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Canyon De Chelly, Arizona
The name De Chelly, pronounced in English de-shay, is a Spanish spelling pronunciation of the Navajo word Tséyi′ which was later adapted into English as De Chelly.
Tséyi′
A Navajo word, Tséyi′ is a compound word from tsé meaning rock and yi′ meaning inside or within. Thus, the literal meaning is inside the rock.
This is a place referred to in the Navajo language which to them means In Between the Rocks and this place called, Canyon de Chelly is literally just that, a place of deep canyons with sheer walls.
The Navajo, who live in much of this region, although they are the newcomers to the Colorado plateau area, arrived much later after the Anasazi had abandoned their stone stacked dwellings to continue on in their migration.
National Monument
Canyon de Chelly is entirely owned by the Navajo Tribal Trust of the Navajo Nation and is the only National Park Service unit that is owned and cooperatively managed in this manner.
Access to the canyon floor is restricted, and visitors are allowed to travel in the canyons only when accompanied by a park ranger or an authorized Navajo guide, with the only exception to this rule being the White House Ruin Trail.
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