The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a
Native American people
Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Americans, and other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the mainland United States (Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, Alaska and territories of the United States are ...
of the
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...
.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members ,
the
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...
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 (70,000 square km) of land in
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
,
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
, and
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
. The Navajo Reservation is slightly larger than the state of
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
. The
Navajo language
Navajo or Navaho (; Navajo: or ) is a Southern Athabaskan language of the Na-Dené family, through which it is related to languages spoken across the western areas of North America. Navajo is spoken primarily in the Southwestern United States ...
is spoken throughout the region, and most Navajos also speak English.
The states with the largest Navajo populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (108,306). More than three-fourths of the enrolled Navajo population resides in these two states.
[American Factfinder](_blank)
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
Besides the
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...
proper, a small group of Navajos are members of the
federally recognized
This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...
Colorado River Indian Tribes
The Colorado River Indian Tribes ( Mojave language 'Aha Havasuu, Navajo language: Tó Ntsʼósíkooh Bibąąhgi Bitsįʼ Yishtłizhii Bináhásdzo) is a federally recognized tribe consisting of the four distinct ethnic groups associated with the ...
.
History
Early history
![Navaho spinning and weaving page 928](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Navaho_spinning_and_weaving_page_928.png)
The Navajos are speakers of a
Na-Dené
Na-Dene (; also Nadene, Na-Dené, Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit, Tlina–Dene) is a family of Native American languages that includes at least the Athabaskan languages, Eyak, and Tlingit languages. Haida was formerly included, but is now considere ...
Southern Athabaskan language
Southern Athabaskan (also Apachean) is a subfamily of Athabaskan languages spoken primarily in the Southwestern United States (including Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah) with two outliers in Oklahoma and Texas. The language is spoken to a ...
which they call ''Diné bizaad'' (lit. 'People's language'). The term ''Navajo'' comes from Spanish missionaries and historians who referred to the Pueblo Indians through this term, although they referred to themselves as the ''Diné,'' is a compound word meaning up where there is no surface, and then down to where we are on the surface of Mother Earth. The language comprises two geographic, mutually intelligible dialects. The
Apache language is closely related to the Navajo Language; the Navajos and
Apaches are believed to have migrated from northwestern Canada and eastern
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
, where the majority of Athabaskan speakers reside. Speakers of various other Athabaskan languages located in Canada may still comprehend the Navajo language despite the geographic and linguistic deviation of the languages. Additionally, some Navajos speak
Navajo Sign Language
Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL), also known as Hand Talk, Plains Sign Talk, and First Nation Sign Language, is a trade language, formerly trade pidgin, that was once the lingua franca across what is now central Canada, the central and weste ...
, which is either a dialect or daughter of
Plains Sign Talk
Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL), also known as Hand Talk, Plains Sign Talk, and First Nation Sign Language, is a trade language, formerly trade pidgin, that was once the lingua franca across what is now central Canada, the central and wes ...
. Some also speak Plains Sign Talk itself.
[Samuel J. Supalla (1992) ''The Book of Name Signs'', p. 22]
Archaeological and historical evidence suggests the Athabaskan ancestors of the Navajos and Apaches entered the Southwest around 1400
AD. The Navajo oral tradition is transcribed to retain references to this migration.
Initially, the Navajos were largely
hunters and gatherers
A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...
. Later, they adopted farming from
Pueblo
In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
peoples, growing mainly the traditional "
Three Sisters" of
corn,
bean
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
s, and
squash
Squash may refer to:
Sports
* Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets
* Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling
* Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...
. They adopted herding
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
and
goats
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of th ...
from the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
as a main source of trade and food. Meat became essential in the Navajo diet. Sheep became a form of currency and family status. Women began to spin and weave
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...
into
blanket
A blanket is a swath of soft cloth large enough either to cover or to enfold most of the user's body and thick enough to keep the body warm by trapping radiant body heat that otherwise would be lost through convection.
