Navajo
Total population | |
---|---|
399,690 enrolled tribal members[1] (2021) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
United States (Navajo Nation, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, California) 700 Residents of Canada identified as having Navajo ancestry in the Northern Athabascan ) peoples |
People | Diné |
---|---|
Language | Diné Bizaad, Hand Talk |
Country | Dinétah |
The Navajo[a] are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members as of 2021[update],[1][4] the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United States; additionally, the Navajo Nation has the largest reservation in the country. The reservation straddles the Four Corners region and covers more than 27,325 square miles (70,770 square kilometers) of land in Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. The Navajo Reservation is slightly larger than the state of West Virginia. The Navajo language is spoken throughout the region, and most Navajo also speak English.
The states with the largest Navajo populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (108,306). More than three quarters of the enrolled Navajo population resides in these two states.[5]
Besides being enrolled in the
History
Early history
The Navajo are speakers of a
Initially, the Navajo were largely
Oral history indicates a long relationship with Pueblo people[12][full citation needed] and a willingness to incorporate Puebloan ideas and linguistic variance. There were long-established trading practices between the groups. Mid-16th century Spanish records recount that the Pueblo exchanged maize and woven cotton goods for bison meat, hides, and stone from Athabaskans traveling to the pueblos or living nearby. In the 18th century, the Spanish reported that the Navajo maintained large herds of livestock and cultivated large crop areas.[citation needed]
Western historians believe that the Spanish before 1600 referred to the Navajo as Apaches or Quechos.[13]: 2–4 Fray Geronimo de Zarate-Salmeron, who was in Jemez in 1622, used Apachu de Nabajo in the 1620s to refer to the people in the Chama Valley region, east of the San Juan River and northwest of present-day Santa Fe, New Mexico. Navahu comes from the Tewa language, meaning a large area of cultivated lands.[13]: 7–8 By the 1640s, the Spanish began using the term Navajo to refer to the Diné.
During the 1670s, the Spanish wrote that the Diné lived in a region known as Dinétah, about 60 miles (97 km) west of the Rio Chama Valley region. In the 1770s, the Spanish sent military expeditions against the Navajo in the Mount Taylor and Chuska Mountain regions of New Mexico.[13]: 43–50 The Spanish, Navajo and Hopi continued to trade with each other and formed a loose alliance to fight Apache and Comanche bands for the next 20 years. During this time there were relatively minor raids by Navajo bands and Spanish citizens against each other.
In 1800, Governor Chacon led 500 men to the Tunicha Mountains against the Navajo. Twenty Navajo chiefs asked for peace. In 1804 and 1805, the Navajo and Spaniards mounted major expeditions against each others' settlements. In May 1805, another peace was established. Similar patterns of peace-making, raiding, and trading among the Navajo, Spaniards, Apache, Comanche, and Hopi continued until the arrival of Americans in 1846.[13]
Territory of New Mexico 1846–1863
The Navajos encountered the United States Army in 1846 when General Stephen W. Kearny invaded Santa Fe with 1,600 men during the Mexican–American War. On November 21, 1846, following an invitation from a small party of American soldiers under the command of Captain John Reid, who journeyed deep into Navajo country and contacted him, Narbona and other Navajos negotiated a treaty of peace with Colonel Alexander Doniphan at Bear Springs, Ojo del Oso (later the site of Fort Wingate). This agreement was not honored by some Navajo, nor by some New Mexicans. The Navajos raided New Mexican livestock, and New Mexicans took women, children, and livestock from the Navajo.[14]
In 1849, the military governor of New Mexico, Colonel John MacRae Washington—accompanied by John S. Calhoun, an Indian agent—led 400 soldiers into the Navajo country, penetrating Canyon de Chelly. He signed a treaty with two Navajo leaders: Mariano Martinez as Head Chief and Chapitone as Second Chief. The treaty acknowledged the transfer of jurisdiction from the United Mexican States to the United States. The treaty allowed forts and trading posts to be built on Navajo land. In exchange, the United States, promised "such donations [and] such other liberal and humane measures, as [it] may deem meet and proper."[15] While en route to sign this treaty, the prominent Navajo peace leader Narbona, was killed, causing hostility between the treaty parties.[16]
During the next 10 years, the U.S. established forts on traditional Navajo territory. Military records cite this development as a precautionary measure to protect citizens and the Navajos from each other. However, the Spanish/Mexican-Navajo pattern of raids and expeditions continued. Over 400 New Mexican militia conducted a campaign against the Navajo, against the wishes of the Territorial Governor, in 1860–61. They killed Navajo warriors, captured women and children for slaves, and destroyed crops and dwellings. The Navajos call this period Naahondzood, "the fearing time."
