Navajo people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Navajo (Diné)
Navajo medicine man
Total population	300,000
Regions with significant populations	United States (Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, California)
Language	Navajo, English
Religion	Navajo Way, Christianity, Native American Church (NAC), other
Related ethnic groups	other Southern Athabascan peoples

The Navajo (also Navaho) people of the southwestern United States call themselves the Diné (pronounced [dɪnɛ]), which roughly means "the people". They speak the Navajo language, and many are members of the Navajo Nation, an independent government structure which manages the Navajo reservation in the Four Corners area of the United States.

Contents 1 Early history 2 Conflict with Europeans 3 Cultural characteristics 3.1 Arts and craftsmanship 3.2 Healing and spiritual practices 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

[edit] Early history

The Navajo of the American Southwest speak dialects of the language family referred to as Athabaskan. Athabaskan speakers can also be found living in Alaska through west-central Canada and in a few areas on the Pacific coast. Linguistic and cultural similarities indicate the Navajo and the other Southern Athabaskan speakers (known today as Apaches) were once a single ethnic group (linguistically called Apachean) that probably came from the Great Plains. Archaeological and historical evidence suggests these people entered the Southwest after 1000 AD, with substantial population noted by the Spanish in the 1500s. Navajo oral traditions are said to retain references of this migration.

Although there is some evidence that Athabaskan peoples may have entered the Southwest as early as 1000 AD, many scientists believe that their numbers became significant by the 1200s, a few decades before the Spanish. Coronado observed Plains people ("dog nomads") wintering near the Pueblos in established camps, who may have included Navajo. In 1540 Coronado reported the modern Western Apache area as uninhabited, yet in the 1580s other Spaniards first mention Apache living west of the Rio Grande who shared corn with them. The early Athabaskan way of life complicates accurate dating, primarily because they constructed less durable dwellings than other Southwestern groups. They also left behind a more austere set of tools and material goods. Sites where early Athabaskans speakers may have lived are difficult to locate, and even more difficult to identify firmly as culturally Athabaskan.

Whenever the Navajo actually arrived, they occuppied areas the Pueblos peoples had abandoned during prior centuries. The Navajo people traditionally hold the four sacred mountains as the boundaries of the homeland they should never leave: Blanca Peak(Tsisnaasjini' - Dawn or White Shell Mountain) in Colorado, Mount Taylor (Tsoodzil - Blue Bead or Turquoise Mountain) in New Mexico, the San Francisco Peaks (Doko'oosliid - Abalone Shell Mountain) in Arizona, and Hesperus Mountain (Dibé Nitsaa - Big Mountain Sheep) in Colorado.

Navajo oral history seems to indicate a long relationship with Pubelo people (Hosteen Klah page 102 and others) and a willingness to adapt ideas into their own culture. Trade between the long-established Pueblo peoples and the Athabaskans was important to both groups. The Spainish records say by the mid 1500s, the Pueblos exchanged maize and woven cotton goods for bison meat, hides and material for stone tools from Athabaskans who either traveled to them or lived around them. In the 1700s the Spanish say the Navajo had large numbers of livestock and acres of crops. The Navajo probably adapted many Pueblo ideas, as well as practices of early Spainish settlers, into their own very different culture.

The Spanish first use the word Navajo ("Apachu de Nabajo") specifically in the 1620s, referring to the people in the Chama valley region east of the San Juan River, and north west of Santa Fe. By the 1640s, the term Navajo was applied to these same people. The Spainish recorded in 1670s they were living in a region called Dinetah, which was about sixty miles west of the Rio Chama valley region. In the 1780s the Spainish were sending military expeditions against the Navajo in the to the southwest and west of that area, in the Mount Taylor and Chuska Mountain regions of New Mexico.

Navajos seem to have a history in the last 1000 years of expanding their range, refining their self identity and their significance to others. In short this is probably due to a cultural combination of Endemic warfare(raids) and commerce with the Pueblo, Apache, Ute, Commanche and Spanish people, set in the changing natural environment of the Southwest.

[edit] Conflict with Europeans

Over the next 200 years, since the 17th century, the Navajo expanded their area of settlement, living in areas of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Because of increasing contact with the Pueblo Indians and the Spanish in the 1600's, the Navajo experienced a revolution in life-style and economy, raiding became more important than farming. During conflicts with the Spanish, many Pueblo people took refuge with Navajo bands. This allowed the Navajo to learn many of the customs of their neighbors, including weaving, pottery making, and farming. In addition, rather than simply eating sheep obtained in raids, the Navajo slowly built up their herds as a source of meat and wool for weaving clothing and blankets.