Etymology
The term ...
s and clothing; they created items of highly valued artistic expression, which were also traded and sold.
Oral history indicates a long relationship with Pueblo people 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
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
and woven
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
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 Navajos' maintained large herds of livestock and cultivated large crop areas.
Western historians believe that the Spanish before 1600 referred to the Navajos as ''Apaches'' or ''Quechos''.
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
The Tewa are a linguistic group of Pueblo Native Americans who speak the Tewa language and share the Pueblo culture. Their homelands are on or near the Rio Grande in New Mexico north of Santa Fe. They comprise the following communities:
* ...
language, meaning a large area of cultivated lands.
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 ', about west of the Rio Chama valley region. In the 1770s, the Spanish sent military expeditions against the Navajos in the
Mount Taylor and
Chuska Mountain regions of New Mexico.
The Spanish, Navajos and Hopis 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 Navajos and Spanish mounted major expeditions against each other's settlements. In May 1805 another peace was established. Similar patterns of peace-making, raiding, and trading among the Navajo, Spanish, Apache, Comanche, and Hopi continued until the arrival of Americans in 1846.
Territory of New Mexico 1846–1863
The Navajos encountered the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
in 1846, when General
Stephen W. Kearny invaded Santa Fe with 1,600 men during the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
. 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
Narbona or Hastiin Narbona (1766 – August 31, 1849) was a Navajo chief who participated in the Navajo Wars. He was killed in a confrontation with U.S. soldiers on August 31, 1849.
Narbona was one of the wealthiest Navajo of his time due to th ...
and other Navajos negotiated
a treaty of peace with Colonel
Alexander Doniphan
Alexander William Doniphan (July 9, 1808 – August 8, 1887) was a 19th-century American attorney, soldier and politician from Missouri who is best known today as the man who prevented the summary execution of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church ...
at Bear Springs, Ojo del Oso (later the site of
Fort Wingate
Fort Wingate was a military installation near Gallup, New Mexico. There were two other locations in New Mexico called Fort Wingate: Seboyeta, New Mexico (1849–1862) and San Rafael, New Mexico (1862–1868). The most recent Fort Wingate (186 ...
). This agreement was not honored by some Navajo, nor by some New Mexicans. The Navajos raided New Mexican livestock, New Mexicans took women, children, and livestock from the Navajo.
In 1849, the military governor of New Mexico, Colonel
John MacRae Washington—accompanied by John S. Calhoun, an Indian agent—led 400 soldiers into Navajo country, penetrating
Canyon de Chelly
Canyon de Chelly National Monument ( ) was established on April 1, 1931, as a unit of the National Park Service. Located in northeastern Arizona, it is within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation and lies in the Four Corners region. Reflecting ...
. 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
ndsuch other liberal and humane measures, as
tmay deem meet and proper." While en route to sign this treaty, the prominent Navajo peace leader Narbona, was killed, causing hostility between the treaty parties.
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
James H. Carleton
James Henry Carleton (December 27, 1814 – January 7, 1873) was an officer in the US Army and a Union general during the American Civil War. Carleton is best known as an Indian fighter in the Southwestern United States.
Biography
Carleton wa ...
, Commander of the Federal District of New Mexico, initiated a series of military actions against the Navajos and Apaches. Colonel
Kit Carson
Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and ...
was at the new
Fort Wingate
Fort Wingate was a military installation near Gallup, New Mexico. There were two other locations in New Mexico called Fort Wingate: Seboyeta, New Mexico (1849–1862) and San Rafael, New Mexico (1862–1868). The most recent Fort Wingate (186 ...
with Army troops and volunteer New Mexico militia. Carleton ordered Carson to kill
Mescalero
Mescalero or Mescalero Apache ( apm, Naa'dahéńdé) is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan–speaking Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation, located in south-cen ...