In 1861, Brigadier-General
In 1863, Carleton ordered Carson to use the same tactics on the Navajo. Carson and his force swept through Navajo land, killing Navajos and destroying crops and dwellings, fouling wells, and capturing livestock. Facing starvation and death, Navajo groups came to Fort Defiance for relief. On July 20, 1863, the first of many groups departed to join the Mescalero at Bosque Redondo. Other groups continued to come in through 1864.[17]
However, not all the Navajos came in or were found. Some lived near the San Juan River, some beyond the Hopi villages, and others lived with Apache bands.[18]
Long Walk
Beginning in the spring of 1864, the Army forced around 9,000 Navajo men, women, and children to walk over 300 miles (480 km) to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, for internment at Bosque Redondo. The internment was disastrous for the Navajo, as the government failed to provide enough water, wood, provisions, and livestock for the 4,000 to 5,000 people. Large-scale crop failure and disease were also endemic during this time, as were raids by other tribes and white civilians. Some Navajos froze in the winter because they could make only poor shelters from the few materials they were given. This period is known among the Navajos as "The Fearing Time".[19] In addition, a small group of Mescalero Apache, longtime enemies of the Navajos had been relocated to the area, which resulted in conflicts.
In 1868, the
Reservation era
The United States military continued to maintain forts on the Navajo reservation in the years after the Long Walk. From 1873 to 1895, the military employed Navajos as
By treaty, the Navajos were allowed to leave the reservation for trade, with permission from the military or local Indian agent. Eventually, the arrangement led to a gradual end in Navajo raids, as the tribe was able to increase their livestock and crops. Also, the tribe gained an increase in the size of the Navajo reservation from 3.5 million acres (14,000 km2; 5,500 sq mi) to 16 million acres (65,000 km2; 25,000 sq mi) as it stands today. But economic conflicts with non-Navajos continued for many years as civilians and companies exploited resources assigned to the Navajo. The US government made leases for livestock grazing, took land for railroad development, and permitted mining on Navajo land without consulting the tribe.
In 1883, Lt. Parker, accompanied by 10 enlisted men and two scouts, went up the San Juan River to separate the Navajos and citizens who had encroached on Navajo land.[21] In the same year, Lt. Lockett, with the aid of 42 enlisted soldiers, was joined by Lt. Holomon at Navajo Springs. Evidently, citizens of the surnames Houck and/or Owens had murdered a Navajo chief's son, and 100 armed Navajo warriors were looking for them.
In 1887, citizens Palmer, Lockhart, and King fabricated a charge of horse stealing and randomly attacked a dwelling on the reservation. Two Navajo men and all three whites died as a result, but a woman and a child survived. Capt. Kerr (with two Navajo scouts) examined the ground and then met with several hundred Navajos at Houcks Tank. Rancher Bennett, whose horse was allegedly stolen, told Kerr that his horses were stolen by the three whites to catch a horse thief.[22] In the same year, Lt. Scott went to the San Juan River with two scouts and 21 enlisted men. The Navajos believed Scott was there to drive off the whites who had settled on the reservation and had fenced off the river from the Navajo. Scott found evidence of many non-Navajo ranches. Only three were active, and the owners wanted payment for their improvements before leaving. Scott ejected them.[23]
In 1890, a local rancher refused to pay the Navajos a fine for livestock. The Navajos tried to collect it, and whites in southern Colorado and Utah claimed that 9,000 of the Navajos were on a warpath. A small military detachment out of Fort Wingate restored white citizens to order.[citation needed]
In 1913, an Indian agent ordered a Navajo and his three wives to come in and then arrested them for having a plural marriage. A small group of Navajos used force to free the women and retreated to
Boarding schools and education
During the time on the reservation, the Navajo tribe was forced to assimilate into white society. Navajo children were sent to boarding schools within the reservation and off the reservation. The first Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) school opened at Fort Defiance in 1870[24] and led the way for eight others to be established.[25] Many older Navajos were against this education and would hide their children to keep them from being taken.
