Our ride around the mud from Cuba, NM to Grants took us through a very remote and terribly interesting part of the country - the Navajo Reservation. The part we went through is called the "checkerboard" because it's not all reservation - there's different ownership every mile or so, but much of it is reservation and most is Navajo.

In Pueblo Pintado we asked permission to camp next to the trailer of Dennis and Brenda Buckman, who own the little grocery store there. (In the 120 miles between Cuba and Grants there are 2 stores, no towns, no other services.) Well, it rained then, and they ended up inviting us in for dinner and having us sleep inside. What wonderful people. But the best part was that Dennis told us story after story about the reservation. Of course it was from the point of view of a white man, but he's lived on the "rez" for years and years, and we learned a lot.

Dennis says Navajos almost never start their own business because their since of family obligation insists that they always share everything with their extended family, and so assets could never be concentrated into a business.

The younger children are frightened of Dennis and Brenda at first, but become accustomed. The reservation is a *very* different place.

We heard all about the various government programs, what's good, what's not. Dennis believes that almost all young people with marketable skills leave the reservation to work (as in many rural areas in the US) and leave behind many, many people who either don't work (jobs) or who work at the traditional sheep-based economy, which doesn't bring in much success these days.

It was a fascinating evening!