Apache men and destroy any Mescalero property he could find. Carleton believed these harsh tactics would bring any Indian Tribe under control. The Mescalero surrendered and were sent to the new reservation called
Bosque Redondo
Fort Sumner was a military fort in New Mexico Territory charged with the internment of Navajo and Mescalero Apache populations from 1863 to 1868 at nearby Bosque Redondo.
History
On October 31, 1862, Congress authorized the construction of F ...
.
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 in 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 though 1864.
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.
Long Walk
Beginning in the spring of 1864, the Army forced around 9,000 Navajo men, women, and children to walk over to
Fort Sumner
Fort Sumner was a military fort in New Mexico Territory charged with the internment of Navajo and Mescalero Apache populations from 1863 to 1868 at nearby Bosque Redondo.
History
On October 31, 1862, Congress authorized the construction of For ...
, 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 4,000–5,000 people. Large-scale crop failure and disease were also endemic during this time, as were raids by other tribes and 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". In addition, a small group of
Mescalero Apache
Mescalero or Mescalero Apache ( apm, Naa'dahéńdé) is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan–speaking Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation, located in south-c ...
, longtime enemies of the Navajos had been relocated to the area, which resulted in conflicts.
In 1868, the
Treaty of Bosque Redondo
The Treaty of Bosque Redondo (also the Navajo Treaty of 1868 or Treaty of Fort Sumner, Navajo or ) was an agreement between the Navajo and the US Federal Government signed on June 1, 1868. It ended the Navajo Wars and allowed for the return of th ...
was negotiated between Navajo leaders and the federal government allowing the surviving Navajos to return to a
reservation on a portion of their former homeland.
Reservation era
![Navajo woman & child](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Navajo_woman_%26_child.jpg)
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
"Indian Scouts" at Fort Wingate to help their regular units. During this period, Chief
Manuelito
Chief Manuelito or Hastiin Chʼil Haajiní ("Sir Black Reeds", "Man of the Black Plants Place") (1818–1893) was one of the principal headmen of the Diné people before, during and after the Long Walk Period. ''Manuelito'' is the diminutive f ...
founded the
Navajo Tribal Police
The Navajo Nation Police (formerly known as the Navajo Tribal Police) is the law enforcement agency on the Navajo Nation in the Southwestern United States. It is under the Navajo Division of Public Safety. It is headed by a Chief of Police, si ...
. It operated from 1872 to 1875 as an anti-raid task force working to maintain the peaceful terms of the 1868 Navajo treaty.
By treaty, the Navajos were allowed to leave the reservation for trade, with permission from the military or local
Indian agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government.
Background
The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...
. 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 to the 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. 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. 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.
In 1890, a local rancher refused to pay the Navajos a fine of 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.
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
Beautiful Mountain
Beautiful Mountain ( nv, Dziłkʼi Hózhóonii) is part of the Chuska Mountains and its summit is the highest point in San Juan County, New Mexico. The mountain is about southwest of the community of Shiprock in the Four Corners region. It is ...
with 30 or 40 sympathizers. They refused to surrender to the agent, and local law enforcement and military refused the agent's request for an armed engagement. General Scott arrived, and with the help of
Henry Chee Dodge
Henry Chee Dodge (1860–1947), also known in Navajo by his nicknames ("Mister Interpreter") and ("Red Boy"), was the last official Head Chief of the Navajo Tribe from 1884 until 1910, the first Tribal Chairman of the Navajo Business Council fr ...
, a leader among the Navajo, defused the situation.
Boarding schools and education
During the time on the reservation, the Navajo tribe was forced to assimilate to 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 and led the way for eight others to be established.
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.
The children were under militaristic discipline, run by the ''Siláo''. 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.
Change did not occur in these boarding schools until after the
Meriam Report The Meriam Report (1928) (official title: ''The Problem of Indian Administration'') was commissioned by the Institute for Government Research (IGR, better known later as the Brookings Institution) and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. The IGR a ...
was published in 1929 by the Secretary of Interior,
Hubert Work
Hubert Work (July 3, 1860December 14, 1942) was a U.S. administrator and physician. He served as the United States Postmaster General from 1922 until 1923 during the presidency of Warren G. Harding. He served as the United States Secretary of t ...