Once the children arrived at the boarding school, their lives changed dramatically. European Americans taught the classes under an English-only curriculum and punished any student caught speaking Navajo.[25] The children were under militaristic discipline, run by the Siláo.[clarification needed] In multiple interviews, subjects recalled being captured and disciplined by the Siláo if they tried to run away. Other conditions included inadequate food, overcrowding, required manual labor in kitchens, fields, and boiler rooms; and military-style uniforms and haircuts.[26]
Change did not occur in these boarding schools until after the Meriam Report was published in 1929 by the Secretary of Interior, Hubert Work. This report discussed Indian boarding schools as being inadequate in terms of diet, medical services, dormitory overcrowding, undereducated teachers, restrictive discipline, and manual labor by the students to keep the school running.[27]
This report was the precursor to education reforms initiated under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, under which two new schools were built on the Navajo reservation. But Rough Rock Day School was run in the same militaristic style as Fort Defiance and did not implement educational reforms. Navajo accounts of the Evangelical Missionary School portray it as having a family-like atmosphere with home-cooked meals, new or gently used clothing, humane treatment, and a Navajo-based curriculum. Educators found the Evangelical Missionary School curriculum to be much more beneficial for Navajo children.[28]
In 1937, Boston heiress Mary Cabot Wheelright and Navajo singer and medicine man Hastiin Klah founded the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe. It is a repository for sound recordings, manuscripts, paintings, and sandpainting tapestries of the Navajos. It also featured exhibits to express the beauty, dignity, and logic of the Navajo religion. When Klah met Cabot in 1921, he witnessed decades of efforts by the US government and missionaries to assimilate the Navajos into mainstream society. The museum was founded to preserve the religion and traditions of the Navajo, which Klah was sure would otherwise soon be lost forever.
The result of these boarding schools led to much language loss within the Navajo Nation. After the Second World War, the Meriam Report funded more children to attend these schools with six times as many children attending boarding school than before the War.[29] English as the primary language spoken at these schools as well as the local towns surrounding the Navajo reservations contributed to residents becoming bilingual; however Navajo was still the primary language spoken at home.[29]
Livestock Reduction 1930s–1950s
The Navajo Livestock Reduction was imposed upon the Navajo Nation by the federal government starting in 1933, during the Great Depression.[30] Under various forms, it continued into the 1950s. Worried about large herds in the arid climate, at a time when the Dust Bowl was endangering the Great Plains, the government decided that the land of the Navajo Nation could support only a fixed number of sheep, goats, cattle, and horses. The Federal government believed that land erosion was worsening in the area and the only solution was to reduce the number of livestock.
In 1933,
Collier's solution was to first launch a voluntary reduction program, which was made mandatory two years later in 1935. The government paid for part of the value of each animal, but it did nothing to compensate for the loss of future yearly income for so many Navajo. In the
The Navajos did not understand why their centuries-old practices of raising livestock should change.[31] They were united in opposition but they were unable to stop it.[34] Historian Brian Dippie notes that the Indian Rights Association denounced Collier as a 'dictator' and accused him of a "near reign of terror" on the Navajo reservation. Dippie adds that "He became an object of 'burning hatred' among the very people whose problems so preoccupied him."[35] The long-term result was strong Navajo opposition to Collier's Indian New Deal.[36]
Many Navajo young people moved to cities to work in urban factories during World War II. Many Navajo men volunteered for military service in keeping with their warrior culture, and they served in integrated units. The War Department in 1940 rejected a proposal by the BIA that segregated units be created for the Indians. The Navajos gained firsthand experience with how they could assimilate into the modern world, and many did not return to the overcrowded reservation, which had few jobs.[37]
Four hundred
Uranium mining
In the 1940s, large quantities of uranium were discovered in Navajo land. From then into the early 21st century, the U.S. allowed mining without sufficient environmental protection for workers, waterways, and land. The Navajos have claimed high rates of death and illness from lung disease and cancer resulting from environmental contamination. Since the 1970s, legislation has helped to regulate the industry and reduce the toll, but the government has not yet offered holistic and comprehensive compensation.[39]
U.S. Marine Corps Involvement
The Navajo Code Talkers played a significant role in
Each Navajo went through a basic boot camp at
These achievements of the Navajo Code Talkers have resulted in an honorable chapter in USMC history. Their patriotism and honor inevitably earned them the respect of all Americans.[40]
After 1945
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Culture
The name "Navajo" comes from the late 18th century via the Spanish (Apaches de) Navajó "(Apaches of) Navajó", which was derived from the Tewa navahū "farm fields adjoining a valley". The Navajos call themselves Diné.[41]
Like other Apacheans, the Navajos were semi-nomadic from the 16th through the 20th centuries. Their extended kinship groups had seasonal dwelling areas to accommodate livestock, agriculture, and gathering practices. As part of their traditional economy, Navajo groups may have formed trading or raiding parties, traveling relatively long distances.
