A MONUMENTAL DIVIDE

Next time you see Heidi horsin' around on the Dugout or the rez or having coffee in Monticello say, "Good on you, girl." She's not only been good for girls. Through her 50 or so years on the ranch, she's helped more than a few local boys learn the value of long, hard work in the summer. She has a deep respect for the land and the people who live there now and those who lived there before. She says she "walks with the ancients."   This article written in 1998 by Anne Wilson, daughter of former Canyonlands National Park superintendent Bates Wilson, was published by Jim Stiles in his Zephyr. EXCERPT: "She is well-spoken about her beliefs and she is polished, but her passion belies any feeling that her words are simply rhetorical. "Lest you think she is a closet 'tree hugger', read on. During her 31 years in red rock country, Heidi has seen a change in the visitors who come by this place that is the gateway to Canyonlands N

Almost every day Anna Tom, a Navajo who lives on McCracken Mesa, near Blanding, Utah, sends friends (including Facebook "friends") and relatives blessings from a sacred place. This is something she recently wrote: "Hello good morning rush rush have a good splendid day from all direction from our creator from Mother Earth the center of the Earth and the holy people." The photos accompanying the messages sometimes seem like Navajo versions of Hallmark greeting cards delivered digitally – an uplifting way to greet the day. Her mother, Betty Jones, is a medicine woman. Betty and Anna use the greater Bears Ears area of southeastern San Juan County to collect herbs, perform sacred ceremonies, and gather wood from cottonwoods, oaks, and cedars. Betty Jones and her daughter, Anna  _____________ Nearly 150,000 Navajos speak their native language today, making it the most-spoken Native American language in the United States.  ____