. 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.
This report was the precursor to education reforms initiated under President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, 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 the educational reforms. The Evangelical Missionary School was opened next to Rough Rock Day School. Navajo accounts of this 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 the Navajo children.
In 1937, Boston heiress
Mary Cabot Wheelright and Navajo singer and
medicine man
A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective languages, for spiritual healers and cerem ...
Hastiin Klah
Hosteen Klah ( nv, , 1867– February 27, 1937) was a Navajo artist and medicine man. He documented aspects of Navajo religion and related ceremonial practices. As a traditional '' nádleehi'' person, he was both a ceremonial singer and master ...
founded the
Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian is a museum devoted to Native American arts. It is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico and was founded in 1937 by Mary Cabot Wheelwright, who came from Boston, and Hastiin Klah, a Navajo singer and medici ...
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 Navajo religion. When Klah met Cabot in 1921, he had 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.
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 the still the primary language spoken at home.
Livestock Reduction 1930s–1950s
The
Navajo Livestock Reduction
The Navajo Livestock Reduction was imposed by the United States government upon the Navajo Nation in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. The reduction of herds was justified at the time by stating that grazing areas were becoming eroded and ...
was imposed upon the Navajo Nation by the federal government starting in the 1933, during the
Great Depression. 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,
John Collier was appointed commissioner of the BIA. In many ways, he worked to reform government relations with the Native American tribes, but the reduction program was devastating for the Navajo, for whom their livestock was so important. The government set land capacity in terms of "sheep units". In 1930 the Navajos grazed 1,100,000 mature sheep units.
These sheep provided half the cash income for the individual Navajo.
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
matrilineal
Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance ...
and matrilocal world of the Navajo, women were especially hurt, as many lost their only source of income with the reduction of livestock herds.
The Navajos did not understand why their centuries-old practices of raising livestock should change.
They were united in opposition but they were unable to stop it. Historian Brian Dippie notes that the
Indian Rights Association
The Indian Rights Association (IRA) was a social activist group dedicated to the well being and acculturation of American Indians. Founded by non-Indians in Philadelphia in 1882, the group was highly influential in American Indian policy through ...
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." The long-term result was strong Navajo opposition to Collier's Indian New Deal.
Navajo Code Talkers in World War II
Many Navajo young people moved to cities to work in urban factories in 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.
Four hundred
Navajo code talkers
A code talker was a person employed by the military during wartime to use a little-known language as a means of secret communication. The term is now usually associated with United States service members during the world wars who used their k ...
played a famous role during World War II by relaying radio messages using their own language. The Japanese were unable to understand or decode it.
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.
U.S. Marine Corps Involvement
The Navajo Code Talkers played a significant role in
USMC
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...
history. Using their own language they utilized a military code; for example, the Navajo word "turtle" represented a tank. In 1942, Marine staff officers composed several combat simulations and the Navajo translated it and transmitted it in their dialect to another Navajo on the other line. This Navajo then translated it back in English faster than any other cryptographic facilities, which demonstrated their efficacy. As a result, General Vogel recommended their recruitment into the USMC code talker program.
Each Navajo went through basic bootcamp at
Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego before being assigned to Field Signal Battalion training at
Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by O ...
. Once the code talkers completed training in the States, they were sent to the Pacific for assignment to the Marine combat divisions. With that said, there was never a crack in the Navajo language, it was never deciphered. It is known that many more Navajos volunteered to become code talkers than could be accepted; however, an undetermined number of other Navajos served as Marines in the war, but not as code talkers.
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.
