Songs on the Rez

7-8 a.m.: breakfast (catered)

8-9 a.m.: morning yoga class

9-10 a.m.: free time

10-11 a.m.: Morning Song Circle: discussion of the elements of song, writing exercises, daily prompt and pairings announced

11-5: co-writing with songwriting partners (instructors will circulate to check in on your process, offer advice and brainstorm if you’re stuck): walks, naps, singing lessons with Meredith, explore the ranch and Carson Mesa

12-1: lunch (catered)

3-4: Showers available in main house via sign up sheet: four people/day

5-6: dinner (catered)

7-8:30: evening song circle: perform songs from that day’s co-write and offer feedback on others’ songs

9-onwards: optional nightly song circles around the bonfire

NB: Friday includes an optional hike in Canyon De Chelly National Monument and visit to the Chinle Flea Market.

Saturday evening (7/10) is the final concert offered to Many Farms community members, family members and friends.

Breakfast: fresh fruit, granola, yogurt, breads, jam and butter, organic hard boiled eggs/scrambled eggs (from the ranch!) cream cheese spreads, hard cheeses, coffee, teas

Lunch: Green salad with balsamic vinaigrette topped with homemade chicken and egg salad; hummus with pine nuts, olive oil, kalamata olives and toasted pita OR self-serve sandwiches with homemade bread, fresh garnishes, meats and cheeses.

Dinner: Fresh grilled salmon with cucumber/dill sauce, sautéed green beans, grilled new potatoes, garden salad with apple cider vinaigrette

Desert: Apple crisp a la mode, coffee, teas

About Helen’s Taste of Home catering:

“The seeds of my love affair with cooking were first planted early in life as a child while living in Germany and traveling in Europe, and during my adolescent years while living in Okinawa. My mother cooked for a family of seven, fusing her native Panamanian culture with that of my father's southern roots. I remember it as a lively, interesting kitchen. The only item certain at evening meals was a cake or pie, at my father's request. It is therefore no surprise that I love creating sumptuous desserts in addition to preparing dishes from many regional and ethnic communities.”

Many Farms, Arizona is a small farming community located in the heart of the Navajo Nation. The town features a “chapterhouse” or community center, post office, elementary and high schools, a variety of churches, a gas station, and a convenience store. Community members are known as expert weavers, silversmiths, musicians, welders, sheepherders and ranchers. The retreat will be hosted by members of the Bia family at the family sheepcamp, ranch and communal hooghan called Carson Mesa (To Sikání). (NB: For those with animal allergies, sheep, goats, horses, chickens and dogs are all at the ranch). Many Farms is a four and a half hour drive from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and three and a half hours from Flagstaff, Arizona, and these are also the closest airport locations.

Canyon de Chelly National Monument is one of the only national parks in the United States located on tribal trust land. Featuring numerous ancestral Puebloan (anaasází) dwellings, the park is operated jointly by the National Park Service and the Navajo Nation. The canyon (tsegi’) is also one of the only national parks in which tribal members live. Today, Navajo families make their homes, raise livestock, and farm the lands and raise fruit orchards in these canyons. The canyon can be accessed on foot, on horseback or by jeep, and is open to visitors with a Diné guide and available for overnights with a permit.