Trona Salt Mines

To start off our morning we went to the Trona Salt Mines and learned about the Papago-Tohono O' odham indigenous people.  We learned about the the past traditions they carried out, one I found to be very interesting. Around the age of 13/14 a boy would go through the process of becoming a man. A group of ten boys would journey across the desert to reach the the ocean.  They would be lead by a man who had done the trail previous times before. Over the period of time they traveled across the desert they would walk in a line with out talking to one another. The only thing they would bring to eat would be corn and water. At the end of the their journey they would run around in circles until they became delusional in this process they would see visions of their destiny. Before heading back the Papago men would collect an item from the ocean in order to prove their long trek and tradition.

The Trona Salt Mines were not in actual mines I learned. They actual form under the ground and slowly crystallize and form to make large hard Trona Salt looking rocks. The Trona is used to make glass items and medicines. It was to my surprise not used to make salt. The bacteria and minerals in it are strong which would result in making us sick. Looking out at the Trona Salt Mines the only way I could describe the way it looked was frozen ice with pink spotting on it. I learned an immense amount of history about the Papago-Tohono O' odham as well as the Trona Salt Mines. So much to learn in such a short amount of time! Looking forward to Kayaking tomorrow(: