The Hubble Museum and Trading Post -- By: Tabitha Aggen

A Navajo rug

            A few days into our trip we visited the Hubble Museum and Trading Post. This has significance in Navajo culture that dated back to when the Long Walk occurred. Our tour guide told us of how after the Navajo people were driven from their land and took the Long Walk they were given land back. However, they had nothing because when they were driven from their homes it was done so quickly that material possessions were not taken. As they were getting re-established traders decided to attempt to trade with them. Once the traders realized that the Navajos had nothing they would often leave, which caused the people to become even more so in poverty as they did not have more resources available to them. However a gentleman named Thomas Hubble was a trader who decided to set up a post in the Navajo Nation. He stuck it out, even though at first there was nothing that the Navajos traded that would be of monetary worth to him (they mostly traded him things that were from the land). Eventually though, Mr. Hubble became very rich and successful as many of the people would go to him to trade as he was respected, which caused the economy in the Navajo Nation to grow and become better.

            The museum was the Hubble home, which was full of all the original decor. It was neat to be able to walk around the home and see a glimpse into how this family lived. The guide told us of how artists wanting to paint in the Navajo Nation would stay with the Hubble family and when they left they would give one of their paintings to the family. The walls in the home were filled with these paintings and many of them were of the Navajo land and people. We also walked around the yard surrounding the home and saw the HUGE oven where the cook would bake bread, a guest Hogan (an eight-sided home that holds significance in the culture), the garden, a barn, a very noisy turkey, and the trading post. 

            Inside the trading post there was a room that had many Navajo rugs. We had the opportunity to  have someone who worked at the store speak to us about the symbolism and the significance in the rugs. Many of the symbols in the rugs are related to principles upheld in the Navajo Church relating to their belief in the Creation. 

         As a group we really enjoyed the opportunity to tour the home and see all the rooms inside. It was very impressive. Many also liked learning about the Navajo rugs, and it was especially neat that we got to sit on piles of rugs as the person spoke to us. We also really liked having our tour guide explain more about the history of this place to us beforehand, as none of us really knew what it was so it allowed us to more fully appreciate the tour. Something that the majority of us did not like was the gift shop. Many of the things were overpriced, so an advice for future students is to wait to buy things at the Flea Markets. Another word of advice is to also try and go to the Hubble Museum during National Parks Week as the cost for the tour is free!

 

The inside of the Hubble home; photo taken by Marco Inga