There is a system of
Historically, the structure of the Navajo society is largely a
Traditionally, there are four clans said to be the original ones, given to the Navajo from Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé or Changing Woman. Today there are more than 100 clans, some of which include other Native nations, such as Naashtʼézhí diné’e referring to the Zuni, of the Naashgalí diné’é, referring to the Mescalero Apache.
Diné Bizaad name | English name |
---|---|
Kinyaa’áanii | The Towering House clan |
Honágháahnii | One-walks-around clan |
Tódich’ii'nii | Bitter Water clan |
Hashtł’ishnii | Mud clan |
Gender roles
Men and women are seen as contemporary equals as both a male and females are needed to reproduce. Although women may carry a bigger burden, fertility is so highly valued that males are expected to provide economic resources (known as bridewealth). Corn is a symbol of fertility in Navajo culture as they eat white corn in the wedding ceremonies. It is considered to be immoral and/or stealing if one does not provide for the other in that premarital or marital relationship.[42]
Ethnobotany
Traditional dwellings
A
Those who practice the Navajo religion regard the hogan as sacred. The religious song "
Spiritual and religious beliefs
Navajo spiritual practice is about restoring balance and harmony to a person's life to produce health and is based on the ideas of Hózhóójí. The Diné believed in two classes of people: Earth People and Holy People. The Navajo people believe they passed through three worlds before arriving in this world, the Fourth World or the Glittering World. As Earth People, the Diné must do everything within their power to maintain the balance between Mother Earth and man.[45] The Diné also had the expectation of keeping a positive relationship between them and the Diyin Diné. In the Diné Bahaneʼ (Navajo beliefs about creation), the First, or Dark World is where the four Diyin Diné lived and where First Woman and First Man came into existence. Because the world was so dark, life could not thrive there and they had to move on. The Second, or Blue World, was inhabited by a few of the mammals' Earth People know today as well as the Swallow Chief, or Táshchózhii. The First World beings had offended him and were asked to leave. From there, they headed south and arrived in the Third World or Yellow World. The four sacred mountains were found here, but due to a great flood, First Woman, First Man, and the Holy People were forced to find another world to live in. This time, when they arrived, they stayed in the Fourth World. In the Glittering World, true death came into existence, as well as the creation of the seasons, the moon, stars, and the sun.[46]
The Holy People, or Diyin Diné, had instructed the Earth People to view the four sacred mountains as the boundaries of the homeland (
Navajos have many different ceremonies. For the most part, their ceremonies are to prevent or cure diseases.[48] Corn pollen is used as a blessing and as an offering during prayer.[45] One half of the major Navajo song ceremonial complex is the Blessing Way (Hózhǫ́ǫ́jí) and the other half is the Enemy Way (Anaʼí Ndááʼ). The Blessing Way ceremonies are based on establishing "peace, harmony, and good things exclusively" within the Dine. The Enemy Way, or Evil Way ceremonies are concerned with counteracting influences that come from outside the Dine.[48] Spiritual healing ceremonies are rooted in Navajo traditional stories. One of them, the Night Chant ceremony, is conducted over several days and involves up to 24 dancers. The ceremony requires the dancers to wear buckskin masks, as do many of the other Navajo ceremonies, and they all represent specific gods.[48] The purpose of the Night Chant is to purify the patients and heal them through prayers to the spirit beings. Each day of the ceremony entails the performance of certain rites and the creation of detailed sand paintings. One of the songs describes the home of the thunderbirds:
In Tsegihi [White House],
In the house made of the dawn,
In the house made of the evening light[49]
The ceremonial leader proceeds by asking the Holy People to be present at the beginning of the ceremony, then identifying the patient with the power of the spirit-being, and describing the patient's transformation to renewed health with lines such as, "Happily I recover."[50]
Ceremonies are used to correct curses that cause some illnesses or misfortunes. People may complain of witches who do harm to the minds, bodies, and families of innocent people,[41] though these matters are rarely discussed in detail with those outside of the community.[51]
Oral stories/Works of literature
The Navajo Tribe relied on oral tradition to maintain beliefs and stories. Examples would include the traditional creation story Diné Bahaneʼ.[45] Some Navajo Indian legends are staples in literature, including The First Man and First Woman [52] as well as The Sun, Moon, and Stars.[53] The First Man and Woman is the story about the creation of the world, and The Sun, Moon, and Stars is the story about the origin of heavenly bodies.
