Arizona 2012: Navajo Tacos at the Heard Museum

It has probably been 20 years since I went to downtown Phoenix. I always thought it to be dirty, unsafe and unappealing. Today, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find it full of renovated nostalgic buildings and modern light rail. The Heard Museum was only a few minutes drive from my sister's place and so we decided to take in the Native American exhibits.

As part of their Heard for the Holidays series, they had performers in full regalia performing native dances - including the hoop dance.

As anyone growing up in Arizona would know, a Navajo taco isn't necessarily made by Navajo Indians nor is it really actually a taco. It is rather deep fried dough smothered with lettuce, cheese, beans and sometimes beef on top. The sweet version of powdered sugar is also a must. The best way to eat them is to rip off a piece and pay not mind to the bits that will most assuredly drip down the front of you shirt. Lucky for us, they were being sold outside the museum today. 

The museum's collection of everything Native American was quite impressive. Katcina dolls, woven rugs, silver and turquoise jewelry and painted pottery filled the halls. One of the most interesting exhibits was the one honoring the WWII Code Talkers. I didn't realize the first ones were from the Choctaw tribe (my dad is 1/64th Choctaw and VERY proud of that fact.) There were several rooms with interactive exhibits that would be great for kids. A great afternoon in a serene oasis in the middle of the desert.