Native American History: Hastiin Tádídínii, The “Bad Indian” of Antelope Canyon

One of the best aspects of travel is stumbling on interesting stories. I discovered one highlighting Native American history during a photography tour of Antelope Canyon X with Taadidiin Tours. Antelope Canyon X is one of several slot canyons that inspire millions to visit the Navajo Nation near Page, Arizona, each year.

We enjoyed seeing Antelope Canyon X and got some marvelous photos. However, the highlight of our visit was hearing the fascinating story about Hastiin Tádídínii, for whom the company is named.

Hastiin Tádídínii, whose name translates to “Corn Pollen Man,” is famous among the Navajo for defying the U.S. government’s ethnic cleansing and deportation efforts during the Long Walk of 1864-65. He also rebelled against federal government mandates that required Navajo children to attend Indian boarding schools. These actions earned him the nickname “Bad Indian” among military leaders and government officials.

Descendants of Hastiin Tádídínii, Rita Tadytin-Tsingine started Taadidiin Tours in 2016 and her son Logan joined her in 2019. Credit: Matt Ehnes Photography

Hastiin Tádídínii’s Descendants

Tádídínii is the great-grandfather of Rita Tadytin-Tsingine, the company owner, and the great-great-grandfather of Logan Tsinigine, her son and company CFO.

Rita Tadytin-Tsingine started Taadidiin Tours in 2016 with five employees and two Chevy Suburbans. She booked tours from a card table on the side of the highway. The company now has 50 full-time employees and many more vehicles. Over 130,000 visitors booked tours during 2023.

Logan Tsinigine earned an electrical engineering degree from the University of Utah and an MBA from the University of Arizona. He worked at the Navajo Generating Station in Page and joined Taadidiin Tours in 2019 when the station shut down.

Hastiin Tádídínii And The Long Walk

Friction between the Navajo and the U.S. government increased during the mid-1800s as more and more settlers pushed westward. The federal government ordered the Navajo to assimilate, but they refused and fought to maintain control of their lands, traditions, and way of life.

The federal government sent troops to burn their villages, slaughter their livestock, and destroy their water sources. Starvation ultimately forced The Navajo to surrender. The military then forced 10,000 men, women, and children to march 450 miles to Bosque Redondo, a million-acre reservation at Fort Sumner, New Mexico. This deportation became known as the “Long Walk of 1864-65.”

Tádídínii avoided deportation by hiding in Antelope Canyon with around 25-30 members of his clan. They rebuilt their community and were able to evade subsequent capture attempts because they knew every nook and cranny of the canyon.

Hundreds of Navajo died from the cold and starvation during the Long Walk. If people were too exhausted to keep up, soldiers shot them instead of allowing the group to stop and rest. More perished once they arrived at Fort Sumner.

The Navajo were allowed to return to their ancestral homeland in 1868 when the Treaty of Bosque Redondo was signed. Around 7,300 returned to the Navajo Nation and began picking up the pieces of their lives. Tádídínii and his clan shared food and livestock with the returnees and helped them rebuild their homes.

The trail through Antelope Canyon X twists and turns through narrow passages and grottos Photo: Marni Patterson

The Dark History of Indian Boarding Schools

One of the provisions of the Treaty of Bosque Redondo was all Navajo children must attend Indian boarding schools to “learn to be Americans.”

The children hardly saw their families. They were required to cut their hair, give up their native clothing and take English names instead of using their given names. Teachers told them to forget their traditional culture, customs and heritage, forced them to learn English, and punished them for speaking their native language.

There’s a dark side to the Indian boarding schools that we’ve only just begun to discover. A 2022 Department of Interior report shows there was widespread physical, sexual and emotional abuse and even some deaths.

The original report showed that around 500 children died at the schools. The total is now over 1,000 and continues to grow. In most cases, the parents weren’t told their children had died. All they knew was they’d disappeared without explanation.

Hastiin Tádídínii Credit: Taadidiin Tours

How Hastiin Tádídínii Was Killed

Tádídínii’s children attended an Indian boarding school in nearby Kaibeto, the only town of any size in Northeastern Arizona at that time. Tádídínii and his wife lived about 10 miles northeast of town.

His daughter ran away from the school several times to come home because her mother was sick. Government officials assumed Tádídínii was encouraging her. So, Walter Runke, the Western Navajo Agency agent, issued the order to kill him.

A disciplinarian at the Indian boarding school in Tuba City, Arizona and the administrator for a school in southern Utah, Runke held a reputation for aggressively coercing children to attend Indian boarding schools.

Three men arrived at Tádídínii’s house and murdered him. Friends and family found his body peppered with 10 bullet holes. The federal government prosecuted Runke for his role in Tádídínii’s death, but an all-white jury acquitted him.

Hastiin Tádídínii’s Legacy

Stories about Hastiin Tádídínii have only begun to come to light. If you believe the military and federal government’s accounts, he was a villain and a renegade. To the Navajo, he was a medicine man and community leader admired for defying the federal government’s deportation and assimilation orders.

When Logan Tsinigine joined Taadidiin Tours, he and his mother began reconstructing Tádídínii’s story. The more they learned, the more they were convinced that Hastiin Tádídínii was a hero whose story should be told.

They contacted Tempe, Arizona-based Point in Time Studios, a video production company they’d worked with in the past and produced Bad Indian: Hiding in Antelope Canyon to tell the story of Tádídínii, his family, and the area’s history.

The documentary attracted sell-out crowds at the 2024 Phoenix Film Festival and was featured at the Black Hills Film Festival in September 2024. The Utah International Film Festival recently selected it for its 2025 lineup.

Our guide, Justin, serenaded us with traditional Navajo songs Photo: Marni Patterson

Walking in Hastiin Tádídínii’s Footsteps

Antelope Canyon X is a small slot canyon within the much larger Antelope Canyon. Our tour began with a ride to Antelope Canyon X with Justin, our guide. We walked down a staircase that led to the mouth of the canyon, and he left us on our own to explore and take photos while he serenaded us with traditional Navajo songs on his guitar.

The trail twists and turns through narrow passages and grottos. It’s easy to see how Hastiin Tádídínii and his followers evaded the military. In some areas, the walls were so close together that we had to walk sideways.

Visit Antelope Canyon

Antelope Canyon is 20 miles long and includes several smaller slot canyons, such as Antelope Canyon X and Cardiac Canyon. Contact Taadidiin Tours and schedule a tour to see where Hastiin Tádídínii and his clan hid after they avoided deportation and learn how they helped their brothers and sisters rebuild the Navajo Nation after the Long Walk.

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