After 1945
Culture
![Navajo Sheep](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Navajo_Sheep.jpg)
The name "Navajo" comes from the late 18th century via the Spanish ''(Apaches de) Navajó'' "(Apaches of) Navajó", which was derived from the
Tewa
The Tewa are a linguistic group of Pueblo Native Americans who speak the Tewa language and share the Pueblo culture. Their homelands are on or near the Rio Grande in New Mexico north of Santa Fe. They comprise the following communities:
* ...
''navahū'' "farm fields adjoining a valley". The Navajos call themselves '.
Like other Apacheans, the Navajos were
semi-nomadic
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the p ...
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
clans which defines relationships between individuals and families. The clan system is
exogamous
Exogamy is the social norm of marrying outside one's social group. The group defines the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. One form of exogamy is dual exogamy, in which two groups ...
: people can only marry (and date) partners outside their own clans, which for this purpose include the clans of their four grandparents. Some Navajos favor their
children to marry into their father's clan. While clans are associated with a geographical area, the area is not for the exclusive use of any one clan. Members of a clan may live hundreds of miles apart but still have a clan bond.
Historically, the structure of the Navajo society is largely a
matrilineal
Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance ...
system, in which the family of the women owned livestock, dwellings, planting areas and livestock grazing areas. Once married, a Navajo man would follow a
matrilocal
In social anthropology, matrilocal residence or matrilocality (also uxorilocal residence or uxorilocality) is the societal system in which a married couple resides with or near the wife's parents. Thus, the female offspring of a mother remain ...
residence and live with his bride in her dwelling and near her mother's family. Daughters (or, if necessary, other female relatives) were traditionally the ones who received the generational property inheritance. In cases of marital separation, women would maintain the property and children. Children are "born to" and belong to the mother's clan, and are "born for" the father's clan. The mother's eldest brother has a strong role in her children's lives. As adults, men represent their mother's clan in tribal politics.
Neither sex can live without the other in the Navajo culture. Men and women are seen as contemporary equals as both a male and female 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
bride wealth
Bride price, bride-dowry (Mahr in Islam), bride-wealth, or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dow ...
). 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.
Ethnobotany
See
Navajo ethnobotany See also Zuni ethnobotany, and Native American ethnobotany.
This is a list of plants utilized in Navajo people, Navajo culture.
A
* ''Abronia fragrans'' (snowball-sand verbena), used medicinally for boils and taken internally when a spider was s ...
.
Traditional dwellings
![16 21 2006 monument valley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/16_21_2006_monument_valley.jpg)
A
hogan
A hogan ( or ; from Navajo ' ) is the primary, traditional dwelling of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter, the underground home, and the sweat house. A hogan can be round, cone-shaped, multi-sided, or squ ...
, the traditional Navajo home, is built as a shelter for either a man or for a woman. Male hogans are square or conical with a distinct rectangular entrance, while a female hogan is an eight-sided house. Hogans are made of logs and covered in mud, with the door always facing east to welcome the sun each morning. Navajos also have several types of hogans for lodging and ceremonial use. Ceremonies, such as healing ceremonies or the
''kinaaldá'', take place inside a hogan. According to Kehoe, this style of housing is distinctive to the Navajos. She writes, "even today, a solidly constructed, log-walled Hogan is preferred by many Navajo families." Most Navajo members today live in apartments and houses in urban areas.
[Kehoe, 133]
Those who practice the Navajo religion regard the hogan as sacred. The religious song "
The Blessingway" (') describes the first hogan as being built by Coyote with help from Beavers to be a house for First Man, First Woman, and Talking God. The Beaver People gave Coyote logs and instructions on how to build the first hogan. Navajos made their hogans in the traditional fashion until the 1900s, when they started to make them in hexagonal and octagonal shapes. Hogans continue to be used as dwellings, especially by older Navajos, although they tend to be made with modern construction materials and techniques. Some are maintained specifically for ceremonial purposes.
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.
The Diné also had the expectation of keeping a positive relationship between them and the Diyin Diné. In the
Diné Bahane'
The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
(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 creations of the seasons, the moon, stars, and the sun.