The Navajo raided and were often raided in retaliation by Mexicans looking for Navajo children for the Mexican slave trade. Navajo retaliation against Mexican communities to the south created a deadly cycle as Mexican soldiers were sent north to punish and stop the Indian raids. None of the Spanish or Mexican raids into Navajo land were successful in stopping the cycle.

When United States turned its attention toward the Southwest with the march of Gen. S. W. Kearny in 1846, the Navajo were at first pleased that the white men had defeated their old enemies, the Mexicans. But they harassed Gen. Kearny's column, and continued raiding all over New Mexico. After the United States took ownership of the Southwest territories, Brigadier-General James H. Carleton, the new commander of the Federal District of New Mexico, initiated a series of military actions against the Navajo. Colonel Kit Carson was ordered by Gen. J. H. Carleton to conduct expedition into Navajoland and receive their surrender on July 20, 1863. Few Navajo surrendered and with a scorched earth policy, he and his men scounted throughout Navajoland, chasing, killing, capturing some Navajo, confiscating and burning crops, and offering food, clothing and shelter to those who surrendered. Some Navajo were permitted to keep their flocks and drive them to Ft. Stanton, aka Bosque Redondo. The troops were aided by other Native American tribes with long-standing memory and enmity toward the Navajos, chiefly the Utes. There were no pitched battles and only a few skirmishes in the Navajo campaign. During the six-month sweep, Carson’s soldiers reportedly killed only 78 of the estimated 12,000 Navajos, experiencing few casualties themselves. Carson's militia thoroughly disrupted the Navajo way of life and rounded up and took prisoner every Navajo they could find. In January 1864, Carson ordered forces into Canyon de Chelly to scout the last Navajo stronghold under the leadership of Manuelito. He commanded his men to cut down all the peach trees that were growing in Canyon de Chelley, but none were cut down until 1865. Although some Navajo fled the canyon into the Arizona hinterlands, many Navajo surrendered and moved to Ft. Sumner. Col. Kit Carson did not escort any Navajo along the Long Walk; that was done by other officers of the U. S. Army.

In the spring of 1864, over 8,000 Navajo men, women and children were forced to march over 300 miles to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Approximately 200 Navajo died during the two month long march, known as the Long Walk of the Navajo. Approximately 9,000 Navajo were interned at the Fort in poor conditions, held jointly with several hundred Mescalero Apache. There was no firewood for cooking and water from the nearby Pecos River caused severe intestinal problems and disease. Food was also in short supply. In 1865, those Mescalero Apache strong enough to travel managed to escape to their own territory. However, the Navajo were not allowed to leave until three years later when an 1868 treaty was negotiated which established a reduced area of their homeland, where the Navajo Reservation exists today.

[edit] Cultural characteristics

The name "Navajo" is the name given to the tribe by the Tewa Pueblo Indians, whose settlement preceded the Navajo and who traded with them. The word may mean "thieves" or "takers from the fields." (The names by which many Native American tribes are commonly known are derived from epithets used by their enemies.) The Navajo call themselves Diné, which is often translated to mean "the people" (most Native American groups call themselves by names that mean "the people"). Nonetheless, many Navajo now acquiesce to being called "Navajo."

Traditionally, like other Apacheans, Navajos were semi nomadic in the 1500s into the 1900s. Their extended kinship groups would have a seasonal dwellings areas to accomodate livestock, agriculture and gathering practices. As part of their traditional economy, Navajos groups might form trading or raiding parties and travel relatively long distance.

Historically, the structure of the Navajo society is largely a matrilocal system in which only women were allowed to own livestock and land. Once married, a Navajo man would move into his bride's dwelling and clan since daughters (or, if necessary, other female relatives) were traditionally the ones who received the generational inheritance (this is mirror-opposite to a patrilocal tradition). Any children are said to belong to the mothers clan and be "born for" the fathers clan. The clan system is exagamous meaning it was and mostly still is considered a form of incest to marry or date anyone from any of a persons four grandparents clans.

A hogan is the traditional Navajo home. For those who practice the Navajo religion the hogan is considered 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. Today they are rarely used as actual dwellings, but are maintained primarily for ceremonial purposes.

