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THE NAVAJO PEOPLE |
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Navajos are an Indian tribe living in the southwestern part of the United States. Navajos
call themselves Dineh, meaning "the people." The Navajos came to the
southwestern United States from the northwest Pacific coast and Canada, between the l3OO's
and the 1600's. They are related to the Athabaskan tribes. They hunted deer, mountain
sheep, antelope, and rabbit, and made their clothing from these animal skins. They started
raiding Spanish settlers to get horses for hunting and fighting, and became known as great
warriors by the Spanish and other surrounding Indian tribes. They grew corn, beans, and
squash in fields that the Spanish called Nabaju, which means "great planted
fields." The word Nabaju became "Navajo," pronounced "Navaho" in
the Spanish way. |
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By 1750, the Navajos were living in the valleys and mountains around Canyon de Chelly in
northeastern Arizona. Livestock had become a major part of their life. They quit their
lifestyle of hunting and became sheepherders. As the sheep consumed the grass, the Navajos
were forced to move on to new land. They did not live as an organized tribe in villages,
but instead, in scattered locations in Arizona and New Mexico, where they still live
today. Navajo families lived in hogans, which were quick and easy to build as they moved.
These were homes that were made with tree supporting poles that were covered with mush and
brush. Later, the Navajos built more permanent hogans made of logs, and chinked them with
mud in a circular shape. |
| Up until 1848, the land on which
the Navajos lived had belonged to Mexico. The Navajos had to continually fight not only
the Spanish, but also other Indian tribes in order to live on this land. In 1848, American
white men decided to take over the Navajo land. The Navajos, who became known as
fierce warriors, continued to fight for their land until the 1850's and 1860's, when the
Americans built Fort Defiance in the heart of Navajo country, near what is now Window
Rock, Arizona. The Americans then killed or captured thousands of Navajos, burning
their hogans and crops, and killing their sheep. The Navajos were forced to surrender, and
then made to walk almost 300 miles to Fort Sumner (known as Bosque Redondo to the Navajo)
in eastern New Mexico. This trek became known as "The Long Walk."
During this walk and their years of confinement in Fort Sumner, the Navajos were treated
cruelly and many died. In 1868, this brutal episode in Navajo history ended and the
Navajos were allowed to return to their homeland. They began to unite as a people
and to form their own nation. The Navajos soon returned to their self-sufficient
lives of farming, herding sheep and weaving. By the 1900’s their population
had more than doubled. They became beautiful silversmiths. Trading their woven rugs
and silver jewelry became a way of life. |
Window Rock, the capital
of the Navajo nation |
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The Navajos have many fascinating beliefs and colorful
ceremonies. Their way of life is based on a belief that the physical and spiritual
world blend together, and everything on earth is alive and sacred. The Yei, or Holy
Ones, live in the four sacred mountains in each of the four directions, which form the
boundaries of the Navajo land. The Holy Ones are attracted by their ritual songs,
prayers, stories and paintings, and visit the Navajo people during their ceremonies and in
their daily lives The Navajo people have two major kinds of ceremonies: the Blessing way,
which is to keep them on the path of happiness and wisdom, and the Enemy way, which is to
eliminate ghosts and discourage evil spirits. One of the most well known ceremonies is a
healing ceremony called a "sing" in which a Navajo medicine man sings and
creates a drawing called a sandpainting. Sandpaintings depict The Holy Ones, with
detailed figures, and are made by trickling from the hand, fine grains from crushed
pollen, cornmeal, charcoal from a burned tree, and other powdered minerals. |
Original Sandpainting |
| The Navajo nation is the largest
reservation in North America, covering an area of about 27,000 square miles. This area
includes a large part of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and a small part
of southeastern Utah. Today, the capital of the Navajo nation is located at Window Rock,
Arizona. The Navajos have a population of over 200,000 people, making their tribe the
largest Native American tribe in the United States. The Navajo people maintain many of
their ancestors' beliefs and traditions. They strive to continue speaking their
challenging Navajo language, although many Navajos also speak
English. This loyalty and their warrior background made them the only people in the United
States more than willing to go fight for our country in World War II
using a code that no one could decipher. |
The Navajo Nation
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For more information on the Navajo people, please visit the links
below |
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| http://members.aol.com/Donh523/navapage/navajo.htm |
| http://www.navajo.org/nnhomepg.html |
http://www.lis.ab.ca/walton/peoples/navajo/culture.html |
| http://indy4.fdl.cc.mn.us/~isk/maps/houses/hogan.html |
| http://www.anthro.mankato.msus.edu/cutural/northamerica/navajo.html |
| http://navajocentral.org |
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