The Holy People, or Diyin Diné, had instructed the Earth People to view the four sacred mountains as the boundaries of the homeland () they should never leave:
Blanca Peak
Blanca Peak (Navajo: ) is the fourth highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the U.S. state of Colorado. The ultra-prominent peak is the highest summit of the Sierra Blanca Massif, the Sangre de Cristo Range, and the Sangr ...
( — Dawn or White Shell Mountain) in Colorado;
Mount Taylor ( — Blue Bead or Turquoise Mountain) in New Mexico; the
San Francisco Peaks ( — Abalone Shell Mountain) in Arizona; and
Hesperus Mountain
Hesperus Mountain (Navajo: ) is the highest summit of the La Plata Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The prominent thirteener is located in San Juan National Forest, northeast by east ( bearing 59°) of the Town of M ...
( — Big Mountain Sheep) in Colorado.
Times of day, as well as colors, are used to represent the four sacred mountains. Throughout religions, the importance of a specific number is emphasized and in the Navajo religion, the number four appears to be sacred to their practices. For example, there were four original clans of Diné, four colors and times of day, four Diyin Diné, and for the most part, four songs sung for a ritual.
Navajos have many different ceremonies. For the most part, their ceremonies are to prevent or cure diseases.
Corn pollen is used as a blessing and as an offering during prayer.
One half of major
Navajo song ceremonial complex
The Navajo song ceremonial complex is a spiritual practice used by certain Navajo ceremonial people to restore and maintain balance and harmony in the lives of the people. One half of the ceremonial complex is the Blessing Way, while the other hal ...
is the Blessing Way (''Hózhǫ́ǫ́jí)'' and 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.
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.
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 hite House
Hite House is a historic hotel building located at Stoystown, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It is a -story, "L"-shaped, wood-frame building with a brick veneer on a stone foundation. It features a 12 foot deep, one-story porch across the front ...
In the house made of the dawn,
In the house made of the evening light
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."
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, though these matters are rarely discussed in detail with those outside of the community.
[Keene, Dr. Adrienne,]
Magic in North America Part 1: Ugh.
at ''Native Appropriations
Native Appropriations is a blog that critically discusses the ways that Indigenous people are depicted in mainstream, Euro-American dominated, culture. Active since 2010, the website is created and maintained by Cherokee Nation scholar Adrienne ...
", 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."
Oral stories/Works of literature
''See:
Diné Bahane'
The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
(Creation Story) and
Black God and
Coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
(notable traditional characters)''
The Navajo Tribe relied on oral tradition to maintain beliefs and stories. Examples would include the traditional creation story ''
Diné Bahane'''.
There are also some Navajo Indian legends that are staples in literature, including The First Man and First Woman as well as The Sun, Moon and Stars. The First Man and Woman is a myth about the creation of the world, and The Sun, Moon and Stars is a legend about the origin of heavenly bodies.
Music
Visual arts
Silverwork
Silversmith
A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary grea ...
ing is an important art form among Navajos.
Atsidi Sani
Atsidi Sani ( nv, ) (c. 1830 – c. 1870 or 1918) was the first known Navajo silversmith.
Background
Little is known of Atsidi Sani. However, it is known that he was born near Wheatfields, Arizona, c. 1830 as part of the Dibelizhini (Black Sheep) ...
(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. By 1880, Navajo silversmiths were creating
handmade jewelry
Handmade jewelry (or handmade jewellery or handcrafted jewellery) is jewelry which has been assembled and formed by hand rather than through the use of machines.
The oldest handmade jewelry trademark is in Florence, Italy.
Definition (U.S.)
Ac ...
including bracelets, tobacco flasks,
necklaces and
bracer
A bracer (or arm-guard) is a strap or sheath, commonly made of leather, stone or plastic, that covers the ventral (inside) surface of an archer's bow-holding arm. It protects the archer's forearm against injury by accidental whipping from th ...
s. Later, they added silver
earrings
An earring is a piece of jewelry attached to the ear via a piercing in the earlobe or another external part of the ear (except in the case of clip earrings, which clip onto the lobe). Earrings have been worn by people in different civilizations ...
