THE TEAM
We come from this land. Generations of our families have walked this land and lived by the teachings of Hózhǫ́ – the “Beauty Way.” We still do. We protect what is sacred: our Mother Earth beneath our feet, the old stories passed down to us, and our integrity.
We choose authenticity over flash, balance over excess and real connection over spectacle. For us, true success is about living and guiding in harmony with our people, the land and the spirit of Hózhǫ́.
DONALD MOSE, JR.
Donald Mose, Jr., 84, is a respected elder, educator and ambassador of the Navajo Nation, and we’re proud to say a guide for Monument Valley Safari.
Don says he considers Mother Nature the master artist of Monument Valley where the dramatic red rock landscape serves as a living canvas of beauty, awe and wonder.
Guided by the ancient Navajo philosophy of Hózhǫ́, known as the “Beauty Way,” Don embodies a lifelong commitment to live in balance and harmony – spiritually, physically and mentally.
This wisdom is beautifully captured in the traditional Navajo prayer, “Beauty before me, beauty behind me, beauty above me, beauty below me, beauty all around me. In beauty I walk.”
Don played a key role when Utah’s San Juan School District developed its Navajo Language Curriculum. Well-known as an accomplished educator, he contributed to the app Rosetta Stone to create the Diné Bizaad language course and preserve the rich linguistic heritage of the Diné for future generations.
On every tour, Don shares cultural insights and timeless messages through his passionate, heartfelt storytelling. Guests leave awed and inspired by his knowledge as well as the breathtaking landscape. They often ask for more, and carry the spirit of Hózhǫ́ with them long after the journey ends.
BOBBY ATENE
Bobby Atene, 49, was born and raised amid the towering red rocks of Monument Valley where every sunrise feels like a quiet invitation to wonder.
An electrician by trade, Bobby brings the same steady hand and bright curiosity to guiding tours, fixing what needs fixing, and lighting up what needs seeing.
As a proud student of respected elder Don Mose, Bobby soaked up lessons in Navajo language, history and the sacred Hózhǫ́. way of balance. He draws from stories passed down by Codetalker and former Navajo Tribal Chairman Peter MacDonald, weaving them into tales that make the land speak.
He interprets the land’s voice about creation, the enduring strength of the Diné and the quiet power of home.
When the sun dips low, Bobby turns musician. He plays Native American flute and guitar under sandstone arches, with notes that drift like ancient dust on the breeze flowing through canyons.
On weekends, Bobby is jamming in local bands, guitar or flute in hand, blending tradition with rhythm that gets everyone moving.
Curious, kind and always learning, whether it’s about ancient ruins or wiring a house, Bobby returns from his studies in Flagstaff just to share this place with you. His tours feel like family stories told around a fire. They’re warm, real and impossible to forget.
TONEY BEGAY
Toney Begay, 67, is your gateway into the soul of Monument Valley.
He was born in Narrow Canyon, a labyrinth-like red rock valley filled with an oasis of peach and apricot orchards. Toney grew up steeped in tradition. His mom was an herbalist and he dad continues to serve the people as a medicine man. Toney is fluent in Navajo and English. He brings more than 45 years of guiding wisdom to every tour.
Guests rave about him. “Fun, creative and full of stories,” they say. He’ll whisk you off-road to hidden spots most visitors miss, snap expert family photos, and pull out his drum for an impromptu Navajo song under the stars.
One traveler called it, “One of the top five experiences of my life.” Toney is funny, warm and informative about the land, culture and wildlife.
Hunts Mesa is his favorite place to take his guests. “The air smells of piñon pine. It’s clean. No crowds. Just quiet. And that view!” Toney says in his punctuated speaking style. Imagine sunrise there, alone with the buttes glowing gold. Oftentimes, Toney prepares a batch of Navajo tea that he grows at home with his wife for visitors on a Hunts Mesa overnight tour with him.
JEAN GREYEYES
Jean Greyeyes is from Tsegi Canyon, just west Kayenta, Ariz., on the Navajo Nation. She grew up hiking the red rock canyons and exploring the ancient sites of the people who lived here 1,000 years ago.
Places like this that now draw travelers from around the world is where Jean calls home.
During the school year she’s a dedicated elementary teacher who pours her energy into kids. She says they remind her of her own childhood curiosity. On summer break, she leads off-road adventures through hidden backcountry, sharing stories only someone born here could tell.
She has a lifelong passion for hiking, archaeology and the history of the ancient Puebloan and Anasazi people. She’s taken countless folks to Betatakin, one of Arizona’s largest cliff dwellings tucked into Tsegi Canyon, and now part of Navajo National Monument. Years working alongside archaeologists at sites like these have given her an insider’s edge. She knows how they built those alcove homes, why they vanished, and the Navajo views that bring it all alive.
