My first encounter with Native Americans happened unexpectedly. In the small town of Anza in Southern California, I stumbled upon a stall with goods from a nearby reservation. Among ethnographic trinkets lay quality T-shirts with the inscription: "Terrorism since 1492!" (the year of the discovery of America). Intrigued by this statement, I decided to go to the reservation itself.
At the entrance – a casino and a cigarette shop. In Native American lands (unlike other US regions, except Las Vegas), gambling is legal, and Native Americans actively use this. Another steady income is the sale of cigarettes produced on reservations at rock-bottom prices.
Having parked in the "tribe guests" lot, I headed straight for cigarettes. The prices were indeed pleasantly surprising. In San Diego, a pack costs six dollars, while at the Native Americans' it's only two fifty. However, only tribe members can buy cigarettes. But this problem was quickly solved. Near the shop sat a Native American woman reeking of alcohol – for a small surcharge she bought several cartons for me.
The few Native Americans I managed to see at the casino and tobacco shop in no way resembled the legendary heroes played by Gojko Mitić. Alas, continuing to get acquainted with representatives of America's indigenous population that day was not to be. At the entrance to the reservation stood an imposing sign: "Do not trespass! Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again!" I didn't want to tempt fate.
Back in San Diego, I tried to "take a different path": to make contacts with urban, Americanized Native Americans and infiltrate the reservation with their help.
Soon I met a beautiful blonde, Rebecca Howard. She has only one-eighth Native American blood, yet the girl categorically refuses to consider herself white. The call of her ancestors tormented her, and despite her mother's despair, she renounced Christianity, becoming a fairly well-known among Native Americans "interpreter of the spirit language."
"Native Americans still don't like whites and that's why they don't let them onto their territories. Personally, I share these feelings. Yes, nowadays they don't kill us like wild animals, but for whites we are still second-class people! For example, the operation to kill Bin Laden was called 'Geronimo' by the US military. And by the way, Geronimo is our national hero, the legendary Apache leader who fought against American troops!" – Rebecca almost shouts at me.
Her tone suggests that I am personally to blame for the problems of Native Americans. However, the girl softened: "But you are Russian. I read a very interesting book 'Dersu Uzala' and understood from it that the Russians were much more tolerant towards their aborigines than our whites. Don't be upset – the largest reservations are open for visits. Go, for example, to the largest reservation in the USA, the 'Navajo Nation', located near the Grand Canyon. Nearby live other Native Americans – the Hopi, who are close in culture to the Aztecs. So in one trip you will get almost a complete cross-section of the life of various Native American tribes."
It was good advice, and it would have been a sin not to take it.
The area of the reservation, which Native Americans proudly call the "Navajo Nation" and are very offended when they are considered a tribe, is larger than the territory of a country like Latvia. And the reservation indeed has signs of a state: its own government, parliament, flag, and police.
Today, there are about 250,000 Navajo – the most numerous Native American people in North America. The Navajo are very proud of their history. Before the arrival of whites, their tribes were considered among the most powerful on the continent. One type of weapon used by these Native Americans was a long knife resembling a sword. Today, it is very popular among Mexican bandits. In Latin American Spanish, it is called – "navajo."
The fighting qualities of the Navajo, albeit from a somewhat unexpected side, were used by the US military during World War II. The Navajo language is so unusual that it is practically impossible for a person not belonging to this tribe to learn it. Therefore, the Yanks eagerly took Navajo into the army as radio operators, and they simply communicated in their native language.
Besides the famous "navajo" knives, the reservation has another signature product of the Native Americans – jerky meat. This English word is a slightly modified name for dried meat in the Quechua language, but the Navajo insist that this is their know-how. This Native American delicacy is very popular among white Americans. It is even sent into orbit to American astronauts: it is advantageous because the product is very high-calorie and extremely lightweight.
Today, most of the "Native American-style meat" is produced in factories, then packaged in sealed containers and distributed to supermarkets across the country. But Native Americans consider such jerky a pathetic imitation.
Alas, I was not able to enjoy the exoticism for too long. The first relatively large Native American settlement I encountered, Tuba City, was practically indistinguishable from a small town somewhere in the American hinterland: the same shops, gas stations, restaurants, and even the ubiquitous McDonald's.
I was only able to feel the special Navajo flavor in a local restaurant. Grilled meat (very reminiscent of shashlik) is served on a special "plate" of freshly baked Navajo bread, which looks like a donut. I wanted to wash down this pleasure with a mug of beer, but the waiter sadly replied that the Navajo lands have a dry law: "This rule is also observed in other reservations. We aborigines are not allowed to drink – we become alcoholics too quickly!"
Having had my fill of the almost primordial romance of the Navajo lands, I decided to get acquainted with another side of Native American culture: not the warlike nomads, but peaceful farmers. And I set off to the Hopi.
Hopi (literally translated as 'peaceful people') are close in culture and language to the Aztecs. They are very proud of their ancient agricultural culture. "Potatoes, tomatoes, and corn. Don't forget that these beloved American products were given to you by the Hopi," reads a sign in the restaurant at the local cultural center.
By the way, Hopi cuisine is noticeably different from Navajo cuisine and resembles more that common in Maya Indian villages in Guatemala: meat is unpopular here, but there are many vegetables, very spicy sauces, and a wide variety of corn dishes. Corn is the staple food for the Hopi. According to ancient beliefs, the first people came from this grain.
Traditional Hopi villages are located on hilltops – in this way, the 'peaceful people' used to defend themselves from Navajo raids. Houses are typically two or three stories high and always have flat roofs. Unhewn stone blocks are used as building material.
Another local exoticism is bizarre wooden figurines in masks. When I asked the seller how much the doll costs, he was offended: "These are not dolls, but spirits that help people in various matters. We call them kachina. This one, for example, saves women from infertility."
Unlike other North American Indians, the Hopi very rarely convert to Christianity. They have many religious holidays that are celebrated according to the lunar calendar. All rituals are necessarily accompanied by pipe smoking. Tobacco is a most important and absolutely essential item in daily life for the Hopi.
Some Hopi religious rituals are described in the famous novel "Brave New World" by English writer Aldous Huxley, and perhaps for this reason their religion arouses keen curiosity among some Americans disillusioned with modern civilization. What particularly frightens Yankees is the prophecy of local shamans about the imminent end of the world, published in 1959: "A white brother will appear on earth, not that white brother who wages war, who is evil and greedy, but the one who will return the lost text of ancient scriptures and mark with his return the beginning of the end."
Indian reservations are unlikely to appeal to tourists who came to the country to enjoy the benefits of civilization. But this part of the USA can be very interesting for those who would like to explore the America of contrasts, to see a country where the latest achievements amazingly coexist with a nearly primitive world. And, apparently, such tourists exist in our country.
For example, in the town of Tuba City there is an ATM that communicates with customers only in Russian. As locals explained, it jammed after a large group of tourists from Russia withdrew money there.