, buckles, Bolo tie, bolos, hair ornaments, pins and squash blossom necklaces for tribal use, and to sell to tourists as a way to supplement their income.
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. The Navajo silversmiths also borrowed the "naja" (''najahe'' in Navajo) 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
![Navajo Germantown Rug 2008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Navajo_Germantown_Rug_2008.008.001.jpg)
Navajos came to the southwest with their own weaving traditions; however, they learned to weave cotton on upright looms from 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, grey, and white wool, as well as wool dyed with indigo dye, indigo. Using an upright loom, the Navajos made extremely fine utilitarian blankets that were collected by Ute tribe, Ute and Plains Indians. These Chief's Blankets, so called because only chiefs or very wealthy individuals could afford them, were characterized by horizontal stripes and minimal patterning in red. First Phase Chief's Blankets have only horizontal stripes, Second Phase feature red rectangular designs, and Third Phase features red diamonds and partial diamond patterns.
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 Navajo rugs by the pound and selling them back east by the bale. The traders encouraged the locals to weave blankets and Navajo Rug, rugs into distinct styles. These included "Two Gray Hills" (predominantly black and white, with traditional patterns); ''Teec Nos Pos'' (colorful, with very extensive patterns); "Ganado" (founded by Don Lorenzo Hubbell), red-dominated patterns with black and white; "Crystal" (founded by J. B. Moore); oriental and Persian rug, Persian styles (almost always with natural dyes); "Wide Ruins", "Chinlee", banded geometric patterns; "Klagetoh", diamond-type patterns; "Red Mesa" and bold diamond patterns. Many of these patterns exhibit a fourfold symmetry, which is thought to embody traditional ideas about harmony or ''hózhǫ́''.
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.
In the final episode of the third season of the FX reality TV show ''30 Days (TV series), 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.
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 expand the focus to include nearby Hopi and Zuni people, Zuni characters and cultures, as well. Four of the novels have been adapted for film/TV. 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).
Notable people with Navajo ancestry
![JEllsbury](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/JEllsbury.jpg)
* Fred Begay, nuclear physicist and a Korean War veteran
* Notah Begay III (Navajo-Isleta-San Felipe Pueblo), American professional golfer
* Klee Benally, musician and documentary filmmaker
* Nikki Cooley, environmentalist, Grand Canyon river guide
* Jacoby Ellsbury, New York Yankees outfielder (enrolled
Colorado River Indian Tribes
The Colorado River Indian Tribes ( Mojave language 'Aha Havasuu, Navajo language: Tó Ntsʼósíkooh Bibąąhgi Bitsįʼ Yishtłizhii Bináhásdzo) is a federally recognized tribe consisting of the four distinct ethnic groups associated with the ...
)
* 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
* Lance Tsosie, TikToker whose videos discuss North American Native culture and history.
* Cory Witherill, first full-blooded Native American in NASCAR
* Aaron Yazzie, mechanical engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Artists
* Beatien Yazz (born 1928), painter
*Apie Begay (fl. 1902), first Navajo artist to use European drawing materials
*Harrison Begay (1914–2012), Santa Fe Indian School#School, Studio painter
* Joyce Begay-Foss, weaver, educator, and museum curator
* Mary Holiday Black (born c. 1934), 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, weaver and co-founder of the
Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian is a museum devoted to Native American arts. It is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico and was founded in 1937 by Mary Cabot Wheelwright, who came from Boston, and Hastiin Klah, a Navajo singer and medici ...