She hikes with purpose, pointing out petroglyphs, explaining the land’s pull, weaving a tapestry of knowledge in quiet moments that stick with you. Expect laughs, real awe, and that rare sense of walking with someone who belongs here
TYRIN BEGAY
Tyrin Begay, 27, is from Piñon, Ariz., a small community that sits in the high desert of the Navajo Nation, where open sky, pinyon-juniper country, and long views shape the landscape.
Tyrin commutes for two hours one-way, but he’s right at home in Monument Valley. He is the third generation of his family to guide folks up to Hunt’s Mesa. So maneuvering across the rugged off-road terrain is effortless as he points out hidden ancient alcove dwellings.
Younger than most, Tyrin brings respect for traditional roots. He’s a powwow singer who travels the continent for ceremonies, drum circles and dances while loving the hikes to outlooks overlooking the valley.
His skill spotting light on buttes or framing shots that capture the valley’s quiet power make him a favorite with photographers. On tour, he shares stories of heritage, family history and why the land still sings, delivered with easy laughs and passion.
Guests say he’s got energy to keep them moving, and wisdom to cause them to pause.
If you want a guide who’s hiking ahead, singing under the stars and tied to the place like family, Tyrin’s your guy.
FORMER NAVAJO TRIBAL
CHAIRMAN PETER MACDONALD
More than a guide, former Navajo Tribal Chairman Peter MacDonald, 97, is a living bridge to Navajo history.
Chairman MacDonald was raised traditionally in Teec No Pos, Ariz., speaking only Diné Bizaad amid a sheepherding life and family stories. Teec Nos Pos comes from the Navajo name T’iis Názhbąs which means “circle of cottonwood trees.”
Chairman MacDonald has been known throughout his life as one of the Navajo Nation’s most articulate and fluent Navajo orators.
He enlisted in the U.S. Marines Corps at age 15 during World War II. He was trained as a Navajo Code Talker, a secret group of radio operators in the South Pacific who transmitted more than 800 messages in the Navajo language without a single error. The Navajo code is renowned for never being cracked by the Japanese. The Codetalkers’ record of excellence is credited with helping turn the tide in battles from Guam to Okinawa.
After the war, he earned an electrical engineering degree from the University of Oklahoma. Upon graduation, he secured a job with the Hughes Aircraft Company where he worked on missile projects. He then returned home to lead. He served four unprecedented terms as chairman of the Navajo Nation from 1971 to 1986.
Chairman MacDonald often speaks of the devastating period in Navajo history called the Livestock Reduction era. It is when the federal government imposed the forced slaughter of sheep, goats, horses and cattle across the Navajo Reservation under the direction of Commissioner of Indian Affairs John Collier who served under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Government agents would barely compensate Navajo families like Chairman MacDonald’s for their livestock before driving herds and flocks into a canyon and shooting them before the eyes of their crying owners who culturally value their animals like family.
Livestock reduction began in 1933, was made mandatory in 1935, and continued until 1946.
Now, on private experiences with Monument Valley Safari, “Uncle Pete” – uncle being a revered title in Navajo culture – brings that depth alive.
Around a campfire or along red rock trails, he shares tales of the Marine code, leadership and the land’s quiet power. He draws listeners in with humor, pauses and that unmistakable storyteller’s rhythm. Guests leave having seen the valley through his eyes and feeling its heartbeat through his words.
Book him if you want more than views. Book him if you want wisdom, war stories and a glimpse of what endurance really means. Travelers say: “Peter doesn’t guide, he awakens.”
SHAYE HOLIDAY
Shaye is the second generation owner of Monument Valley Safari. He is Diné on his father’s side and Irish on his mother’s. He grew up in both Monument Valley, Utah, and Fort Collins, Colo., where he was a student of the International Baccalaureate Program, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
As a kid, he divided time between the remote Navajo community of Oljato with one trading post, a gas pump and 300 residents with Fort Collins, a city of 171,000 known for Colorado State University, craft microbreweries, an active outdoor lifestyle and an old Western town history.
He carries that blended heritage into every tour, telling quiet stories of the land with a sharp eye for its hidden spots.
Shaye loves to hike – always exploring the Navajo Nation’s trails, from snow-dusted Hunt’s Mesa to the backcountry canyons no one else reaches. On private adventures, whether it’s off-road drives, photography stops or overnight camps, he opens up about family roots, reservation life and the sacred pulse of the valley. His dry Navajo humor keeps things light, but the insights are rich.
Guests come away changed. One described a day with him, “exploring sacred Navajo land with our amazing guide Shaye, an experience I hope you all will have one day.” If you’re after real connection, not just views, request him as your guide.