Tohajiilee Indian Reservation

The Tohajiilee Indian Reservation, (pronounced toe-hoj-ii-lee) formerly known as the Canoncito Indian Reservation, is a non-contiguous section of the Navajo Nation lying in parts of western Bernalillo, eastern Cibola, and southwestern Sandoval counties in the U.S. state of New Mexico, west of the city of Albuquerque. It has a land area of 121.588 square miles (314.911 km²) and a 2000 census population of 1,649 people. The land area is only about 0.5% of the entire Navajo Nation's total. The name comes from the Navajo phrase tó hajiileehé, meaning "where people draw up water by means of a cord or rope one quantity after another".

The Tohajilee Navajo Chapter was one of three Navajo Chapters, behind Nahata Dziil and Ramah, to adopt an Amended Navajo Flag which adds Ramah, Alamo, Tohajilee, Aneth, and New Lands or Nahata Dziil Chapters to the Navajo Nation Flag created in 1968. The Chapter voted on September 16, 2014 by a vote of 27-07-02 by a resolution, which was presented by a man from Sanders, Arizona named Marlon Murphy Begay.

In popular culture

• The final scenes of The Ghostway novel by Tony Hillerman, published in 1984, take place in Cañoncito Reservation.
• Tohajiilee is a recurring location on the television series Breaking Bad (2008–2013); the 13th episode of its final season, "To'hajiilee", is named after the reservation.

References

• Canoncito Indian Reservation (Tribal Census Tract 9459), Navajo Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Arizona/New Mexico/Utah United States Census Bureau