Navajo baristas
help to keep reservation caffeinated
|
Stay
Grounded coffee truck serves the Navajo Nation and visitors
to the reservation. (Photo courtesy of Stay Grounded)
|
MUTTON CURVE, Ariz. The 93-year-old sání wearing
a black visor and white apron on top of her purple shirt touches
a button on an espresso machine. She laughs gleefully while pointing
at the machine as it pours espresso shots into two small glasses
in a coffee truck in the Arizona desert.
In the next photo, the informal barista sits in a blue camping
chair next to the coffee truck, holding her hot drink.
Pearl Benally, Navajo, sometimes visits the truck in the summertime
with her two granddaughters, who co-own the truck with a childhood
friend.
"She is one of our biggest supporters," said her granddaughter
Selina Tsinnijinnie. "She always comes over and says, 'How come
you guys aren't selling? Why is the wagon sitting here?'"
The company's Instagram shows their grandma testing out the espresso
machine and sipping iced coffee while she weaves a rug.
The coffee truck, Stay Grounded, travels on the dirt roads of the
Navajo Nation and sits on weeds and "rez dirt," taking people off
guard when they first order a tea or latte.
The coffee truck, Stay Grounded, travels on the dirt roads of the
Navajo Nation and sits on weeds and "rez dirt" that takes people
off guard when they first order a tea or latte.
It's only been operating for seven months, yet the three Navajo
business owners have established themselves as the leading coffee
truck business on the Navajo Reservation.
Shannon Black, one of the business owners, said, "Everybody always
comments it's nice to see three female Navajo business owners trying
something new, bringing something different and creative."She and
sisters Selina and Calista Tsinnijinnie, grew up together, attending
the same schools in Page, Arizona. After many failed attempts to
start a business, they eventually opened up their coffee truck in
July 2019. All three of them work full-time jobs, too. Calista and
Shannon work in Las Vegas, Nevada and commute every weekend to work
on the truck. Selina is an accounts payable supervisor.
"We kind of created our own little monster, a happy monster," Black
said.
And their monster is part of the 1.4 percent of women-owned businesses
that are owned by Native women, according to the 2019 State of Women-Owned
Business report by American Express.
|
From
left: Shannon Black, Calista Tsinnijinnie and Selina Tsinnijinnie,
owners of Stay Grounded coffee truck. (Photo courtesy of Stay
Grounded)
|
Despite being a coffee truck, their best seller is tea Navajo
Tea. It was initially not planned to be on the menu because of its
availability on the reservation. But Selina insisted. So she experimented
and made her own blend.
"That's the biggest driving force that we have here," Black said.
The three women purchased the coffee truck in Oregon and named
their business Stay Grounded because of the playful pun and a personal
meaning for all of them. Black remembers Calista and Selina recounting
a story from their father who said they will always find their way
home, no matter how far they traveled.
"Stay grounded is being connected to your origin, because that
is what allows you to grow," Black said.
So when they settle in a new place, they pack and repack all the
camping chairs and umbrellas. And they make sure their two refrigerators
and coffee equipment in the truck that include the espresso machine,
grinder, water filtration system and drip coffee maker are all taken
care of.
"We're learning as we go and what our dad's taught us," Calista
said about operating the truck's generator, plumbing and electrical
work.
They frequently park at Mutton Curve, the location of a local flea
market, an area between Navajo Route 20 and Old Route 20, in LeChee,
Arizona. It is approximately 70 miles north from Tuba City. (You
can't even find it on Google Maps.)
Since Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend are about a 10 miles radius
within Mutton Curve, many tourist groups are frequently drawn to
Stay Grounded which has generated an interest in the Navajo culture.
"Tourists are looking for that authentic Native experience," Black
said. "We're teaching them about Navajo tea or teaching them little
phrases."
She said some families come as far from France and Sweden
they recently posted an Instagram picture of a group of nine tourists
proudly holding up their Navajo Tea.
Besides the delicious Navajo tea experience, tourists admire the
view from Mutton Curve.
"They were just amazed by the view, when you turn around you see
the buttes, LeChee Rock, Lake Powell, Navajo Mountain," Calista
said.
And the response they have received from rodeos and small communities
they have traveled to including LeChee, Page, and Tuba City have
all been positive.
"We wanted to create, originally, a business on the reservation.
If we were to establish foundation in our area, we would be the
first business group," she said.
Black said Stay Grounded only operates on the weekends and plans
to expand one day.
"That's what makes it so much fun and interesting because we're
mobile and do these unique events...just imagine a Starbucks on
wheels or a Dutch Bros on wheels," Calista said.
|