“CAÑON DE CHELLY”

1904

Canyon de Chelly (pronounced “de chay”, after the Navaho “Ta Shay”) was one of the most sacred places for the Navaho and remains so to this day. It is located in Northeastern Arizona in the heart of Navaho country. Of Curtis’ 50,000 negatives this is considered to be one of his ten most important and powerful. The insignificance of man relative to nature is clearly illustrated through the sheer size of enduring cliff formations (over 1,000 feet high) that surround the riders. Canyon de Chelly is regarded as Curtis’ single most popular goldtone today and the contemporary Goldtone captures the subtleties and richness of the original negative in a way that was impossible a hundred years ago.