[edit] Arts and craftsmanship

Silversmithing is said to have been introduced to the Navajo while in captivity at Fort Sumner in Eastern New Mexico in 1864. At that time Atsidi Saani learned the silversmithing and began teaching others the craft as well. By the 1880 Navajo silversmiths were creating handmade jewelry including bracelets, tobacco flasks, necklaces, bow guards and eventually evolved into earrings, buckles, bolos, hair ornaments and pins. Turquoise had been used with jewelry by the Navajo for hundreds of years, but they did not do turquoise inlay.

Though some people say the Navajo learned the art of weaving from the Ute Tribe, the origins of Navajo weaving may never be known. The first Spaniards to visit the region wrote about seeing Navajo blankets. By the 1700s the Navajo had begun to import yarn with their favorite color, Bayeta red. (see link below to Navajo weaving website) The Navajo people created some of the finest textiles in North America. Using an upright loom the Navajos made almost exclusively utilitarian blankets. Little patterning and few colours on almost all blankets, except for the much sought after Chief's Blanket, which evolved from the 1st Phase, few wide bands, to the 2nd phase, wide bands with squares on the corners to the 3rd Phase which made more and more use of patterns and colours. Around the same time the Navajo people, who had long started traded for commercial wool, often from the uniforms of soldiers, rewove these into intricate multicolored blankets called Germantown.

Some early European settlers moved in and set up trading posts, often buying rugs by the pound and selling them back east by the bale. The quality of weaving declined. Still these traders encouaraged the locals to weave blankets and rugs into distinct styles. They included Two Gray Hills, predominantly black and white, with traditional patterns, Teec Nos Pos, colourful, 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 styles, almost always with natural dyes, Wide Ruins, Chinlee, banded geometric patterns, Klagetoh, diamond type patterns, Red Mesa, and bold diamond patterns. Mainy of these patterns exhibit a four-fold symmetry which is thought by Witherspoon to embody traditional ideas about harmony or Hozh.

[edit] Healing and spiritual practices

Navajo spiritual practice is about restoring health, balance, and harmony to a person's life. One exception to the concept of healing is the Beauty Way ceremony: the Kinaaldá, or a female puberty ceremony. Others include the Hooghan Blessing Ceremony and the 'Baby's First Laugh Ceremony'. Otherwise, ceremonies are used to heal illnesses, strengthen weakness, and give vitality to the patient. Ceremonies restore Hozhò, or beauty, harmony, balance, and health.

Sick Navajos may seek out a certified, credible medicine man, or Hatałii, if hospitals are unable to help them. The medicine man will use several methods to diagnose the patient's ailments. This may include using special tools such as crystal rocks, and abilities such as hand-trembling and trances. It may be accompanied by a chant. The medicine man will then select a specific healing chant for that type of ailment. Short blessings for good luck and protection may only take a few hours, and in all cases, the patient is expected to do a follow-up afterwards. This may include the avoidance of sex, personal contact, animals, certain foods, and certain activities; it is not unlike a doctor's advice. This is done to respect the ceremony.

Possible causes of ailments could be the result of violating taboos. Contact with lightning-struck objects, exposure to taboo animals such as snakes, and contact with the dead are some of reasons for healing. Protection ceremonies, especially the Blessing Way Ceremony, are used for Navajos that leave the boundaries of the four sacred mountains, and is used extensively for Navajo soldiers going to war. Upon re-entry, there is an Enemy Way Ceremony, or Nidáá', performed on the person, to get rid of the evil things in his/her body, and to restore balance in their lives. This is also important for Navajo soldiers returning from war; many soldiers, whether or not they are Navajo, often suffer psychological damage, such as post-tramautic stress disorder, from participating in warfare, and the Enemy Way Ceremony helps heal their damaged minds.

There are also ceremonies used for curing people from curses. Many people often complain of witches and skin-walkers that do harm to their minds, bodies, and even families. Ailments aren't necessarily physical. It can take any form it wishes. The medicine man is often able to break the curses that witches and skin-walkers put on families. Mild cases do not take very long, but for extreme cases, special ceremonies are needed to drive away the evil spirits. In these cases, the medicine man may find curse objects implanted inside the victim's body. These objects are used to cause the person pain and illness. Examples of such objects include bone fragments, rocks and pebbles, bits of string, snake teeth, owl feathers, and even turquoise jewelry.

