from tug-of-war to egg tosses to rally races, and no matter if an individual lost or won, they received a prize. There were categories for all ages, even elders.

“It’s a happy kind of thing seeing the elders participate,” Endischee said. “It kind of makes me cry a bit because they’re doing it for us.”

Loretta Smallcanyon, 80, recalled falling to her knees during the tug-of-war when she was a youngster of 53.

Morris Burns, also 80, smiled and laughed as he recalled an airplane that once used to let go of candy onto the open field.

“This is about kinship, that’s what it’s really for,” Graymountain said as he watched the Chicken Pull competition. “Everybody gathers from all parts of the reservation, it’s k’é."