Music
Visual arts
Silverwork
Silversmithing is an important art form among Navajos. Atsidi Sani (c. 1830–c. 1918) is considered to be the first Navajo silversmith. He learned silversmithing from a Mexican man called Nakai Tsosi ("Thin Mexican") around 1878 and began teaching other Navajos how to work with silver.[54] By 1880, Navajo silversmiths were creating handmade jewelry including bracelets, tobacco flasks, necklaces, and bracers. Later, they added silver earrings, buckles, bolos, hair ornaments, pins, and squash blossom necklaces for tribal use, and to sell to tourists as a way to supplement their income.[55]
The Navajos' hallmark jewelry piece called the "squash blossom" necklace first appeared in the 1880s. The term "squash blossom" was apparently attached to the name of the Navajo necklace at an early date, although its bud-shaped beads are thought to derive from Spanish-Mexican pomegranate designs.[56] The Navajo silversmiths also borrowed the "naja" (najahe in Navajo)[57] symbol to shape the silver pendant that hangs from the "squash blossom" necklace.
Turquoise has been part of jewelry for centuries, but Navajo artists did not use inlay techniques to insert turquoise into silver designs until the late 19th century.
Weaving
Navajos came to the southwest with their own weaving traditions; however, they learned to weave cotton on vertical looms from the Pueblo peoples. The first Spaniards to visit the region wrote about seeing Navajo blankets. By the 18th century, the Navajos had begun to import Bayeta red yarn to supplement local black, gray, and white wool, as well as wool dyed with
The completion of the railroads dramatically changed Navajo weaving. Cheap blankets were imported, so Navajo weavers shifted their focus to weaving rugs for an increasingly non-Native audience. Rail service also brought in Germantown wool from Philadelphia, commercially dyed wool which greatly expanded the weavers' color palettes.
Some early European-American settlers moved in and set up trading posts, often buying
In the media
In 2000 the documentary The Return of Navajo Boy was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. It was written in response to an earlier film, The Navajo Boy which was somewhat exploitative of those Navajos involved. The Return of Navajo Boy allowed the Navajos to be more involved in the depictions of themselves.[60]
In the final episode of the third season of the FX reality TV show 30 Days, the show's producer Morgan Spurlock spends thirty days living with a Navajo family on their reservation in New Mexico. The July 2008 show called "Life on an Indian Reservation", depicts the dire conditions that many Native Americans experience living on reservations in the United States.[citation needed]
Tony Hillerman wrote a series of detective novels whose detective characters were members of the Navajo Tribal Police. The novels are noted for incorporating details about Navajo culture, and in some cases expanding the focus to include nearby Hopi and Zuni characters and cultures, as well.[citation needed] Some of the novels have been adapted for film/TV, including the series Dark Winds. His daughter has continued the novel series after his death.
In 1997, Welsh author Eirug Wyn published the Welsh-language novel "I Ble'r Aeth Haul y Bore?" ("Where did the Morning Sun go?" in English) which tells the story of Carson's misdoings against the Navajo people from the point of view of a fictional young Navajo woman called "Haul y Bore" ("Morning Sun" in English).[61]
- nuclear physicist and a Korean Warveteran
- Notah Begay III (Navajo-Isleta-San Felipe Pueblo), American professional golfer
- Klee Benally, musician and documentary filmmaker[62]
- Jacoby Ellsbury, New York Yankees outfielder (enrolled Colorado River Indian Tribes)
- Rickie Fowler, American professional golfer
- Joe Kieyoomia, captured by the Imperial Japanese Army after the fall of the Philippines in 1942
- Nicco Montaño, former women's UFC flyweight champion
- Chester Nez, the last original Navajo code talker who served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II.
- Krystal Tsosie, geneticist and bioethicist known for promoting Indigenous data sovereignty and studying genetics within Indigenous communities
- Cory Witherill, first full-blooded Native American in NASCAR
- Aaron Yazzie, mechanical engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Artists
- Beatien Yazz (1928–2022), painter
- Apie Begay (fl. 1902), first Navajo artist to use European drawing materials
- Harrison Begay (1914–2012), Studio painter
- Joyce Begay-Foss, weaver, educator, and museum curator
- Mary Holiday Black (c. 1934–2022), basket maker
- Raven Chacon (born 1977), conceptual artist
- Lorenzo Clayton (born 1940), artist
- Carl Nelson Gorman (also known as Kin-Ya-Onny-Beyeh; 1907–1998), painter, printmaker, illustrator, and Navajo code talker with the U.S. Marine Corp during World War II.
- R. C. Gorman (1932–2005), painter and printmaker
- Hastiin Klah (1867–1937), weaver and co-founder of the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
- David Johns (born 1948), painter
- Yazzie Johnson(born 1946), contemporary silversmith
- Betty Manygoats (born 1945), Táchiiʼnii, contemporary ceramicist
- Christine Nofchissey McHorse(1948-2021), ceramicist
- Gerald Nailor, Sr.(1917–1952), studio painter
- U.S. State Department
- Atsidi Sani (c. 1828–1918), first known Navajo silversmith
- Clara Nezbah Sherman(1914–2010), weaver
- Ryan Singer(born 1973), painter, illustrator, screen printer
- Tommy Singer (1940–2014), silversmith and jeweler
- Quincy Tahoma (1920–1956), studio painter
- Tyrrell Tapaha, 21st-century weaver and printmaker
- Klah Tso (mid-19th century — early 20th century), pioneering easel painter
- Emmi Whitehorse (born 1957), contemporary painter
- Melanie Yazzie (born 1966), contemporary print maker and educator
- Teresa Montoya, film maker
Performers
- Jeremiah Bitsui, actor
- Blackfire, punk/alternative rock band
- Raven Chacon, composer
- Radmilla Cody, traditional singer
- James and Ernie, comedy duo
- R. Carlos Nakai, musician
- Jock Soto, ballet dancer
Politicians
- Chris Deschene, veteran, attorney, engineer, and a community leader. One of few Native Americans to be accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the U.S. Marine Corps. He made an unsuccessful attempt to run for Navajo Nation President.
- Henry Chee Dodge, last Head Chief of the Navajo and first Chairman of the Navajo Tribe, (1922–1928, 1942–1946).
- Annie Dodge Wauneka, former Navajo Tribal Councilwoman and advocate.
- Thomas Dodge, former Chairman of the Navajo Tribe and first Diné attorney.
- Albert Hale, former President of the Navajo Nation. He served in the Arizona Senate from 2004 to 2011 and in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017.
- Christina Haswood, member of the Kansas House of Representatives since 2021.
- Peter MacDonald, Navajo Code Talker and former Chairman of the Navajo Tribe.
- Mark Maryboy (Aneth/Red Mesa/Mexican Water), former Navajo Nation Council Delegate, working in Utah Navajo Investments.
- Lilakai Julian Neil, the first woman elected to Navajo Tribal Council.
- Jonathan Nez, Former President of the Navajo Nation. He served three terms as Navajo Council Delegate representing the chapters of Shonto, Oljato, Tsah Bi Kin and Navajo Mountain. Served two terms as Navajo County Board of Supervisors for District 1.
- Buu Nygren, Current President of the Navajo Nation.
- Ben Shelly, former President of the Navajo Nation.
- Joe Shirley, Jr., former President of the Navajo Nation.
- Chris Stearns, member of the Washington House of Representatives since 2022.
- Peterson Zah, first President of the Navajo Nation and last Chairman of the Navajo Tribe.[63]
Writers
- Freddie Bitsoie, author and chef
- Sherwin Bitsui, author and poet
- Luci Tapahonso, poet and lecturer
- Elizabeth Woody, author, educator, and environmentalist
See also
- Navajo-Churro sheep
- Navajo pueblitos
- Navajo Nation
- Long Walk of the Navajo
- Navajoceratops
Notes
- ^ /ˈnævəhoʊ, ˈnɑːvə-/ NAV-ə-hoh, NAH-və-;[3] also spelled Navaho; Navajo: Diné or Naabeehó
References
- ^ a b Becenti, Arlyssa. Diné enrolled population increases to 399,494 Archived 2021-05-12 at the Wayback Machine, Navajo Times, 26 April 2021
- ^ "Aboriginal Population Profile, 2016 Census". www12.statcan.gc.ca/. Statistics Canada. 21 June 2018. Archived from the original on 30 January 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ISBN 3-12-539683-2
- ^ "Arizona's Native American Tribes: Navajo Nation", Archived 2012-01-01 at the Wayback Machine University of Arizona, Tucson Economic Development Research Program (retrieved: 19 January 2011)
- ^ American Factfinder, United States Census Bureau
- from the original on 2021-04-21. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
- ^ Watkins, Thayer. "Discovery of the Athabascan Origin of the Apache and Navajo Language" Archived 2014-11-12 at the Wayback Machine, San Jose State University (retrieved: 28 November 2010)
- ^ Samuel J. Supalla (1992). The Book of Name Signs, p. 22 (retrieved: 28 November 2010)
- ^ Pritzker, 52
- ^ "Nahanni National Park Reserve". Great Canadian Parks. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
- ^ Iverson 2006, p. 19, 62.
