At first, you don’t know what you’re looking at. A gray expanse of uneven geometry surrounded by undulating brown. Shift your perspective a bit and it might be a close-up of a distressed textile, with subtle hues and textures surfacing as your eyes adjust.
And then the horizon comes into focus. Now you know where you are. In the distance are the classic jutting buttes of Monument Valley, familiar to anyone who’s ever seen a John Ford Western.
On Friday, 30-year-old activist Allie Young will lead a group of trail riders through Navajo Nation to help voters cast their ballots in the 2020 election on the last day of early voting in Arizona.
Young, a citizen of the Diné, or Navajo Nation, has been leading voter registration and other voting and census efforts throughout Indian Country through her organization Protect the Sacred.