* David Johns (born 1948), painter
* Yazzie Johnson, contemporary silversmith
* Betty Manygoats, Tàchii'nii, contemporary ceramicist
* Christine Nofchissey McHorse (1948-2021), ceramicist
* Gerald Nailor, Sr. (1917–1952), studio painter
* Barbara Teller Ornelas (born 1954), master Navajo weaver, cultural ambassador of the U.S. State Department
*
Atsidi Sani
Atsidi Sani ( nv, ) (c. 1830 – c. 1870 or 1918) was the first known Navajo silversmith.
Background
Little is known of Atsidi Sani. However, it is known that he was born near Wheatfields, Arizona, c. 1830 as part of the Dibelizhini (Black Sheep) ...
(c. 1828–1918), first known Navajo silversmith
* Clara Nezbah Sherman, weaver
* Ryan Singer (artist), Ryan Singer, painter, illustrator, screen printer
* Tommy Singer, silversmith and jeweler
* Quincy Tahoma (1920–1956), studio painter
* Klah Tso (mid-19th century — early 20th century), pioneering easel painter
* Emmi Whitehorse, contemporary painter
* Melanie Yazzie, contemporary print maker and educator
* Teresa Montoya, film maker
Performers
*Jeremiah Bitsui, actor
*Blackfire (American band), 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
* Christina Haswood, member of the Kansas House of Representatives since 2021.
*
Henry Chee Dodge
Henry Chee Dodge (1860–1947), also known in Navajo by his nicknames ("Mister Interpreter") and ("Red Boy"), was the last official Head Chief of the Navajo Tribe from 1884 until 1910, the first Tribal Chairman of the Navajo Business Council fr ...
, last Head Chief of the Navajo and first Chairman of the Navajo Tribe, (1922–1928, 1942–1946).
* Peterson Zah, first President of the
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...
and last Chairman of the Navajo Tribe.
[Peterson Zah Biography](_blank)
/ref>
*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.
*Jonathan Nez, Current 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.
* Annie Dodge Wauneka, former Navajo Tribal Councilwoman and advocate.
* Thomas Dodge, former Chairman of the Navajo Tribe and first Diné attorney.
* Peter MacDonald (Navajo leader), Peter MacDonald, Navajo Code Talker and former Chairman of the Navajo Tribe.
* Mark Maryboy (Aneth, Utah, Aneth/Red Mesa, Arizona, 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.
* Joe Shirley, Jr., former President of the Navajo Nation.
* Ben Shelly, former President of the Navajo Nation.
* Chris Stearns, member of the Washington House of Representatives since 2022.
* 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.
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
The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...
* Long Walk of the Navajo
Notes
References
*Adair, John
''The Navajo and Pueblo Silversmiths''
Norman: Oklahoma Press, 1989. .
*Iverson, Peter, Jennifer Nez Denetdale, and Ada E. Deer
''The Navajo.''
New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 2006. .
* Kehoe, Alice Beck. ''North American Indians: A Comprehensive account''. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2005.
*
* Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. .
* Sandner, Donald
''Navaho symbols of healing: a Jungian exploration of ritual, image, and medicine.''
Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press, 1991. .
* Sides, Hampton, ''Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West''. Doubleday (2006).
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.
*
* 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.
*
*
* Hammond, George P. and Rey, Agapito (editors) (1940). ''Narratives of the Coronado Expedition 1540–1542.'' Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
* Iverson, Peter (2002). ''Diné: A History of the Navahos''. 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.
* 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. .
* Roessel, Ruth (editor) (1973). ''Navajo Stories of the Long Walk Period''. Tsaile, Arizona: Navajo Community College Press.
*
* Voyles, Traci Brynne (2015). ''Wastelanding: Legacies of Uranium Mining in Navajo Country.'' Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
*
* 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
* 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
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
Navajo Arts
Information on authentic Navajo Art, Rugs, Jewelry, and Crafts
The Navajo
Navajo expert, Doctor Sarah Davis, about the Navajo
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Navajo people
Navajo people,
Native American history of Arizona
Native American history of New Mexico
Native American history of Utah
Native American tribes in Arizona
Native American tribes in New Mexico
Native American tribes in Utah