The Navajo Nation recently inked a new agreement with the state of Utah that spotlights advancing economic development and authentic Indigenous representation through cinema.
Signed earlier this month, the memorandum of understanding formalizes a time-honored tradition of filmmaking on Navajoland — home to one of Hollywood’s most iconic Western settings straddling Utah and Arizona.
‘This is all we got, and we want to protect it’
Navajos refer to Monument Valley as Tsé Bii’ Ndzisgaii, which essentially means “the streaks that go around in the rocks.” If you ever take a road trip there, you’ll see why this legendary landscape is so much more than just a movie set.
In fact, it’s a 91,696-acre tribal park.
In 1958, Monument Valley was the first preserve to be founded by the Navajo Nation Council. And depending on the season, it’s also where about 100 or so Navajos actually call home today. The snowy 17-mile dirt loop — dotted with sheep, horses and hogans — is managed by the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation.
“If they say no, we tell the film production, no,” said Edsel Pete, who is Diné and program manager for the Navajo Nation TV and Film Office. “But that doesn’t mean that we’re going to shut the door on you.”
This agreement is all about being “film friendly” by building up a local workforce, from camera crew to actors, through its Navajo Talent Agent Program, while also caring for the environment and the tribe’s natural resources.
Scripts can be changed — the land, not so much.
“For example, if you want to bring in a helicopter and do a 360-degree on Monument Valley, that’s obviously a no,” added Pete. “Or if you want to bring in a tractor and you want to flatten out or pull this yucca here, no. As we know, film is not going anywhere, but we don’t want to just give away the resources.”
“This is all we got, and we want to protect it.”
‘He came to know them’
This Southwest tourist stop attracts close to half a million visitors annually.
Even directors from near and far.
Towering red sandstone buttes have, time and again, turned into the unmistakable backdrop for some of Tinseltown’s biggest blockbusters — including the 1995 Oscar best picture-winning “Forrest Gump,” “2001: A Space Odyssey” as well as the final chapter of the “Back to the Future” trilogy.
No matter the genre, Monument Valley has been glittering on the silver screen for nearly a century. But its popularity began with Westerns — when trading post owners Harry and Leone “Mike” Goulding brought John Ford there.
He was scouting a location for his first sound motion picture.
During his initial visit from Los Angeles, Ford was quoted as saying, “So this is where God put the West.” The four-time Oscar-winning best director would spend only a week on site shooting his 1939 seminal movie, “Stagecoach,” starring John Wayne.
Since then, many A-listers have come and gone through Monument Valley — from Clint Eastwood to Johnny Depp. But no performer has come close to upstaging Wayne, who is arguably the actor most associated with this rugged geography.
Wayne swiftly became Ford’s leading man for many of his star-studded flicks, like “Wagon Master,” “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” and “Fort Apache” — the latter of which is the personal preference of Ford historian Joseph McBride.
He’s been a professor at San Francisco State University’s School of Cinema since 2002 and profiled some of the industry’s biggest directors, like Frank Capra, Orson Welles and Steven Spielberg.
Ford had always been his favorite.
McBride even interviewed him at his Beverly Hills Office in 1970 — just a few years before his death. By then, the director had just retired and was sporting an eye patch — reminiscent of John Wayne’s aging character in “True Grit.”
An excerpt from a 1970 interview with John Ford
Film historian Joseph McBride talks with director John Ford on the last day of his prolific career spanning more than five decades.
Some critics feel the whole early Western genre is inherently racist.
McBride believes that’s a “simplistic” response, recognizing racism does exist, but “not in every Western.” They also accuse the filmmaker of stereotyping American Indians, but Ford’s research assistant told McBride that Ford’s portrayals evolved.
“She said, very simply, ‘He came to know them,’ which I thought was a very profound comment,” admitted McBride. “Ford’s view of Native Americans changed from, say, ‘Stagecoach’ in 1939 to ‘Fort Apache.’”
“He got more sympathetic.”
In 1955, while making “The Searchers,” the retired U.S. Navy captain became an honorary Navajo, was given an animal skin and bestowed the name: Nataanii Nez. The Diné phrase loosely translates to “tall leader.”
McBride discovered through several interviews, including one with the late Diné medicine man Billy Yellow, that most Navajos were grateful for the jobs and described Ford as “a nice guy, easy to work with and a good leader.”
The director came to Monument Valley at the tail end of the Great Depression.
His projects helped employ local Navajos, who were struggling to avoid starvation, so they weren’t bothered by Ford hiring them to depict different tribal members, like Comanches and Apaches, which is often another critique of his films.
“He was very proud of his work with Navajos,” added McBride. “He said some very interesting things. For example, a lot of people say, you know, nice things about Indians, but don’t give them work. And [he] said, ‘More humbly, I give them work.’”
Ford also held a deep love for their land.
He kept returning there for a quarter-century — all the while defining the American Frontier. Three of his Monument Valley movies, including the two-time Academy Award-winning “Stagecoach,” “The Searchers” and “My Darling Clementine” were added to the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.
In a way, Ford and his decorated legacy have become almost inseparable from this picturesque place. In fact, the tribal park even named an overlook after him. It’s called John Ford’s Point and is frequently visited by tourists looking to capture panoramic views.
Ford once saw photographs of a Navajo riding horseback in front of the Mittens — iconic flat top mountains — and was immediately fascinated. He would call Monument Valley “my lucky spot,” even going so far as to say it’s “the most complete, beautiful and peaceful place on Earth.”
Ford became so synonymous with Monument Valley that some filmmakers even steered clear of that area, thinking it was a form of plagiarism. Eventually, this scenery got saturated by TV shows and commercials.
‘It’s a win for the production companies, it’s a win for the tribe’
This natural studio straddling Utah and Arizona is still in high demand today.
“Both states claim it as our own, and it does get a lot of requests,” said Virginia Pearce, director of the Utah Film Commission. “Monument Valley is for sure one of the most recognizable locations. So many iconic films were inspired by the landscape.”
In 2019, Arizona was the first state to enter such an MOU with the Navajo Nation.
Talks are underway with New Mexico to follow suit. Utah’s deal is meant to promote filming sites, like Monument Valley, as destinations for cultural tourism — in addition to location scouting support.
“Because it is quite a distance from Salt Lake, and so we really like to lean on people on the ground,” added Pearce. “This MOU came at such a great time for us to not only look back and consider the history, but also look forward and think about how much more could we do if we work together.”
It’s an opportunity Ross Rutherford is excited for. He’s general manager of Goulding’s Lodge, which the Navajo Nation bought from private owners for almost $60 million in 2023.
During the 1920s, Harry Goulding and his wife, Leone, bought 640 acres to build a trading post. In 1953, they constructed a motel. The historic lodge bearing their family name was included on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
As for today, Goulding’s Lodge typically sees three types of guests.
“We get your tourists that are driving through, they really don’t know much about the area,” Rutherford elaborated. “Then we get your tourists that see the monuments. And then we actually get the film history buffs.”
At least seven movies were filmed at Goulding’s Lodge alone.
Now, Rutherford counts at least 33 tour operators working in and around Monument Valley, including the lodge itself. They already offer daily bus trips, but are rolling out a new cinematic walking tour around Goulding’s this year.
“Our slogan is 100 years standing with the legends,” shared Rutherford. “Without Harry Goulding, who knows what could have happened. He actually started the tour industry out here.”
For James Lujan, who chairs the Cinematic Arts and Technology Department at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, he suggests these MOUs could benefit everyone.
“It’s a win for the production companies, it’s a win for the tribe,” said Lujan, who is from the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, “because they have people that they’re putting to work to train below-the-line crew members.”
Below-the-line crew members include gaffers, camera operators, sound mixers, costume and set designers and other technical staff who are essential in making the day-to-day production of film and TV products possible.
But Lujan thinks training above-the-line talent — like screenwriters, producers and directors — is even more important for representation, “because that’s the only way we’re going to break into mainstream cinema — is by taking ownership and control of our own stories.”
This story was produced by KJZZ, the public radio station in Phoenix, and published by KNAU as part of the Arizona Public Media Exchange.