- ^ Hosteen Klah, page 102 and others
- ^ ISBN 9780894172922.
- ^ Sides 2006, p. 133–140, 152–154.
- ^ 9 Stat. 974
- ISBN 0-8061-3570-0
- ISBN 9780816504954.
- ^ ISBN 0-912586-16-8.
- ISBN 9780547640983).
- ^ Marei Bouknight and others, Guide to Records in the Military Archives Division Pertaining to Indian-White Relations, GSA National Archives, 1972
- ^ Ford, "September 30, 1887 Letter to Acting Assistant General," District of New Mexico, National Archive Materials, Navajo Tribal Museum, Window Rock, Arizona
- ^ Kerr, "February 18, 1887 letter to Acting Assistant General," District of New Mexico, National Archive Materials, Navajo Tribal Museum, Window Rock, Arizona.
- ^ Scott," June 22, 1887 letter to Acting Assistant General," District of New Mexico, National Archive Materials, Navajo Tribal Museum, Window Rock, Arizona
- ^ "Fort Defiance Chapter". FORT DEFIANCE CHAPTER. Archived from the original on 23 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
- ^ ISBN 0-8058-3760-4.
- ISBN 0-8058-3760-4.
- ISBN 0-8058-3760-4.
- ISBN 0-8058-3760-4.
- ^ doi:10.25894/ldd241. Archived(PDF) from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
- ^ Peter Iverson, Dine: A History of the Navajos, 2002, University of New Mexico Press, Chapter 5, "our People Cried": 1923–1941.
- ^ ISBN 0-912586-18-4.
- ISBN 9780826327185.
- S2CID 147597303.
- ISBN 0803297246.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link - ^ Brian W. Dippie, The Vanishing American: White Attitudes and U.S. Indian Policy (1991) pp 333–336, quote p 335
- ^ Donald A. Grinde Jr, "Navajo Opposition to the Indian New Deal." Integrated Education (1981) 19#3–6 pp: 79–87.
- ^ Alison R. Bernstein, American Indians and World War II: Toward a New Era in Indian Affairs, (University of Oklahoma Press, 1999) pp 40, 67, 132, 152
- ^ Bernstein, American Indians and World War II pp 46–49
- ^ Judy Pasternak, Yellow Dirt- An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed, Free Press, New York, 2010.
- ^ Marine Corps. University, NAVAJO CODE TALKERS IN WORLD WAR II, USMC History Division, 2006.
- ^ Lauren Del Carlo, Between the Sacred Mountains: A Cultural History of the Dineh, Essai, Volume 5: Article 15, 2007.
- ^ Iverson 2006, p. 23.
- ^ Kehoe 1992, p. 133.
- ^ a b c "Navajo Cultural History and Legends". www.navajovalues.com. Archived from the original on 2016-04-18. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
- ^ "The Story of the Emergence". www.sacred-texts.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-25. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
- ^ a b "Navajo Culture". discovernavajo.com. Retrieved 2023-12-04.
- ^ a b c Wyman, Leland (1983). "Navajo Ceremonial System" (PDF). Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ Sandner 1991, p. 88.
- ^ Sandner 1991, p. 90.
- ^ Keene, Dr. Adrienne, "Magic in North America Part 1: Ugh. Archived 2016-04-06 at the Wayback Machine" at Native Appropriations", 8 March 2016. Accessed 9 April 2016: "What happens when Rowling pulls this in, is we as Native people are now opened up to a barrage of questions about these beliefs and traditions ... but these are not things that need or should be discussed by outsiders. At all. I'm sorry if that seems "unfair," but that's how our cultures survive."
- ^ "Creation of First Man and First Woman - A Navajo Legend". www.firstpeople.us. Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
- ^ "The Sun, Moon and Stars". www.hanksville.org. Archived from the original on 2021-09-03. Retrieved 2021-10-13.
- ^ Adair 1989, p. 4.
- ^ Adair 1989, p. 135.
- ^ Adair 1989, p. 44.
- ^ Adair 1989, p. 9.