There are said to be approximately fifty-eight to sixty sacred ceremonies. Most of them last four days or more; to be most effective, they require that relatives and friends attend and help out. Outsiders are often discouraged from participating, in case they become a burden on everyone, or violate a taboo. This could affect the turnout of the ceremony. The ceremony must be done in precisely the correct manner to heal the patient, and this includes everyone that is involved.

Medicine men must be able to correctly perform a ceremony from beginning to end. If he doesn't, the ceremony will not work. Training a Hatałii to perform ceremonies is extensive, arduous, and takes many years, and is not unlike priesthood, with the governing body or hierarchy omitted. The apprentice learns everything by watching his teacher, and memorizes the words to all the chants. Many times, a medicine cannot learn all sixty of the ceremonies, so he will opt to specialize in a select few.

The origin of spiritual healing ceremonies dates back to Navajo mythology. It is said the first Enemy Way ceremony was performed for Changing Woman's twin sons(Monster Slayer and Born-For-the-Water) after slaying the Giants (the Yé'ii) and restoring Hozhó to the world and people. The patient identifies with Monster Slayer through the chants, prayers, sandpaintings, herbal medicine and dance.

Another Navajo healing, the Night Chant ceremony, is administered as a cure for most types of head ailments, including mental disturbances. The ceremony, conducted over several days, involves purification, evocation of the gods, identification between the patient and the gods, and the transformation of the patient. Each day entails the performance of certain rites and the creation of detailed sand paintings. On the ninth evening a final all-night ceremony occurs, in which the dark male thunderbird god is evoked in a song that starts by describing his home:

In Tsegihi [White House],

In the house made of the dawn,

In the house made of the evening light

(Sandner, p. 88)

The medicine man proceeds by asking the Holy People to be present, then identifying the patient with the power of the god and describing the patient's transformation to renewed health with lines such as "Happily I recover." (Sandner, p. 90). The same dance is repeated throughout the night, about forty eight times. Altogether the Night Chant ceremony takes about ten hours to perform, and ends at dawn.

[edit] See also

• Navajo mythology
• Navajo music
• Navajo Nation
• Navajo Wars
• Long Walk of the Navajo
• Code talker
• Dinetah

[edit] External links

• Navajo People (as of November 24, 2004)
• A Brief Overview of the Navajo People (as of October 18, 2004)
• Navajo Silversmiths, by Washington Matthews, 1883 from Project Gutenberg
• Navajo Jewelry Information
• Navajo weaving [1]
• Historic Collection of Navajo Pictures

[edit] References

• 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.
• Brown, Dee (1970). Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. ISBN 0-330-23219-3.
• Clarke, Dwight L. (1961) Stephen Watts Kearny, Soldier of the West, Univ. Okla.
• Downs, James F. (1972). The Navajo. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
• Gilpin, Laura. (1968). The enduring Navaho. Austin: University of Texas Press.
• Gold, Peter (1994). Navajo & Tibetan sacred wisdom: the circle of the spirit. ISBN 0-89281-411-X. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions International.
• Hammond, George P. and Rey, Agapito (editors). Narratives of the Coronado Expedition 1540-1542. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1940.
• Henderson, Richard. “Replicating Dog Travois Travel on the Northern Plains.” Plains Anthropologist, V39:145-59, 1994.
• Iverson, Peter. (2002). Diné: A history of the Navahos. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0-8263-2714-1
• Kelly, Lawrence, (1970) Navajo Roundup, Pruett Pub. Co., Colorado.
• Kluckholm, Clyde; & Leighton, Dorothea. (1946). The Navaho. Cambridge: Oxford University Press.
• McNitt, Frank. (1972). Navajo Wars. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
• Newcomb, Franc Johnson (1964). Hosteen Klah: Navajo Medicine Man and Sand Painter. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. LCCCN 64-20759.
• Plog, Stephen. Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest. Thames and London, LTD, London, England, 1997. ISBN 0-500-27939-X.
• Terrell, J. U. (1970). The Navajos.
• Underhill, Ruth M. (1956). The Navahos. Norman: The University of Oklahoma Press.
• Witherspoon, Gary. (1977). Language and Art in the Navajo Universe. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
• Loewen, James. W. (1999 ). Lies Across America. Pages 100-101; The New Press.
• Roessel, Ruth (1973). Navajo Stories of the Long Walk Period Tsaile: Navajo Community College Press.
• Compiled (1974). Roessel, Ruth: Navajo Livestock Reduction: A National Disgrace. Tsaile, Arizona: Navajo Community College Press. ISBN 0-912586-18-4.