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The
Story of the Seven
Horses
In
2003 myself, Marvin and Jonette Yazzie,
their Grandson and one of their friends
went to visit the small town of
Lukachukai, AZ were Marvin and Jonette
grew up. We spent some time in that area
and visited Canyon de Chelly.
Then
we drove over the Chuska mountain, the
northern tip of which was where Broken
Flute cave lies., into northwestern New
Mexico toward the town of Shiprock. One
the way is the actual Shiprock or
Tsé Bit'a'i, "rock with wings". We
drove past on our way to town but decided
to stop on the way back.
When
we did return it was nearing sunset. We
drove off the highway onto a dirt road
headed toward the rock. As it had rained
heavily the night before there were many
pot holes filled with water in the path
and soon we encountered one that was too
deep to go through and too wide to drive
around. So we stopped there to take photos
as the sun set and the colors
changed.
I
got out a flute, a little Yazzie flute
with a horse block. As I was playing
someone spotted a movement on one of the
ridges that fan out from Shiprock like the
roots of a tree. These were once vents
that fed Shiprock when it was a
volcano.
The
figures moved closer and we realized they
were horses. We were in open range, so
they could have been let out to graze or
wild, or a mix of both.
The
horses as they approach in the
darkness
They
seemed to be curious about the sound of
the flute, so naturally I got the impulse
to see if I could play something that
would lure them closer. Trying all sorts
of types of tunes, high, low, fast,
slow... Nothing seemed to be working.
Finally I just started playing a very
simple tune on the scale. That seemed to
work. Slowly, but with a deliberate
movement, they walked towards us. Closer
and closer. Everyone got very quiet and
still as I continued to play the tune.
Soon
the horses were within 30 feet of us.
There were seven of them, two colts. And
as they approached us they turned their
heads from side to side and moved there
ears back and forth as if trying to really
hear the music.
They
then walked slowly in an arc to our left,
always keeping the same distance, ears
twitching the entire time. When they had
finished their arc they came to the pot
hole that had block our path and began to
drink water from it. Their ears still
moving.
At
the point Jonette, who was using an old
style film camera with auto rewind,
snapped the last image on her roll of
film. Her camera clicked into rewind,
making a whirling noise. The horse's heads
shot up and then as if one, instead of
seven, they bolted for the ridge line.
Leaving us in the dark of the Rock with
Wings.
The
next night I gave a concert at Canyon de
Chelly and played the tune I had been
playing to get the horses to come to us.
When I got back to LA I added the sound of
horses to help recall the memory of that
magical time.
Playing
the Yazzie's "Horse" flute
More
photos from Shiprock
©
2003 Cedar Mesa Music. All rights
reserved. Unauthorized duplication,
transmission or distribution is a
violation of applicable laws.
Photos
© Jonette Yazzie
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