- ^ "Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site" Archived 2010-08-24 at the Wayback Machine White Mountains Online. (retrieved 28 Nov 2010)
- ^ Denver Art Museum. "Blanket Statements" Archived 2010-12-07 at the Wayback Machine, Traditional Fine Arts Organization (retrieved 28 Nov 2010)
- ^ "I Ble'r Aeth Haul y Bore? (9780862434359) | Eirug Wyn | Y Lolfa". www.ylolfa.com. Archived from the original on 2019-08-01. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ "Klee Benally". Nativenetworks.si.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-12-11. Retrieved 2012-01-31.
- ^ Peterson Zah Summary. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-04-02 – via www.bookrags.com.
- Bibliography
- Adair, John (1989) [1944]. The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths (paperback ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-2215-1.
- ISBN 0-7910-8595-3.
- Kehoe, Alice Beck (1992). North American Indians: A Comprehensive account (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River (NJ): Prentice-Hall. ISBN 978-0131928763)
- Newcomb, Franc Johnson (1964). Hosteen Klah: Navajo Medicine Man and Sand Painter. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. LCCN 64020759.
- Pritzker, Barry M. (2000). A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513877-1.
- Sandner, Donald (1991). Navaho symbols of healing: a Jungian exploration of ritual, image, and medicine. Rochester (VT): Healing Arts Press. ISBN 978-0-89281-434-3.
- Sides, Hampton (2006). Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West (2nd ed.). Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-50777-6.
Further reading
- Bailey, L. R. (1964). The Long Walk: A History of the Navaho Wars, 1846–1868.
- Bighorse, Tiana (1990). Bighorse the Warrior. Ed. Noel Bennett, Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
- Brugge, David M. (1968). Navajos in the Catholic Church Records of New Mexico 1694–1875. Window Rock, Arizona: Research Section, The Navajo Tribe.
- Clarke, Dwight L. (1961). Stephen Watts Kearny: Soldier of the West. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.
- Downs, James F. (1972). The Navajo. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
- Left Handed (1967) [1938]. Son of Old Man Hat. recorded by Walter Dyk. Lincoln, Nebraska: Bison Books & University of Nebraska Press. LCCN 67004921.
- Forbes, Jack D. (1960). Apache, Navajo and Spaniard. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. LCCN 60013480.
- Hammond, George P. and Rey, Agapito (editors) (1940). Narratives of the Coronado Expedition 1540–1542. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
- Kelly, Lawrence (1970). Navajo Roundup Pruett Pub. Co., Colorado.
- Linford, Laurence D. (2000). Navajo Places: History, Legend, Landscape. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. ISBN 978-0-87480-624-3
- McNitt, Frank (1972). Navajo Wars. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
- Plog, Stephen Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest. Thames and London, LTD, London, England, 1997. ISBN 0-500-27939-X.
- Roessel, Ruth (editor) (1973). Navajo Stories of the Long Walk Period. Tsaile, Arizona: Navajo Community College Press.
- Roessel, Ruth, ed. (1974). Navajo Livestock Reduction: A National Disgrace. Tsaile, Arizona: Navajo Community College Press. ISBN 0-912586-18-4.
- Treglia, Gabriella. "Cultural Pluralism or Cultural Imposition? Examining the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Education Reforms during the Indian New Deal (1933–1945)." Journal of the Southwest 61.4 (2019): 821-862.summary
- Voyles, Traci Brynne (2015). Wastelanding: Legacies of Uranium Mining in Navajo Country. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
- Warren (January 27, 1875). "The Navajoes.—The Party Returning from Washington and Who They Are.—About Gov. Arny and His Views of the Indian Question.—What Kind of People the Navajoes area and What Their Country". newspapers.com.
- Witherspoon, Gary (1977). Language and Art in the Navajo Universe. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
- Witte, Daniel. Removing Classrooms from the Battlefield: Liberty, Paternalism, and the Redemptive Promise of Educational Choice, 2008 BYU Law Review 377 The Navajo and Richard Henry Pratt Archived 2012-09-16 at the Wayback Machine
- Zaballos, Nausica (2009). Le système de santé navajo. Paris: L'Harmattan.
External links
- Navajo Nation, official site
- Navajo Tourism Department
- Navajo people: history, culture, language, art
- Middle Ground Project of Northern Colorado University with images of U.S. documents of treaties and reports 1846–1931
- Navajo Silversmiths, by Washington Matthews, 1883 from Project Gutenberg
- Navajo Institute for Social Justice Archived 2021-04-18 at the Wayback Machine
- Navajo Arts Information on authentic Navajo Art, Rugs, Jewelry, and Crafts
- The Navajo Navajo expert, Doctor Sarah Davis, about the Navajo
- Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .