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November 2019 THE INDIAN TRADER
The Old Bita Hochee Trading Post: A “Time Capsule” From A By-Gone Era By Tom Surface
One Diné artist’s vision for the historic site’s future The morning sun in the east warms the shoulders of the great trading post as it faces west, waiting for the start of the coming day’s buying and selling…. That was 1920 not 2020! The former Bita Hochee Trading Post sits on eight acres of beautiful land at the base of a red rock butte (Bita Hochee is Diné (Navajo) meaning red rock running through). In his studio, now part of the old trading post, renowned artist Redwing Ted Nez singlehandedly fought the tribal bureaucracy and won in his mission to restore the dilapidated site – formerly the heartbeat of economic and social activity for the southern area of the Navajo reservation. “Back then, the Bita Hochee Trading Post was like Walmart,” Redwing says. He knows intimately the red rocks and buttes that define this striking area. As a child, he ran sheep through a nearby pass and let them graze while he ran to Bita Hochee to buy an ice cream or soda.
Redwing’s goal in restoring the old Bita Hochee Trading Post is focused on preserving Navajo traditions and arts while creating a place where all people, especially the younger generations, can come to learn and enjoy Diné culture. “Bita Hochee is a “time capsule” of a by-gone way of life for our people. Our mission is to rekindle the interest of contemporary youth and the community in Diné heritage and culture,” Redwing states. The renovated site will serve as a non-profit artistic and cultural center where young and old can come together to teach, and learn from one another.” A VITAL CROSSROADS AND GATHERING POINT The Bita Hochee was first established in 1870 and functioned as a stagecoach station. Due to the tenuous relationship between the white man and the Indians at the time, small openings were built into the walls as gun ports. Ten years later it became a full-fledged trading post, and because of its location at the edge of the southern border of the reservation, it became known as the “Gateway to the Navajo Nation.” The Bita Hochee became the place for the Navajo to gather to trade their wool, woven rugs, and other items for goods they could never acquire otherwise. The wares on the shelves of the Bita Hochee were both mystical and mesmerizing to the Navajo. Many Navajo children tasted their first hard candy here, traded for or occasionally given as a treat by the proprietor. The white continued on page 12
